‘Too clean,’ he said and, reaching down to the cold hearth and rubbing his finger along the soot-laden bars, he spread a little on their faces and on the backs of their hands, ignoring Kitty’s expression of distaste and Judith’s protests. ‘Now, let us be off. You may wear your cloaks in the carriage, but take them off and hide them under the seat if we are stopped.’ He shook hands with Pierre and, picking up a small leather valise from the floor and one of the ladies’ bags into which they had crammed the clothes they had just removed, he strode from the room. Kitty followed him, head held high, while Judith picked up the basket and went after her mistress to the accompaniment of laughter from Pierre. ‘Sooner you than me, my friend!’ he shouted. With the women behind him, Jack made for a battered old carriage which had certainly seen better days. It had once had a coat of arms on the door, but this had been obliterated with red paint. The paintwork on the rest of the vehicle, which had once been a glossy black, was faded and peeling.
What do You think about Jack Chiltern's Wife (1999)?
