and quite inexplicable wave of anger gushed over me, choking any words in my throat.
A lesser woman would have raised her eyes heavenwards in an attempt to solicit my sympathy; Miss Southey permitted no change in her countenance whatsoever as she said politely, ‘Good afternoon, Mr Campion.’
‘Lady Honoria; Miss Georgiana; Miss Southey,’ I said, doffing my hat. ‘Such an excellent day for a walk.’
‘It is indeed,’ Miss Southey agreed, attempting with a sharp glance to quell the giggles that punctuated each utterance. ‘Are you a student of nature?’ Miss Southey prompted me.
‘Indeed I am. Some months ago I wrote a paper for the Royal Society on the warbler family. It was, I am pleased to say, so favourably received that I am tempted to embark on another.’
‘On the same subject?’ She seemed to be interested.
There was no doubt that the young ladies were not, but itwas she with whom I was conversing, so I pressed on. ‘This time it will be on genus Picidae .’
‘Woodpeckers,’ she explained to her charges. ‘We have already heard the drumming of the great spotted woodpecker, have we not, girls? And we also saw—? The bird that laughs, Honoria?’ She explained with scarce subdued asperity, ‘The green woodpecker, Honoria.’
The very idea of a green woodpecker seemed to destroy the last vestiges of self-control in either girl, and, as much out of pity for their governess as with irritation at their behaviour, I made my farewells and left them.
I hoped to see no more of them that day.
I had not, however, walked more than three or four hundred yards when the quiet was shattered once more – this time by true screams. Surely they betokened genuine terror! Abandoning all thoughts of woodpeckers, green or otherwise, I ran as fast as I could to the source of the growing hysteria.
Although the swollen streams had generally subsided, here, upstream of a little bridge, the waters threatened to burst their banks and had formed in fact a veritable pond. For some reason Miss Southey was flailing around in it, up to her waist in water. Had she fallen? Or been pushed? Surely she could not have waded in voluntarily? Yet only the lower half of her person was wet, which suggested the latter. Then I saw a possible explanation – a bonnet, the sad rusty black bonnet I had last seen on poor Miss Southey’s head, was floating in the middle of the stream. Even such an outrage could surely not have been, however, the reason for such apparent terror, in not just Miss Southey but in the young ladies.
‘Miss Southey! What in heaven’s name—?’
She could do no more than point at the bridge, her arms shaking and her face distorted with panic.
And then I could see why the stream had formed a pond and why the ladies were in such a quake. The bridge was partially blocked by a man’s body.
I spoke sharply to the girls. ‘Silence! Run for help!’
They screamed on. Bending, I scooped a handful of the icy water and dashed it in Honoria’s face. ‘Do as I tell you – this instant! And take your sister too.’ The latter wasted no time waiting for my unchivalrous cure but turned on her heel and sped back towards the Court. I was afraid I would have to slap her sister’s face to achieve the same end, but at last, seeing that I intended to leave her to attend to her soaked and shaking mentor, she abandoned her histrionic display and followed her sister.
Holding my hand out, I reached for Miss Southey’s icy hand and pulled her towards me, gently but firmly. ‘Avert your gaze, dear lady, from that hideous sight, and watch where you place your feet. Should you miss your step, the water is swift enough to carry you downstream,’ I added.
At last she comprehended what such movement would entail – the unwilling embrace of the drowned creature by the bridge. She nodded, her mouth still frozen into a silent scream. Gradually I brought her back to dry land.
As soon as she was safe, I stripped off her pelisse,
A lesser woman would have raised her eyes heavenwards in an attempt to solicit my sympathy; Miss Southey permitted no change in her countenance whatsoever as she said politely, ‘Good afternoon, Mr Campion.’
‘Lady Honoria; Miss Georgiana; Miss Southey,’ I said, doffing my hat. ‘Such an excellent day for a walk.’
‘It is indeed,’ Miss Southey agreed, attempting with a sharp glance to quell the giggles that punctuated each utterance. ‘Are you a student of nature?’ Miss Southey prompted me.
‘Indeed I am. Some months ago I wrote a paper for the Royal Society on the warbler family. It was, I am pleased to say, so favourably received that I am tempted to embark on another.’
‘On the same subject?’ She seemed to be interested.
There was no doubt that the young ladies were not, but itwas she with whom I was conversing, so I pressed on. ‘This time it will be on genus Picidae .’
‘Woodpeckers,’ she explained to her charges. ‘We have already heard the drumming of the great spotted woodpecker, have we not, girls? And we also saw—? The bird that laughs, Honoria?’ She explained with scarce subdued asperity, ‘The green woodpecker, Honoria.’
The very idea of a green woodpecker seemed to destroy the last vestiges of self-control in either girl, and, as much out of pity for their governess as with irritation at their behaviour, I made my farewells and left them.
I hoped to see no more of them that day.
I had not, however, walked more than three or four hundred yards when the quiet was shattered once more – this time by true screams. Surely they betokened genuine terror! Abandoning all thoughts of woodpeckers, green or otherwise, I ran as fast as I could to the source of the growing hysteria.
Although the swollen streams had generally subsided, here, upstream of a little bridge, the waters threatened to burst their banks and had formed in fact a veritable pond. For some reason Miss Southey was flailing around in it, up to her waist in water. Had she fallen? Or been pushed? Surely she could not have waded in voluntarily? Yet only the lower half of her person was wet, which suggested the latter. Then I saw a possible explanation – a bonnet, the sad rusty black bonnet I had last seen on poor Miss Southey’s head, was floating in the middle of the stream. Even such an outrage could surely not have been, however, the reason for such apparent terror, in not just Miss Southey but in the young ladies.
‘Miss Southey! What in heaven’s name—?’
She could do no more than point at the bridge, her arms shaking and her face distorted with panic.
And then I could see why the stream had formed a pond and why the ladies were in such a quake. The bridge was partially blocked by a man’s body.
I spoke sharply to the girls. ‘Silence! Run for help!’
They screamed on. Bending, I scooped a handful of the icy water and dashed it in Honoria’s face. ‘Do as I tell you – this instant! And take your sister too.’ The latter wasted no time waiting for my unchivalrous cure but turned on her heel and sped back towards the Court. I was afraid I would have to slap her sister’s face to achieve the same end, but at last, seeing that I intended to leave her to attend to her soaked and shaking mentor, she abandoned her histrionic display and followed her sister.
Holding my hand out, I reached for Miss Southey’s icy hand and pulled her towards me, gently but firmly. ‘Avert your gaze, dear lady, from that hideous sight, and watch where you place your feet. Should you miss your step, the water is swift enough to carry you downstream,’ I added.
At last she comprehended what such movement would entail – the unwilling embrace of the drowned creature by the bridge. She nodded, her mouth still frozen into a silent scream. Gradually I brought her back to dry land.
As soon as she was safe, I stripped off her pelisse,
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