“The law courts?”

“I assume you do not wish to stay married to Mr. Scammell?”

Campion shook her head. “No.”

“Then the marriage may have to be annulled. To achieve that you will have to prove that he never consummated the marriage. Do I have to explain what that means?”

Campion smiled. “No.”

“Thank God for that. The priest doesn’t marry you, child. When George and I married, the bishop was quite splendid and very impressive, but God didn’t take a blind bit of notice till George had taken me to bed. Not that he hadn’t anticipated a little, but what happens between the sheets, child, is just as important as the priest’s ministrations. I shall send Toby away.”

Campion dared not protest.

Lady Margaret nodded to herself. “He can go to Oxford and fight for the King. It will do him good, though whether the King will be grateful is another matter. That way I will remove him from temptation and we shall keep you in one piece, so to speak.” She looked sternly at Campion. “I’m not saying you should keep yourself in the hope of marrying Toby. He’s bound to meet far more suitable girls than you in Oxford, and some of them not without prospects. No. But I think I like you, and I need a companion. You know what a companion does?”

“No, Lady Margaret.”

“A companion amuses me, serves me, reads to me, obeys my whims, anticipates my desires and never, child, never bores me. Can you manage?”

“I shall try.” Campion was rising on wings to a heaven of happiness, even if it meant being apart from Toby. She had found her refuge, a place of safety, and she liked this tall, abrupt woman in whom she could see a wealth of hidden kindness.

Lady Margaret, for her part, had seen things she liked in Campion. She recognized the girl’s transcendant beauty, a beauty that was remarkable, and she understood that Toby was captivated by it. So, she thought, he ought to be. Any man ought to be. Yet a few months apart would do them no harm.

Whether her son would, or should marry Campion was not in her thoughts. As long as the girl was legally married to another then the occasion did not arise, and as long as her virginity must be preserved, so long would Toby be tested. He could go to Oxford and there, Lady Margaret guessed, he might meet someone else. Yet if he did not, if his love endured the absence, then the girl’s inheritance, if it came to her, would be more than an acceptable dowry.

Yet above all, Lady Margaret had found her new enthusiasm. She liked this girl. She had found in her an innocent slate, a virgin page, and Lady Margaret would write what she willed on that page. She would educate Campion, she would open her mind, fill it with beauty, and she would turn a Puritan maid into a lady of elegance. Sir George would protest, of course, but Sir George had never seen her. One sight of this beauty and Lady Margaret knew her husband would be as docile as a lamb. She smiled.