An Unconventional Countess (Regency Belles of Bath 1)

‘In a manner. That is, she said...’ She winced, as if she were considering the wisdom of telling him.

‘What?’

Clarissa looked apologetic. ‘She said that if you tried to follow her then I should tell you that a marriage between you would never have worked and that by the time you reach Bath she’ll be Mrs Etton.’

‘Etton?’

‘Yes, but I have to say she didn’t look very happy about it.’

‘What time did she leave exactly?’

‘It was just before three o’clock yesterday. She took the carriage.’

‘Three o’clock.’ Samuel glanced at his pocket-watch and calculated. It was almost noon now, which meant that a carriage travelling in daylight would have a six-or, at best, seven-hour start. A big enough lead to reach Bath ahead of him, though surely not to arrange a marriage, as well. He still had time.

‘Are you going after her?’ Clarissa called out as he raced back down the front steps.

‘Yes!’ He stopped, considered and then turned back, removing his hat and making a bow. ‘Staunton is yours in the meantime, Lady Staunton. I know you’ll take good care of it.’

Chapter Twenty-Two

Home. Anna pushed open the front door of Belles, set down her bag and breathed a heavy sigh of relief. She was home. There were no customers at that moment, nor any sign of Henrietta either, allowing her to look around uninterrupted. So much had happened over the past few weeks that she’d been vaguely apprehensive that things might have changed here, too, but everything was just as she remembered. The counters were gleaming, the tins neatly stacked and, judging by the empty trays on the shelves, they were nearly sold out of biscuits, too. It all looked and smelled comforting and reassuring—exactly what she needed.

‘Anna!’ Henrietta must have

heard the bell because she came through from the kitchen after a few moments, rushing to embrace her. ‘You’re here!’

‘Yes.’ She hugged her back, feeling a rush of affection for her assistant. After Lady Staunton’s bristly companionship it felt good to be greeted so warmly.

‘I didn’t expect to see you for another week at least.’

‘I felt homesick.’ Anna smiled, looking Henrietta up and down in surprise. There was something different about her, as if she’d grown in stature. She seemed older and more competent, exuding a new air of confidence, too. Maybe a few things had changed after all... ‘You look very well.’

‘Do you think so?’ Henrietta smoothed a hand over her hair in her old familiar gesture. ‘My brother said the same thing.’

‘Managing a shop obviously suits you.’

‘I’ve enjoyed it. Not that I didn’t miss you, of course, but I was so pleased when the Baroness came and said you were going to marry Captain Delaney. I knew he was smitten with you. I could tell, right from the start. Is he back in Bath, too?’

‘No, he has business to attend to in Staunton.’ Anna shrugged her shoulders awkwardly, hurrying to change the subject as Henrietta’s face fell. ‘Now tell me everything that’s happened here.’

‘Oh... Well, mostly we’ve just carried on as usual, except that Nancy—you know one of Lady Jarrow’s maids—has been taking a basket around town every morning and we’ve made a small fortune outside the Pump Rooms. I think people want something to take away the taste of the water. And then some afternoons we’ve taken a basket to Pulteney Bridge, too...’

Anna listened with half an ear to the details, half pleased, half perturbed that everything had run on so smoothly in her absence. She was starting to feel discomfited altogether. As much as it all looked and smelt like home, it no longer felt quite the same. She didn’t feel the same, as if she’d somehow become redundant in her absence. Worse than that, she wasn’t sure she belonged there any more, either.

‘But that’s all business.’ Henrietta seemed to become self-conscious suddenly. ‘Isn’t your mother with you, either?’

‘No. She decided to stay in Feversham for a while.’

‘So she and your grandmother are reconciled?’

‘Yes, it all went very well. As well as we could ever have hoped for, really.’ She pressed her lips together as tears stung the backs of her eyelids.

‘Anna?’ Henrietta peered at her anxiously. ‘Are you all right?’

‘No.’ She gave a loud sniff and shook her head. ‘No, I don’t think I am. Oh, Henrietta, I don’t know what I’m going to do...’

* * *