change quite abruptly to another scene. A scene in which she had let down her long hair and was standing in a pool of light in a diaphanous gown that showed her skin…My God! What was he thinking? He could not imagine why he had suddenly thought how delightful it would be to kiss her…to take her to his bed…
It must have been his encounter with the courtesan. It had addled his brain, or perhaps he was just so exhausted that he did not know what he was thinking.
Cursing himself for allowing such wayward thoughts into his mind, he addressed his butler.
‘James, forgive me, I must leave in an hour. Have the kitchen send up some beef and pickles and bread in thirty minutes. I shall change and have my valet pack me a bag. I am going to London and he shall follow with a small trunk in the chaise.’
‘Again, milord? It is most unlike…’ James subsided as Robert looked at him. ‘What shall I say when people ask when you will return, sir?’
‘Tell them I should be home again within a week…perhaps ten days.’
Cursing, Robert went past the bewildered butler and took the stairs two at a time. He had better find them in London or…he would not be responsible for his actions!
‘You look delightful,’ Samantha said, greeting her young charge as she came downstairs that evening. ‘Was it not fortunate that Madame Suzette had a gown on her rails that needed hardly any alteration to fit you? An order that was never collected – and looks as if it were made for you.’
The gown was white and in a soft, filmy material caught up under Eleanor’s bust with a blue band that tied at the back in a large bow with trailing ends. It clung to her figure in an elegant way that made her look more grown up than her school dresses and showed her as the young lady she truly was. Her slippers were white leather with silver buckles and she had a diaphanous silver stole over her arms.
‘She looks beautiful,’ Toby said and moved towards them. He stumbled against a chair and clutched at it for support until his head cleared. ‘Damnation. I felt better this morning but there it goes again…’
‘What did Doctor King say about your dizziness, Toby?’ Eleanor asked anxiously, her pretty face taught with concern.
‘He says he does not know precisely. He thinks it will pass in time – but says that sometimes a bang on the head is unpredictable. Some people suffer short term loss of memory, others have headaches or sudden loss of balance, and, as a rule, it rights itself in time.’
‘Is there nothing to be done?’ Samantha asked. She had hoped for more and could not help feeling anxious for him, though she tried her best to conceal it.
‘Doctor King says I am to wait a week and then see him again. It is not that I feel ill, indeed, I feel perfectly well – it’s just this silly dizziness.’
He smiled at them ‘There, it is steadier now – and that is better than it was a few days ago. I am sure it will right itself in time.’
‘Let us go into the drawing room,’ Samantha said. ‘Annabel’s guests have arrived and we should greet them.’
Toby nodded and offered an arm to each lady. ‘I dare say I shall be as right as a cricket for the rest of the evening.’
Samantha accepted one arm while Eleanor took the other. She must wait until he had seen the doctor again, but then, if he were no better she would have to write to his parents and Lord Brough. Both would feel justly annoyed with her for not contacting them before in their different ways. All she could hope was that the young man would soon be back to normal.
As they went into the drawing room, Samantha saw several people she had met previously. They greeted her with smiles of welcome and accepted that she was chaperoning Eleanor, as she had intended they should. If her version of events went unquestioned, there should be no hint of a scandal to blacken the young lady’s
It must have been his encounter with the courtesan. It had addled his brain, or perhaps he was just so exhausted that he did not know what he was thinking.
Cursing himself for allowing such wayward thoughts into his mind, he addressed his butler.
‘James, forgive me, I must leave in an hour. Have the kitchen send up some beef and pickles and bread in thirty minutes. I shall change and have my valet pack me a bag. I am going to London and he shall follow with a small trunk in the chaise.’
‘Again, milord? It is most unlike…’ James subsided as Robert looked at him. ‘What shall I say when people ask when you will return, sir?’
‘Tell them I should be home again within a week…perhaps ten days.’
Cursing, Robert went past the bewildered butler and took the stairs two at a time. He had better find them in London or…he would not be responsible for his actions!
‘You look delightful,’ Samantha said, greeting her young charge as she came downstairs that evening. ‘Was it not fortunate that Madame Suzette had a gown on her rails that needed hardly any alteration to fit you? An order that was never collected – and looks as if it were made for you.’
The gown was white and in a soft, filmy material caught up under Eleanor’s bust with a blue band that tied at the back in a large bow with trailing ends. It clung to her figure in an elegant way that made her look more grown up than her school dresses and showed her as the young lady she truly was. Her slippers were white leather with silver buckles and she had a diaphanous silver stole over her arms.
‘She looks beautiful,’ Toby said and moved towards them. He stumbled against a chair and clutched at it for support until his head cleared. ‘Damnation. I felt better this morning but there it goes again…’
‘What did Doctor King say about your dizziness, Toby?’ Eleanor asked anxiously, her pretty face taught with concern.
‘He says he does not know precisely. He thinks it will pass in time – but says that sometimes a bang on the head is unpredictable. Some people suffer short term loss of memory, others have headaches or sudden loss of balance, and, as a rule, it rights itself in time.’
‘Is there nothing to be done?’ Samantha asked. She had hoped for more and could not help feeling anxious for him, though she tried her best to conceal it.
‘Doctor King says I am to wait a week and then see him again. It is not that I feel ill, indeed, I feel perfectly well – it’s just this silly dizziness.’
He smiled at them ‘There, it is steadier now – and that is better than it was a few days ago. I am sure it will right itself in time.’
‘Let us go into the drawing room,’ Samantha said. ‘Annabel’s guests have arrived and we should greet them.’
Toby nodded and offered an arm to each lady. ‘I dare say I shall be as right as a cricket for the rest of the evening.’
Samantha accepted one arm while Eleanor took the other. She must wait until he had seen the doctor again, but then, if he were no better she would have to write to his parents and Lord Brough. Both would feel justly annoyed with her for not contacting them before in their different ways. All she could hope was that the young man would soon be back to normal.
As they went into the drawing room, Samantha saw several people she had met previously. They greeted her with smiles of welcome and accepted that she was chaperoning Eleanor, as she had intended they should. If her version of events went unquestioned, there should be no hint of a scandal to blacken the young lady’s
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