That last remark was naughty of me, but I felt the need to strike back. I was overwrought and angry at the way the whole world seemed to have condemned Darcy along with his father. And at the back of my mind was the worry that everything they had been saying was true. What if his father was found guilty? What if Darcy was shunned from polite society? Then I realized that none of that mattered. If he was shunned, I’d go and live with him in a little house like my grandfather’s. Nothing would matter as long as we were together.

Chapter 8

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 1

RANNOCH HOUSE, BELGRAVE SQUARE, LONDON W.1.

Having come to this conclusion, I went up to see what awful torture Queenie was putting my clothes through. I found she was sitting on my bed, mopping a very red face.

“Blimey, miss,” she said. “I’m bushed. I had to drag all this stuff up these ruddy stairs.”

“Did Hamilton not send the footman to help you?”

“Yeah, but by the time he arrived I’d been up and down twice.”

“Well, you’ll be pleased to know that it doesn’t all need to be unpacked,” I said. “We shall not be staying long. So maybe only a couple of day outfits and one dinner dress should suffice.”

“So where are we off to this time?” she asked. “Somewhere nice and warm?”

I hesitated. Where would I go when Binky and Fig set off for Nice? I could write to my mother to ask if I could stay with her. I could, indeed, go to the queen and see if she had any little job she’d like me to do. These had certainly proved interesting in the past. Then I remembered that the Dowager Duchess of Eynsford had told me I was always welcome at Kingsdowne. And Lady Hawse-Gorzley would also welcome me in Devon. And my former stepfather, Sir Hubert Anstruther, might even be in England, back from his latest mountaineering trip. He had always been fond of me and at one time had tried to adopt me. So I did have places where I was welcome. No need to panic yet. It was just that none of them was in London, and I had to stay in touch with Darcy. I had to know what was happening and what he wanted me to do.