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‘I want to see Miss Fitzallen, Watkins. Do you know if she’s available?’
‘Such a to-do, miss. You only just missed her. There was shouting and crying, and Miss Tamara walks out of the door without stopping to put on her cape and bonnet. She was off running as if the devil was after her.’
The sound of footsteps clattering on the tiled floor made Watkins glance over her shoulder.
Miss Franklin pushed past the curious housemaid. ‘Oh, it’s you, Miss Sunday. I was hoping it was Miss Fitzallen.’
‘Watkins says she’s run away,’ Nancy said anxiously. ‘What happened?’
Miss Franklin’s grey eyes filled with tears. ‘Such a scene, Miss Sunday. Apparently Miss Fitzallen has been having a clandestine relationship with a young man. Her papa arrived less than half an hour ago and he was furious.’
‘He was really angry,’ Watkins added gloomily.
‘Go about your business, Watkins,’ Miss Franklin said firmly. ‘We don’t want the whole of London to know our problems.’
Watkins slouched off, head bent and shoulders hunched.
‘What happened, Miss Franklin?’ Nancy demanded. ‘Why was Tamara so upset?’
‘Her papa said he was about to announce her engagement to another gentleman in The Times, but she was having none of it, Miss Sunday. I’ve never seen her so angry or so bold. She faced her papa and told him outright that she was in love with someone called William, and she would never marry anyone else.’
‘Oh dear.’ Nancy turned to gaze at the expanse of parkland, trees and the shimmer of the lake. ‘You don’t think she would have done something stupid, do you?’
‘Mr Fitzallen has sent his man to search for her and Miss Maughfling has ordered Little to go out and see if he can find her. We’re in uproar, Miss Sunday. I’ve never known anything like it, not even when Miss Smythe was doing her best to break all the rules.’
‘I’ll see if I can find her first, Miss Franklin. Try not to worry.’ Nancy turned on her heel and ran down the path to where Freddie was waiting for her.
‘What’s wrong, Nancy?’ Freddie’s brow creased in a frown.
‘Tamara has run away. I must find her.’
‘I’ll help you.’ Freddie walked to the front of the vehicle. ‘Wait here for us, Mason. W-walk the horse if he gets restive.’
‘I understand, my lord.’
Freddie took Nancy by the hand. ‘Where do you think she will have gone?’
‘She will try to get to Spitalfields, where William works for her father, but she’s on foot so we might be able to catch up with her.’
‘She has a head start,’ Freddie said calmly. ‘Do you think she will go through the park, or the side roads?’
‘Let’s try the park. I think her papa has taken his carriage so he’ll go by road.’ Nancy grabbed Freddie’s hand. ‘We’d better hurry.’
They raced through the park, attracting curious stares from passers-by, but Nancy did not care. She was desperate to find Tamara before her father laid hands on her. Having met the gentleman, Nancy did not think he would change his mind easily. Tamara would be forced into a marriage of convenience and her spirit would be broken. If Eleanora had still been sharing a room with Tamara she would have encouraged her to stand up for herself, but Eleanora and Sir Jack Marshall were now officially engaged. Nancy had seen the announcement in a copy of The Times that Claude had left on the table in the drawing room.
Nancy and Freddie skirted the boating lake and headed towards a stand of trees in the Inner Circle.
‘Just a moment.’ Freddie came to a sudden halt. ‘Why would she go this way? If she wanted to get to the City she needs to head east.’
Nancy clasped her side as a painful stitch momentarily robbed her of speech. She took a deep breath. ‘She isn’t thinking straight, Freddie. She’s terrified of her papa. I saw that when they were together. All she’s thinking about is getting away from him.’
Freddie held up his hand. ‘Can you hear that?’
Nancy put her head on one side, trying to catch her breath so that she could listen. She nodded. ‘Someone is crying. It could be her.’ She broke away from Freddie and ran towards the trees. Curled up on the grass beneath a London plane tree, Tamara looked like a broken flower. Nancy rushed up to her and went down on her knees, wrapping her arms around her sobbing friend.
‘It’s all right, Tamara. I’m here to help you.’
Tamara looked up and trembled at the sight of Freddie. ‘Who’s that?’
