She had had a very testing time at her friend’s house. During the visit, her emotions had veered wildly between distress at Mrs Jacklyn’s illness – from which she had really not been expected to recover – to thankfulness as the lady’s condition had most unexpectedly improved, to irritation, as she had remembered what a tiresome man her friend’s son had always been. Consequently, Thurlby’s arrival to fetch her home had come as a very welcome relief. Clarice Jacklyn had still been confined to her room, but was looking so much better that the countess had ventured to suggest that she might like to pay a visit in the not too distant future. ‘As long as she comes without tedious Thomas,’ Lady Thurlby told her son as they began their journey straight after an early breakfast. ‘As soon as his mother was on the mend, he began telling interminable stories of people that I had never met, and interspersing them all with phrases like ‘as one does’ and ‘strangely enough’ until I thought I would scream.’ Her son agreed.
What do You think about A Country Gentleman (2012)?
