When she reached the top, she bent over and put her hands on her legs, gasping for breath.
Once her breathing returned to normal, she took in the landscape below her. Another stretch of forest and another smaller lake, and in the middle of a garden with geometrically shaped bushes and fountains, stood a magnificent Elizabethan manor house of grey stone, with turrets and tall windows.
"Oh." Ellen sighed.
"It's quite a sight, isn't it?" a female voice said. "Penwick Hall."
Ellen whirled round.
There, in the oak's shade, a woman sat on a small wooden bench. Ellen hadn't seen her at first because she seemed to merge with the tree.
The woman was wearing a blue walking dress, but instead of a cloak, she had a shawl draped over her shoulders. Her fine brown hair was streaked with grey and there were fine lines around her eyes as she smiled at Ellen. "You must be one of Dobberham's guests."
"Yes. Yes, I am." Ellen remembered her manners. "I am Lady Tewkbury."
The woman's eyes widened, and her mouth opened slightly. "You don't say. Did I hear that right? Tewkbury?"
"Yes. We are newly married, Tewkbury and I. In fact, I don't think it's been announced in the papers yet." She supposed Tewkbury would have sent an announcement, or maybe he'd forgotten in all the excitement.
The lady was silent for a while, studying Ellen. "Congratulations," she said at last. "Forgive my surprise, for this is most unexpected. None of us could have imagined it — but very well. Come here in the shade and sit with me." She patted the spot next to her on the bench. "You must be quite hot from standing in the sun."
"Indeed, it doesn't do my freckles any good, either." Ellen said wryly.
The woman laughed a pleasant, low laugh.
Ellen sat down beside her.
"So you married Tewkbury. Good for him!"
"Do you know him well?"
The woman waved her hand. "Of course I do. Everyone does. He visits Dobberham often. And none of us ever expected him to get married, hence my surprise. You seem like a lovely woman."
"Thank you." Ellen pulled a face. "It takes some getting used to; being married, that is."
The woman nodded sympathetically. "I suppose it does. Any change in one's station in life takes some getting used to. But tell me, how is he? Is he well?"
Perhaps Ellen was imagining it, but there was a glimmer of sadness in the lady's blue eyes. But it was gone in an instant and the fine lines crinkled again as she smiled.
"He's doing well enough, I suppose."
The lady nodded. There was a pause. "Dobberham, or rather his wife, must be keeping you busy. Their parties are notorious."
"Yes." Ellen jumped to her feet. "And I had better get back before I'm missed."
The lady held out her hand for Ellen to shake. "I have enjoyed making your acquaintance, Lady Tewkbury. I was wondering if you might return here in the next few days, or at least some other time before you return to London, so that we could continue our conversation?"
"I suppose so, as it is a most delightful walk, and I, too, have enjoyed it very much."
"I was wondering," there was a note of hesitation in her voice, "if you are in the habit of walking with your husband, and if you might come this way again. Because it would be a pleasure to see you again. And your husband too, of course," she hastened to add.
"I don't see why not," Ellen said cheerfully. "It would give us an excellent excuse to escape some of Lady Dobberham's dreadful parlour games."
The woman smiled again, and it struck Ellen what an amiable lady she was.
Ellen walked back to the mansion on light feet, happy to have made a new friend. It was only much later it occurred to her that the woman had not introduced herself.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
