Lord Henfield did not like to say that going out to have a hat repaired before nine in the morning looked suspicious in the extreme, and so commended Miss Yate upon her forethought.

‘I am here as yet without Captain Hathersage, whom I left awaiting the opening of Doctors’ Commons, ma’am, and very much upon the fret. If they do not open upon time, I think it quite likely that he will simply break down the door. He suggests that we await him here, or rather within St George’s church, where I may speak with a clergyman and explain the situation.’

‘That sounds very sensible, my lord, but I was wondering, if I leave the valise and band box, and my cloak, if I might take my maid and make some necessary purchases in Bond Street – things that I neglected to bring with me, or rather ignored for the sake of items of sentimental importance. It is so close by. If I am to be estranged from my mama, I would not be without such mementoes as I treasure, even though it means I am lacking in other items.’ She omitted to say that she had just enough money on her person to buy a hat that her mother had declared ‘far too embellished for one with such a plain face’. She was not the most beautiful young woman, but this had been but the harshness of a woman who did not want to spend money upon her daughter when there were things she desired for herself. Well, the final act of defiance would be that hat, but Dorothea Yate decided, wisely, that gentlemen would not see buying a hat as important. ‘I shall not be long.’

This, of course, was incorrect, because the milliner did not open her doors to her aristocratic clients until half past ten, since none would be likely to be abroad before that hour. Dorothea bit her lip, caught between the desire to commit this symbolic act of rebellion, and also to delight her Clement with the sight of herself in the nicest hat she had ever seen, and the fear that he would think she had met with an accident or, worse, felt unable to go through with the ceremony. She became quite agitated, wringing her gloved hands, and muttering ‘Should I?’, which the maid correctly interpreted as not requiring an answer from herself.