There were dark lines under her eyes and Gretna quickly finished her own meal and had the trays taken from the room.

“I will settle you down, Maria, and then you must go to sleep at once.”

“If I am to do so,” Maria said with her hand to her forehead. “I think I had best take a little laudanum. My head throbs so dreadfully I am afraid I shall not sleep because of the pain.”

“Then it will be a good idea,” Gretna agreed. “Where do you keep it?”

“I think you will find some in the cupboard by the wash stand,” Maria answered and, when Gretna looked, she found a small bottle duly inscribed with the right dosage and with many instructions that it should not be exceeded under any circumstances.

“I think I should be afraid to take this stuff,” she said, after reading what was written on the bottle.

“It does not hurt in very small quantities and often a deep sleep is a better cure than anything else. Give me the spoon, dearest. It is nasty, but if I swallow it quickly I shall not notice the taste.”

Gretna gave it to her, then replaced the bottle in the cupboard, smoothed Maria’s pillows and kissed her cheek.

“You look so lovely with your golden hair loose around you,” she remarked admiringly.

“Unfortunately I feel ugly,” Maria said with a little smile.

She closed her eyes and Gretna, after arranging the blinds so that they would not rattle in the breeze coming in from the sea, tiptoed out of the room.

She went down to the drawing room and picked up the embroidery that Maria had persuaded her to start. It was to cover a small footstool, but Gretna had so far not done more than a few inches.

She tried to concentrate on it, but her thoughts kept going back to the Marquis.

If she closed her eyes, she could see him so vividly driving along the Parade. She could see him too staring at her that first night at Stade Hall, when she had sat at his feet and something lovely and exciting had passed between them.

She had not understood then what it was, but now she knew that it was the awakening of her love for him.

There was a sudden knock at the door and one of the maids stood there.

“Excuse me, miss, but there be a woman downstairs who says the Mistress told ’er to call this evenin’.”

“Oh, but I know who it is!” Gretna exclaimed. “It’s the mother of the little boy who was begging from us this afternoon. Mistress Fitzherbert spoke to him and, when she found that he was one of six children, she told him to send his mother here this evening and she would have something to give them.”

“Shall I tell the Mistress the woman is ’ere?” the maid asked.