Chatterbucks and Miss Graves were right in that Lady Bedlington knew how to keep a good table, but it was the first time they had been allowed to see it. Despite her earlier impatience, Elizabeth felt a strange affection for them, as they sat amidst the candlelight with a table that groaned with more food than they would see in a month. Dressed in black lace gowns that had been fashionable some thirty years previously, the sisters were initially on their best behaviour, mindful of the fact they were in the presence of a great personality. Lady Bedlington, also dressed in black lace, but in a gown recently ordered from Paris, sat in a bath chair at the head of the table, smiling benignly at the other guests. She reminded Elizabeth of an aged panther waiting to pounce. The guests, apart from the sisters, were Elizabeth's father, Doctor and Mrs. Wheston, Constable Hounds, The magistrate, Mr. Jenkins and his wife, Mr. Hardacre; and perusing the scene with an air of detached amusement, Liam Doubleday.
What do You think about The Ghost Of Christmas Past?
