“Maybe you will too,” Katherine said kindly. “Maybe you’ll go to that doctor.”

“Maybe.” Sissy stared out of the window.

I actually had a jolly time with them and promised I’d visit again.

“I know how hard it can be, stuck up in a nursery,” I said. “I went through the same thing when I was a child. At least you have each other.”

“And we find ways to sneak around,” Katherine said with a wicked grin. “You’d be amazed at some of the things we overhear that aren’t meant for our delicate little ears.”

“Shut up, Kat,” Nick said, giving her a dig in the ribs.

I went downstairs and came out into the Long Gallery at the same time as Huxstep.

“Ah, there you are,” the dowager duchess said. I thought she was addressing me and sounded cross, but then she went on, “I saw some kind of altercation going on, Huxstep. You were outside with someone who was gesticulating a lot. What on earth was that about?”

“It was William, Your Grace. You remember the footman whom the duke recently dismissed.”

“And what did he want? His job back?”

“He wanted to speak to you, apparently, Your Grace,” he said. “He had just found out that his parents’ cottage is to be razed to the ground to make way for the new amphitheater. They have lived there all their lives, Your Grace. William was most distressed.”

“My son intends to destroy that row of cottages?” she asked incredulously. “That is an outrage, Huxstep. Those cottages have been part of this estate since the sixteenth century. And where does my son intend to put the tenants who currently live in them?”

“Nowhere, Your Grace. He told them, apparently, that they had been living on the grace and favor of this family for too long and this was now the twentieth century and such customs were outmoded.”

In the manner of the true aristocrat, her face remained composed. “We shall see about this,” she said coldly.

Chapter 9

KINGSDOWNE

I wasn’t exactly looking forward to dinner that night, fearing a gigantic family row. I was even more reluctant to go down once I started to dress.

“I’ve laid out your best frock, my lady,” Queenie said demurely.

“Thank you, Queenie.” I looked at the gown, wrap, gloves and stockings all laid out neatly on my bed. This was obviously the new and improved Queenie. Kingsdowne was already rubbing off on her.

“And where are my shoes?” I asked innocently.

“’Ere’s one of ’em,” she said, handing me a slim, satin slipper.

“And the other?” I asked with growing unease.

“Ah, well. You know how you wanted all your stuff out again at the last minute to go gallivanting on the town with Miss Belinda? And then you made me pack it again next morning?”

“Yes. . . .” The dread was clutching at my throat.

“One of the shoes must have rolled under the bed and I didn’t see it.”