Hills."
"Yes, I think I have you placed now," Rafferty said wisely. "Edward goes there every year for the hunting. I daresay it is you he visits."
"He has visited me at home twice," Carlisle admitted.
Nessa could see plainly he was uneasy with this pair of tartars. She took the idea he would be much more amusing on his own than in this company. He turned to her and made a few polite enquiries as to her place of origin, then expressed some familiarity with the area.
Again the subject of Napoleon's possible invasion came up, to occupy a few minutes. When it got at last to be ten o'clock, Nessa glanced at the long-case clock standing against the wall, wondering if she could politely express her fatigue.
"Time for your medicine, John," Mrs. Rafferty said, rising up like a puppet at the first gong from the clock.
One had the idea their whole life was similarly regulated by clocks. A servant appeared promptly at the doorway, without having to be summoned. He bore a tray of bottles and droppers, giving the impression Rafferty was a professional invalid. "Will you excuse us?" Mrs. Rafferty said. "I have to measure John's medications." She went nearer the lamp to do so.
Carlisle once again turned to Miss Bradford. "Lively evening," he said with a playful smile. The married couple spoke between themselves, allowing some privacy to the others.
"Livelier than they are accustomed to or can quite like, I think," Vanessa answered with a deprecating smile of her own. "My arrival too was unexpected."
"You escape tomorrow morning, if I understood correctly?" he asked.
"As soon as the cock crows, I promise you."
"I shall do likewise if Edward does not come. He's a devilish-odd chap, Edward. Do you know him?"
"No, I am a stranger here, which makes my welcome not entirely enthusiastic. It is my aunt who is a friend, but she has gone to bed with a headache."
"She is wise. It would be her previous acquaintance that accounts for the headache. I wonder what can account for her stopping at all?"
His whole tone was facetious. As there was no fear he was after her letter, she answered, "It was a dire emergency, sir."
"On your way home, are you?"
"No, I have just come from home. We are going to visit friends at Ipswich."
"Ipswich? I don't believe I know anyone there."
"Family friends," she said, seeing no reason to mention a name.
"Edward and I have planned a week of partying in the city. He often speaks of his parents as being strict, but I had no idea they were so gothic, till I stumbled in tonight. I shall leave at the crack of dawn if he is not here tonight.''
"Don't you think you should give him till mid-morning?" she asked.
"I imagine he has forgotten all about my visit. Actually, I was supposed to arrive at noon today myself, but got held up. If he is still not here, you know, it is unlikely he is coming at all. But I do not give up hope of him yet. He may arrive before we are sent off to bed. Do you suppose that battalion of bottles is to prepare Mr. Rafferty for a peaceful night? I doubt we'll be allowed to remain in the saloon without his chaperonage."
"I was just calculating what hour would be not too uncivil to retire," she answered.
"I begin to wonder if I would not be wiser to go to an inn. Do you happen to know if there is one close by?"
"There is an inn at Tilbury—the White Swan. I noticed it as we came by," she told him.
"Probably full at this hour."
She did not contradict him, though she doubted her own lately abandoned room was taken yet.
There was a positive snort from the corner when the door knocker was sounded for a third time. "Bad news always comes in threes," Mr. Rafferty said fatalistically, while Nessa held back a smile by biting her lip, and Carlisle laughed softly. "I own I am little enough addition to the party, but I think he is hard to call you bad news, ma'am," he consoled her.
Really he had the nicest smile, so open and confiding, yet with some intimacy too. It was the way he worked his eyes
"Yes, I think I have you placed now," Rafferty said wisely. "Edward goes there every year for the hunting. I daresay it is you he visits."
"He has visited me at home twice," Carlisle admitted.
Nessa could see plainly he was uneasy with this pair of tartars. She took the idea he would be much more amusing on his own than in this company. He turned to her and made a few polite enquiries as to her place of origin, then expressed some familiarity with the area.
Again the subject of Napoleon's possible invasion came up, to occupy a few minutes. When it got at last to be ten o'clock, Nessa glanced at the long-case clock standing against the wall, wondering if she could politely express her fatigue.
"Time for your medicine, John," Mrs. Rafferty said, rising up like a puppet at the first gong from the clock.
One had the idea their whole life was similarly regulated by clocks. A servant appeared promptly at the doorway, without having to be summoned. He bore a tray of bottles and droppers, giving the impression Rafferty was a professional invalid. "Will you excuse us?" Mrs. Rafferty said. "I have to measure John's medications." She went nearer the lamp to do so.
Carlisle once again turned to Miss Bradford. "Lively evening," he said with a playful smile. The married couple spoke between themselves, allowing some privacy to the others.
"Livelier than they are accustomed to or can quite like, I think," Vanessa answered with a deprecating smile of her own. "My arrival too was unexpected."
"You escape tomorrow morning, if I understood correctly?" he asked.
"As soon as the cock crows, I promise you."
"I shall do likewise if Edward does not come. He's a devilish-odd chap, Edward. Do you know him?"
"No, I am a stranger here, which makes my welcome not entirely enthusiastic. It is my aunt who is a friend, but she has gone to bed with a headache."
"She is wise. It would be her previous acquaintance that accounts for the headache. I wonder what can account for her stopping at all?"
His whole tone was facetious. As there was no fear he was after her letter, she answered, "It was a dire emergency, sir."
"On your way home, are you?"
"No, I have just come from home. We are going to visit friends at Ipswich."
"Ipswich? I don't believe I know anyone there."
"Family friends," she said, seeing no reason to mention a name.
"Edward and I have planned a week of partying in the city. He often speaks of his parents as being strict, but I had no idea they were so gothic, till I stumbled in tonight. I shall leave at the crack of dawn if he is not here tonight.''
"Don't you think you should give him till mid-morning?" she asked.
"I imagine he has forgotten all about my visit. Actually, I was supposed to arrive at noon today myself, but got held up. If he is still not here, you know, it is unlikely he is coming at all. But I do not give up hope of him yet. He may arrive before we are sent off to bed. Do you suppose that battalion of bottles is to prepare Mr. Rafferty for a peaceful night? I doubt we'll be allowed to remain in the saloon without his chaperonage."
"I was just calculating what hour would be not too uncivil to retire," she answered.
"I begin to wonder if I would not be wiser to go to an inn. Do you happen to know if there is one close by?"
"There is an inn at Tilbury—the White Swan. I noticed it as we came by," she told him.
"Probably full at this hour."
She did not contradict him, though she doubted her own lately abandoned room was taken yet.
There was a positive snort from the corner when the door knocker was sounded for a third time. "Bad news always comes in threes," Mr. Rafferty said fatalistically, while Nessa held back a smile by biting her lip, and Carlisle laughed softly. "I own I am little enough addition to the party, but I think he is hard to call you bad news, ma'am," he consoled her.
Really he had the nicest smile, so open and confiding, yet with some intimacy too. It was the way he worked his eyes
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