“Frenzy? You made me choke, you little witch! What possessed you to bring that up?”
She gave a puzzled laugh. “Why should I not? I am two and twenty after all, and in other circumstances I dare say I would have been married by this time, assuming I could have attracted a respectable parti.”
“Any parti foolish enough to take you to wife might count himself a lunatic. He would be lucky to survive the honeymoon.”
The bitterness with which he uttered this sent Felicity into a fit of the giggles. Aware of his lordship’s baleful regard, she tried unavailingly to hiccup them back. His lips twisted at last into that characteristic smile.
“It’s well for you to laugh yourself into stitches, but if I don’t end by strangling you, my girl, it will be a miracle.”
“I am wholly impenitent, if you wish to know,” she said when she could speak at last. “I have not laughed so much for an age.”
“I am happy to have afforded you entertainment, ma’am.”
She ignored the ironic note. “You should be after last night. As a matter of fact, I am feeling unprecedentedly optimistic this morning.”
His smile lingered. “Are you? I wonder why.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I have every reason to be apprehensive, but being here in Middenhall and with Mrs Dadford so cosseting towards me, it is like…” Her voice became constricted and her lip trembled a little. “…like coming home.”
He continued to regard her, his expression, as so often, unreadable. Felicity took refuge in nibbling at her roll and was glad when their hostess came twittering in to enquire whether they had finished.
The preparations for departure to find Mrs Kimble did not take long and presently, cloaked against the chill, Felicity was stepping out beside the marquis along the lane heading back towards the church. To her chagrin, all the questions she had thrust to the back of her mind crept back, together with the riffle of anxiety that had never been far away since the start of this adventure. The word brought Papa instantly to mind and her lighter mood began to dissipate.
“It’s a pretty village.”
Raoul’s remark served for a slight distraction and she focused on the neat gardens and the picturesque little cottages they were passing.
“Yes, very pretty. Not that I thought in such terms as a child. It is becoming more familiar, though.”
“Are you remembering it more?”
“It’s not so much recognition of the place as that sensation ofdéjàvu.” She made no mention of her returning feeling of apprehension.
Raoul pointed. “I believe we must take that path beside the church, according to the landlord of the Plough. I checked again last night to be sure I had it right.”
Surprised, Felicity glanced up at his profile. “You went down to the inn last night?”
“I needed fresh air and a restorative.”
He turned her in to a narrow, worn path which Felicity abruptly knew.
“I remember this. Mrs Kimble’s house is just down on the left, past a massive chestnut. I used to play in its shade and gather conkers. Papa taught me to battle with them.” She paused as the tree came within sight. “It has shrunk!”
“No, you have grown.” Raoul took her arm to urge her onward. “Come, let us not waste any more time or you’ll be on the fidgets again.”
Felicity gave a small sigh. “I hoped you had not noticed.”
He made no reply but led her inexorably to the little house beyond the chestnut. Little? She recalled the bright green door and the whitewashed exterior with dark wood beams set into the walls in the old Tudor fashion.
“It is just as I remember it, except for being a good deal smaller.”
Raoul gestured to the front door. “Will you knock or shall I?”
Felicity’s pulse shot into high gear as she moved to lift the knocker and sound a sharp rat-a-tat on the wooden door. Everything around her faded as she waited, her heart behaving in a fashion as ruthless as it was uncomfortable. The best and worst moments of her early life resided here. It was like plunging into a reality she had buried deep so it could not hurt her. But the agony was still there, curled in a ball that was now unravelling faster than she could contain it.
The door opened. A youthful female peered out. Her eyes widened. “Oh? Are you the leddy as wishes to see Gran?”
“You know?”
