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The butler’s eyes widened. ‘Leaving?’
‘Yes.’
‘For a walk in the park? I don’t know if under the current conditions that is a particularly wise—’
‘No. We’re leaving town. Ring the gong. Tell everyone to be dressed and down here in a quarter of an hour. We’re closing up the hou
se.’[47]
He opened his mouth—but then he met my eyes, and closed it again.
‘Yes, Miss!’
Maybe I hadn’t spent too much time with Mr Ambrose after all. Maybe it was just enough. Listening to him giving orders could be quite educational.
‘Is your nephew here, Leadfield?’
‘Yes, Miss!’
‘Send him to rent a coach—no, two—from the closest stable. Big ones. We’ll need coachmen, too.’
‘Coaches? But Miss, I don’t think your uncle left enough money to—’
He broke off when I reached into my pocket and dumped a purse into his hand.
‘That should be more than enough.’
‘Yes, Miss!’
‘I’ll be going out. I expect everything to be ready when I return.’
‘Certainly, Miss!’
And he hobbled off as fast as a racing snail.
I turned and marched out of the front door. I had things to attend to. My family weren’t the only people I needed to get safely out of town. Only minutes later, I arrived at Patsy’s mother’s house. I knocked.
It took a while before the door opened. And when it did, it wasn’t my female steam engine of a best friend on the other side, but a dignified, grey-haired butler.
‘Miss Linton. What a pleasure to see you.’
‘I’d like to see Miss Patsy, please. Could you announce me?’
‘I’m sorry to disappoint you, Miss, but Miss Patsy is not at home. She and her mother went to Bath for a few weeks.’
‘Bath? How long has she been gone?’
‘More than a fortnight, I believe, Miss.’
‘And my other friends? Eve? Flora?’
‘As far as I know, she asked them to accompany her, Miss.’
Of course she had. It wasn’t like Patsy to leave anybody out. I bet she scoured the whole of London for me before giving up on me. I felt a sudden twinge of guilt. I should have let them know where I was. But the main thing was that they were out of danger, blissfully ignorant of what was going on.
‘All right, thank you. If Patsy comes back, please let her know I asked after her, and…’ Pulling a piece of paper out of my pocket, I scribbled a hurried note, explaining Ella’s condition. ‘…give her this, will you?’
‘Certainly Miss. Good day.’
