PEATE WAS NOT standing at his aunt’s bedside when Lavinia was there. The old lady lay alone in the vast room. A servant had shown Charlotte and Lavinia in, and had then left. All the windows set in their medieval Gothic arches were shut and the room was stiflingly hot. Candles burning in a branch...
Empty-headed, of course.’ ‘Empty-headed! Fanny!’ ‘How was I to know which one you meant. You give so much attention to the other.’ They stared at each other across the jolting carriage. Adam saw the humorous gleam in his aunt’s eyes and knew that she hadn’t been missing anything. He laughed softl...