Emily Goes to Exeter Read Free Page B

in his latter years, Miss Pym,’ said Sir George.
    ‘Mr Clarence was never unkind or unreasonable, sir,’ said Hannah. ‘I felt for him. He had a broken heart. I do not know how Mrs Clarence, who was the soul of kindness, could have treated him so.’
    ‘I do not think hearts break,’ sighed Sir George. ‘My brother was always moody and depressed even as a young man. Letitia Renfrew, as she was before she married him, was a great reader of Gothic novels. What she saw in my brother was brooding passion, very romantic. She was sadly mistaken. He must have been a sore trial to her.’
    ‘Sir!’ Hannah looked at him in amazement, her eyes suddenly as blue as her cloak. ‘You surely do not condone such behaviour.’
    He shrugged. ‘I can understand it. My brother wasset to become a recluse whether she stayed or went, in my opinion.’
    ‘Do you know where Mrs Clarence is?’ asked Hannah.
    He shook his head.
    ‘So pretty and kind,’ mused Hannah. ‘She is probably dead by now.’
    ‘Why do you say that?’
    ‘She was not brought up to work or even to scrimp and save. A footman’s wages, even if he got another post, could not keep her, and besides, footmen are not allowed to marry or even to pretend to be married.’
    ‘Letitia was a wealthy woman in her own right.’
    ‘But surely that money would become her husband’s when she married him?’
    ‘No, she was protected by the marriage settlements. She would have enough to keep herself and her footman in comfort for life. Does that shock you?’ he asked, looking at the housekeeper’s startled face.
    ‘I have been brought up to believe that the wicked are always punished,’ said Hannah primly.
    ‘Quite often not in this world. She was not wicked, only young and heedless, and tied to a man who must have made life seem like a desert.’
    ‘But she has to live with her guilty conscience,’ said Hannah.
    ‘Perhaps. Have another cake. So where do you plan to travel first?’
    ‘Exeter, sir.’
    ‘Exeter! In midwinter with the snow falling? Why Exeter? Why not Brighton? That’s a short run.’
    ‘But it is the Exeter Fly that I watch going past,’ said Hannah. ‘I want to be on it. I want to see the house from the road.’
    He took out his card case and extracted a card. ‘I fear for you, Miss Pym,’ he said. ‘Take my card and come and see me on your return and let me know your adventures.’
    ‘Oh, sir, I should be most honoured. How soon may I leave?’
    ‘Let me see, Mr Entwhistle is coming in two days’ time to Thornton Hall to pay off the few servants who qualify for the two hundred pounds. All the servants may as well be paid off at the same time. I will put a caretaker and his wife into Thornton Hall to keep it aired and cleaned until I decide to sell it. This can all be arranged quite quickly and there is really not much more for you to do. Say, in a week’s time. Now what is troubling you?’ he asked, seeing those odd eyes of hers lose colour.
    Hannah gave a genteel cough. ‘I have to confess, sir, that this cloak and hat are not my own. They belong to Mrs Clarence. She left all her clothes behind and … and … I could not … did not want to appear in servant’s clothes on this momentous day. I wondered, sir, if I might pay you for them.’
    ‘There is no need for that. Take what you wish, although no doubt everything is sadly outmoded. All your worries are over, Miss Pym. Relax and enjoy your cakes and look forward to your first journey on a Flying Machine.’
    Hannah was by now Sir George’s devoted slave. No one in all her life had treated her with suchcourtesy. He was a god. But some innate sensitivity made her mask her adoration. She feared that he might misread any admiration on her part and think this family servant was getting ideas above her station. She covertly looked around her at the well-bred faces, at the fearfully expensive clothes, at the snow whirling outside the leaded windows, at the piles of sweetmeats and