Ned!” Several minutes seemed to pass before Elinor recovered from shock at the amazing sight of her twin brother standing in—nay, filling—the kitchen doorway and assessing the chaos in the same manner in which he might have appraised a battlefield after the opening cannonade. It must in fact have been only a few seconds that they stared at each other—during which time Teddy scrambled to his feet and out of Lucy’s suddenly relaxed grasp, Ivor hauled George to his feet and out of the kitchen, and Mrs Nash, sniffing the air, exclaimed suddenly, “My sirloin!” and dropped her ladle. Lieutenant Edward Bennett, late of the Second Brigade of Guards, pulled off his hat and grinned at Elinor. “Hullo, Nell! Is this how you run your celebrated posting-house? I wonder that you have any guests left—let alone any that have succeeded in getting an uninterrupted night’s sleep!” “Oh, Ned!” Retrieving her scattered wits, Elinor ran into her brother’s arms and found herself being lifted up and whirled around the kitchen between hugs.
