“I saw him in Cambridge, do you recall? I told you about—”

“Oh, yes, yes.” Her mother smiled. “What a lovely coincidence to have run into him. Mrs. Royle wrote me a note about it. I think she is hoping that he might form a tendre for her daughter.”

“Mother, here, please read this.” Honoria held out the letter from Mrs. Wetherby. “He is very ill.”

Lady Winstead quickly read the short note, her mouth pressing into a worried frown. “Oh, dear. This is very bad news indeed.”

Honoria placed a heavy hand on her mother’s arm, trying to impress upon her the gravity of the situation. “We must leave for Fensmore. At once.”

Lady Winstead looked up in surprise. “Us?”

“He has no one else.”

“Well, that can’t be true.”

“It is,” Honoria insisted. “Don’t you remember how often he came to stay with us when he and Daniel were at Eton? It was because he had nowhere else to go. I don’t think he and his father got on very well.”

“I don’t know, it seems very presumptuous.” Her mother frowned. “We are not family.”

“He doesn’t have family!”

Lady Winstead caught her lower lip between her teeth. “He was such a nice boy, but I just don’t think . . .”

Honoria planted her hands on her hips. “If you do not come with me, I will go alone.”

“Honoria!” Lady Winstead drew back with shock, and for the first time in the conversation, a spark flared in her pale eyes. “You will do no such thing. Your reputation will be in tatters.”

“He might be dying.”

“I’m sure it’s not as serious as that.”

Honoria clutched her hands together. They had begun to shake, and her fingers felt terribly cold. “I hardly think his housekeeper would have written to me if it weren’t.”

“Oh, all right,” Lady Winstead said with a little sigh. “We will leave tomorrow.”

Honoria shook her head. “Today.”

“Today? Honoria, you know such trips take planning. I couldn’t possibly—”

“Today, Mother. There is no time to lose.” Honoria hurried back down the stairs, calling over her shoulder, “I will see to having the carriage prepared. Be ready within the hour!”

But Lady Winstead, showing some of the fire she’d possessed before her only son had been banished from the country, did even better than that. She was ready in forty-five minutes, bags packed, accompanied by her maid, and waiting for Honoria in the front drawing room.

Five minutes later they were on their way.