Jonathan chuckled. “Apparently Guy sent word that you were to be met by his motor, not the barouche.” He flung an arm around his sister’s shoulders and steered her toward the station entrance. “You should be at Ashton Court within the hour.”

The driver in a chauffeur’s livery stood at the door of the sleek motor vehicle on the cobbled drive outside the station. He tipped his hat and opened the low-slung passenger door. “Welcome, Lady Ashton. We’ll have you home in no time.”

Petra kissed her brother goodbye and stepped into the car. The chauffeur tucked a fur lap robe around her. “There’s a hot brick for your feet, m’lady.”

Her booted feet encountered the brick, its warmth instantly soothing. “Lovely, thank you.” She waved goodbye to Joth and as she did so caught sight of Clothilde and her escort emerging from the station. Clothilde paused and looked directly at Petra. In the gloom of late afternoon Petra felt rather than saw clearly the malice in those lavender-blue eyes. She felt the hairs on her nape lift for an instant, as she realized the woman was making her way across the cobbled forecourt toward her.

“Lady Delmont? What brings you to Bristol?” She greeted her with a bland smile.

“Oh, a private matter,” the lady responded. She leaned toward Petra. “Are you perhaps rusticating in the country, Lady Ashton? I understand there was something of an embarrassing spectacle in town the other day. The newspapers appeared to find it amusing, but I doubt Lord Ashton appreciated it.” Her smile flickered, reminding Petra of the darting tip of a snake’s tongue.

“How very well informed you are, Lady Delmont,” she returned. “But perhaps you don’t know everything. I bid you good afternoon.” Pointedly, she turned her head to the front as the car rumbled out of the forecourt leaving Clothilde still standing on the cobbles.

Petra’s renewed sense of cheer had disappeared the moment the woman had approached her. The malice in her eyes as she’d taunted Petra with Guy’s reaction to the spectacle his wife had created plunged her anew into misery. For all her bravado she couldn’t deny that in this matter Clothilde Delmont knew how her former lover would react all too well.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Five