Lady of Quality

'My aunt, and his father,' said Lucilla, nodding towards her escort. 'And very likely my uncle too, if he can be persuaded to bestir himself !' she added.

'Good God!' exclaimed Miss Wychwood, her eyes dancing. 'Can it be that I am assisting in an elopement?'

The haste with which both the lady and the gentleman repudiated this suggestion was attended by so much vehemence, and with so much loathing, that Miss Wychwood was hard put to it not to burst out laughing. She managed to keep her countenance, and said, with only a tiny tremor in her voice: 'I beg your pardon! Indeed, I can't think how I came to say anything so shatter-brained, for something seemed to tell me at the outset that it was not an elopement!'

Lucilla said, with dignity: 'I may be a sad romp, I may be a little gypsy, and my want of conduct may give people a disgust of me, but I am not lost to all sense of propriety, whatever my aunt says, and nothing could prevail on me to elope with anyone! Not even if I were madly in love, which I'm not! As for eloping with Ninian, that would be a nonsensical thing to do, because–'

'I wish you will keep your tongue, Lucy!' interrupted Ninian, looking very much vexed. 'You rattle on like a regular bagpipe, and see what comes of it!' He turned towards Annis, saying stiffly: 'I cannot wonder at it that you were misled into supposing that we are eloping. The case is far otherwise.'

'Yes, it is,' corroborated Lucilla. 'Far, far otherwise! The truth is that I am escaping from Ninian!'

'I see!' said Annis sympathetically. 'And he is helping you to do it!'

'Well, yes – in a way he is,' Lucilla admitted. 'Not that I wished him to help me, but – but the circumstances made it very difficult for me to stop him. It – it is all rather complicated, I'm afraid.'

'It does seem to be,' agreed Annis. 'And if you are going to explain it to me – not that I wish to be vulgarly inquisitive! – how would it be if you were to get into my carriage, and allow me to convey you to wherever it is in Bath that you wish to go?'

Lucilla cast a somewhat longing look at the carriage, but shook a resolute head. 'No. It is very kind of you, but it would be too shabby of me to leave Ninian behind, and I won't do it!'

'Yes, you will!' said Ninian. 'I have been wondering how to get you to Bath before you are quite frozen, and if this lady will take you there I shall be very much obliged to her.'

'I will certainly take her there,' said Annis, smiling at him. 'My name, by the way, is Wychwood – Miss Annis Wychwood.'

'And mine, ma'am, is Elmore – Ninian Elmore, entirely at your service!' he responded, with great gallantry, 'And this is –'

'Ninian, no!' cried Lucilla, much flustered. 'If she were to tell my aunt where I am –'

'Oh, don't be afraid of that!' said Annis cheerfully. 'Never shall it be said of me that I'm an addle-plot, I promise you! I collect that you are going to visit a friend, or perhaps a relation?'

'Well, – well not precisely! In fact, I haven't met her yet!' disclosed Lucilla, in a rush of confidence. 'The thing is, ma'am, I am going to apply for the post of companion to her. She says – I have brought the notice I saw in the Morning Post with me, but most foolishly packed it in my portmanteau, so that I can't immediately show it to you – but she says she requires an active and genteel young lady of willing disposition, and that applicants must call at her residence in North Parade between the hours of –'

'North Parade!' exclaimed Annis.

'My poor child, can it be that you are going to visit Mrs Nibley?'

'Yes,' faltered Lucilla, dismayed by Miss Wychwood's very obvious pity. 'The Honourable Mrs Nibley, which made me think she must be a perfectly respectable person. Isn't she, ma'am?'

'Oh, yes! A pattern-card of respectability!' answered Annis. 'Renowned in Bath as the town's worst archwife! She has had I don't know how many active and genteel ladies to wait on her hand and foot during the three years I've been acquainted with her. Either they leave her house in strong hysterics, or she turns them off because they have not been sufficiently active or willing! My dear, do believe me when I tell you that the post she offers would not do for you!'

'I guessed as much!' interpolated Mr Elmore, not without satisfaction.

Lucilla bore all the appearance of having sustained a stunning blow, but at this her spirit flickered up in a brief revival, and she said: 'No, you didn't! Pray, how could you have guessed anything of the sort?'

'Well, at all events, I guessed no good would come of such a bird-witted start, and I said so at the time! You can't deny that! Now what do you mean to do?'

'I don't know,' said Lucilla, her lips trembling. 'I shall have to think of something.'

'There's only one thing you can do, and that is to return to Mrs Amber,' he said.

'Oh, no, no, no!' she cried passionately. 'I would rather hire myself out as a cook-maid than go back to be scolded, and reproached, and told I had made my aunt ill, and forced to marry you, which is what would happen, on account of my having run away with you! And it wouldn't be the least use to tell my aunt, or your papa, that I didn't run away with you, but away from you, because even if they believed me they would think it worse, and say we must be married!'

He blenched visibly, and ejaculated: 'Oh, my God, that's just what they would do! What a hobble we're in! It almost makes me wish I hadn't caught you creeping out of the house, and thought it my duty to see you came to no harm!'

'Forgive me!' interposed Miss Wychwood. 'May I offer a suggestion?' She smiled at Lucilla, and held out her hand. 'If you are set on being a companion, come and be a companion to me!' She heard Miss Farlow within the carriage utter a faint, outraged clucking, and made haste to add: 'It won't do, you know, to be putting up at an hotel, all by yourself; and it's not to be expected that Mrs Nibley – even if she engaged you, which I think extremely unlikely – would be prepared to do so immediately. She will require you to furnish her with the name and direction of some respectable person willing to vouch for you.'

'Oh, goodness!' exclaimed Lucilla, dismayed. 'I never thought of that!'

'Most understandable that you should not!' said Annis. 'One can't think of everything, after all! But I do feel that it is a matter which ought to be considered, and I also feel that it is quite impossible to consider anything when one is standing in the open road, with a perfectly horrid wind positively freezing one's wits! So do, pray, get into my carriage! Mr Elmore will follow us in due course, and we can discuss the matter when we have dined, and are sitting snugly beside the fire.'