ANNE ASHLEY - A Lady Of Rare Quality

‘No doubt we shall discover more when your brother is up and about again. Which I do not envisage will be long delayed. All the same, I did take it upon myself to send for a doctor. What manner of man is your local practitioner?’

The response came without a moment’s delay. ‘Thankfully, an extremely conscientious one.’

‘In that case, he will not hesitate to answer the summons, if he is able.’

All at once Sarah Greythorpe looked troubled again. ‘I have already called upon his services once this day,’ she disclosed. ‘He was with me for a time, attending to an injury sustained by a retired elderly retainer. While on the estate, he received word that his presence was urgently required several miles away. He left just as the first flakes of snow began to fall.’

‘In that case, we would be foolish to suppose that he will manage to call here. Furthermore, he would be very foolish to make the attempt, as the snow is falling harder than ever now. Which brings me to the matter concerning me most at present, Miss Greythorpe. I took it upon myself to remain here until your return, and sent my hired carriage back to town. I very much fear I must take advantage of your kind hospitality by seeking refuge under your roof until the weather improves and my maid and I can be conveyed to the posting-house,’ Annis explained, a moment before the door unexpectedly opened.

She then watched a girl, not long out of the schoolroom, she judged, slip shyly into the room, thereby denying Miss Greythorpe the opportunity to respond, and obliging her reluctant hostess to make known the identity of the new arrival.

Although initially Sarah Greythorpe might not have been altogether happy about being compelled to house two complete strangers for an indefinite period, by the time the evening was well advanced, the slight misgivings she had once harboured had all but disappeared, and she was surprisingly experiencing, given the traumatic events of the day, a feeling of rare contentment as she paid her second visit to her brother’s apartments in the west wing.

The surprising feeling of well-being that had increased with the passing of the hours was given a further boost the instant she entered the master bedchamber to discover the head of the family awake this time, and propped against a mound of pillows, sombrely contemplating the bowl of weak broth set before him on a tray.

As Annis had correctly judged, Viscount Greythorpe could never be accused of being light-minded. None the less, Sarah did not allow that inscrutable expression he invariably maintained to deter her from approaching the bed, for she above anyone knew that her brother was a master at concealing his emotions, and that it was nigh impossible to judge his moods.

‘How are you feeling now, after your long sleep? Better, I trust?’ she asked, showing a deal more animation than she had been wont to display in many a long year.

His lordship regarded her in silence, while he depleted further the contents of the bowl. ‘I’d feel a good deal better if I hadn’t been experiencing the increasing conviction that, during the past hours, my household had been taken over by a perfect stranger, and one who, moreover, I strongly suspect, is a very managing female withal.’

‘Oh, no, no, not managing!’ His sister was all delightful confusion, an attitude he had witnessed all too frequently over the years. ‘I’m certain she has only your best interests at heart.’

He smiled grimly. ‘I am pleased that you retain sense enough not to attempt to deny it, my dear. I should never have believed you had you tried. I know you too well. You would never have had the temerity to insist I drink only water, nor present me with only a bowl of weak broth, after I had fasted for most of the day.’

‘Oh, well…Annis…Miss Milbank assured me it would be necessary to keep your diet light at least for today, as there was just the slight risk you might become feverish,’ Sarah explained in what his lordship considered an unnecessarily coaxing voice, as though she were trying to reason with some unruly child.

‘Doctor Prentiss has not called,’ she continued, when he made no comment. ‘Which is in no way surprising, my dear, in view of the fact that it has snowed for most of the afternoon and evening. And I’m reliably informed by Dunster that there are drifts hereabouts now of six feet and more. If it hadn’t been for Annis’s presence of mind, Louise and I might well have found ourselves stranded at Nanny Berry’s cottage. I really ought not to have considered walking over to see her after luncheon.’ She paused momentarily to make a little helpless gesture with her hand. ‘But you know how difficult I find it, keeping our cousin Louise amused. I thought it would pass the time. And I cannot be sorry that I did so now, for Nanny Berry sustained a fall this morning and twisted her ankle rather badly. It was Dunster who informed me that it was Annis who suggested he send the carriage to collect us.

‘She is such a capable person,’ she went on hurriedly, when he maintained a stony silence throughout this recital of random snippets of information. ‘I cannot tell you what a relief I have found it having her here. We have passed such a very jolly evening, too. Why, I’ve never seen little Louise so animated! Except for those initial few minutes, when they were first introduced, she has not shown the least shyness in Annis’s company.’

His lordship took pity at last. ‘That being the case, I do not imagine that it was your enterprising Miss Milbank who had the temerity to present me with this meagre repast in person a short time ago?’

‘No, I expect that was Dish…I mean Disher, Miss Milbank’s companion and personal maid,’ Sarah explained. ‘It was she who sat with you for most of the evening. But it was Annis herself who took care of you earlier in the day. It was, in fact, she who discovered you in the road, and took it upon herself to return you safely home.’

‘Yes, so Flitwick informed me not so long ago,’ his lordship responded, after his mind’s eye had successfully summoned up a clear image of chestnut curls framing a highly pleasing, if not conventionally beautiful, countenance. ‘I did not recognise her. She is not, I think, from around these parts?’

‘No, Deverel, she is not,’ Sarah confirmed, appearing slightly troubled again. ‘She has lived all her life in the Shires. In point of fact, it was with the very intention of seeking you out that brought her here.’

He betrayed a marked degree of interest now. ‘Indeed?’

Unfortunately the slight edge of disapproval in his tone was not lost on her, and was more than sufficient to assure Sarah that he was not altogether pleased to learn this; and although she fully appreciated his policy of not admitting perfect strangers to the house, she found herself instantly coming to their unexpected guest’s defence.

‘I would be the first to admit that Miss Milbank is not what one might consider a…er…conventional young woman, Deverel. In point of fact, I think it would be fair to say that she is quite out of the common way. But let me assure you there is absolutely nothing in her manner to suggest that she is anything other than a very proper person. Why, even Dunster took it upon himself to order her baggage placed in the green bedchamber, would you believe? And as I have heard you remark on several occasions, you can rely on our butler to know what’s what.’

‘The green bedchamber, eh? Approval, indeed!’ his lordship was obliged to concede, raising a brow.

Sarah quickly nodded in agreement. ‘I cannot tell you the precise reason why she wishes to see you, Deverel, and I feel fairly certain that she wouldn’t have satisfied my curiosity if I’d had the temerity to ask. But what I can tell you is that Lady Henrietta Pelham is none other than her godmother. So I can only assume her business with you must have something to do with Helen.’