Lady of Quality

'Well, I meant it as a compliment!' said Lucilla, slightly aggrieved.

'Good God!' he said.

Ninian chuckled, and said: 'I told you so! I don't like Lovely Lady either: a sickly name to give a horse! But at least it's better than the other!'

'Shall we ride on to visit the Saxon fortifications, or would you prefer to remain here abusing one another?' intervened Miss Wychwood.

Thus called to order the combatants hastily begged pardon, and the whole party moved forward.

Ten

It was considerably past noon when Miss Wychwood re-entered her house, and there were unmistakable signs that her uninvited guests had arrived, and were partaking of a late nuncheon in the breakfast parlour. James was halfway up the stairs, lugging, with the assistance of one of the maids, a large trunk; the pageboy was collecting as many of the smaller articles of luggage as he could conveniently carry; Lady Wychwood's abigail was sharply admonishing him, and warning James to be careful not to let the trunk fall; and Limbury had just come out of the parlour with a tray. He was looking somewhat harassed, as well he might, for the hall was littered with portmanteaux, valises, and bandboxes, amongst which he was forced to pick his way. At sight of his mistress, he looked even more harassed, and begged her to excuse the disorder, in a voice which gave her to understand that it was no fault of his that the luggage was still in the hall. 'The coach in which it was packed, ma'am, arrived barely a quarter of an hour ago, and since Nurse wanted something out of one of the trunks, and insisted on searching for it immediately, and was unable to recall in which of the trunks she had packed it, we have been, as you might say, slightly impeded.' He added, in an expressionless tone: 'It happened to be in one of the valises, ma'am.'

The abigail took up the tale, bobbing a curtsy, and saying that she was sure she was excessively sorry that Miss should have come home to find her house in such a pickle, which would not have happened if the second-coachman had not fallen so far behind on the road, and if Nurse had not been so foolish as to have packed at the bottom of a trunk what one would have supposed she must have known she would need on the journey.

'Well, never mind,' said Miss Wychwood. 'Are Sir Geoffrey and her ladyship eating a nuncheon, Limbury?'

Lucilla, who was looking at the impedimenta in roundeyed astonishment, whispered: 'Good gracious, ma'am! What an extraordinary amount of baggage for just a few days! One would think they had come to spend months with you!'

'They probably have,' replied Miss Wychwood bitterly. 'Run up and change your dress, my love! I must greet my sister-in-law, I suppose, before I do the same.'

'I will bring a fresh pot of tea for you directly, Miss Annis. Would you care for a baked egg, or a bowl of soup?'

'No, nothing, thank you: I'm not hungry!'

Limbury bowed, set his tray down on one of the trunks, and opened the door for Miss Wychwood to pass into the parlour.

Her brother, his wife, and Miss Farlow were seated at the table, but they all rose, and Amabel tottered towards her, and almost fell into her arms, saying faintly: 'Oh, Annis, dearest one, how glad I am to see you at last! How good you are to me! You cannot imagine how much I have longed for you through this dreadfully agitating time! I can't describe to you what I have been through! Now I can be comfortable again!'

'Of course you can!' said Annis, returning her fond embrace, and gently pushing her back to her chair. 'Sit down, and tell me how Tom is!'

Lady Wychwood shuddered. 'Oh, my poor, precious little son! He was so brave through it all, even though he was screaming with pain most of the night! Nothing eased it until I ventured to give him a few drops of laudanum, in a teaspoon, which did send him to sleep for a very little while, bu

t, alas, not for long, and I dared not give him any more, for I am convinced it is unwise to dose children with laudanum. And this morning the pain was so much worse that if the trunks had not been packed, and the horses harnessed, I think I must have gone against Geoffrey's wishes, and taken the poor little love to Melling after all!'

Miss Wychwood cast a satirical glance at her brother. He was obviously discomposed, but he returned the glance with a defiant glare, and said, in minatory accents: 'You forget, my love, that it was you who wished Westcott to see Tom!'

'Oh, I am persuaded you were right, dear Lady Wychwood!' exclaimed Miss Farlow, for once in her life stepping opportunely into an awkward breach. 'My dear father always said that it was a false economy to consult any but the best medical practitioners in such cases! I daresay this Melling you speak of would have bungled the extraction, but once Westcott had coaxed dear little Tom to open his mouth he whisked the tooth out in the shake of a lamb's tail!'

'Well, that's good news, at all events!' said Miss Wychwood. 'I collect he is now relieved of his pain, for I heard no screams of anguish when I entered the house.'

'He is asleep,' said Lady Wychwood, sinking her voice as though she feared to disturb the rest of her son, tucked into a crib three floors above her. She directed a wan smile at Miss Farlow, and said: 'Cousin Maria sang lullabies to him until he dropped off. I don't think I can ever be grateful enough to her for all she has done this morning! She even accompanied us to Westcott's, and was of the greatest support to me through the ordeal. She had the strength of mind to hold Tom's hands down at the Fatal Moment, which I could not bring myself to do!'

'But where was Geoffrey at the Fatal Moment?' enquired Annis, in seeming bewilderment.

Lady Wychwood began to explain that Geoffrey had been unable to go to the dentist because he had a business engagement in the town, but he broke in on this, well-aware that his loving sister was not one to be so easily bamboozled. 'No use trying to come crab over Annis, my love!' he said, laughing. 'She's far too needle-witted! Well, you are right, Annis, and I don't mind owning that I cut my stick when I saw what a state Tom had worked himself into, kicking, and screaming, and saying he wouldn't have his tooth drawn! Well, what could I do in such a situation, I ask you?'

'Spanked him!' said Annis.

He grinned, and admitted that he had been strongly tempted to do so, but Amabel uttered a shocked protest, and Miss Farlow said that she knew he was only funning, and that it would have been the height of brutality to have spanked dear little Tom when he was demented with the agony he was suffering.

Annis then withdrew, saying that she must put off her ridinghabit, and recommending Amabel to lie down on her bed for an hour or two, to recover from so many sleepless nights. As she left the room, she heard Miss Farlow eagerly endorsing this piece of advice, assuring dear Lady Wychwood that she had no need to be anxious about poor little Tom, and telling her that a hot brick had already been put into her bed. 'For I gave orders for that to be done before we drove to Westcott's, knowing that you would be quite exhausted, after all the trials you have been forced to undergo!'

Sir Geoffrey, following his sister out of the room, caught up with her at the head of the stairs. 'Stay a moment, Annis!' he said. 'Something I wish to consult with you about! These new vapour-baths which I hear so much about: do you agree with me that they would be of benefit to Amabel? The state of her health has been causing me grave concern – very grave concern! She insists that she is in perfectly good point, but you must have noticed how pulled she looks! It's my belief she never has been in high health since her confinement, and this unfortunate business of Tom's abscess has put her quite out of curl. You would be doing me a great favour if you would prevail upon her to take a course of the baths, which, I'm told, are excellent in such cases.'

She regarded him steadily, and with a disquieting smile in her eyes, which had a discomposing effect on him, but all she said was: 'I am sorry you should feel so anxious about her. She is certainly tired, and overwrought, but that was to be expected, wasn't it, after so many sleepless nights? She seemed, when I was visiting you, to be in a capital way!'

He shook his head. 'Ah, she is never one to complain of feeling out of sorts, and, I daresay, would be laid by the wall before she would admit to being fagged to death when you were visiting us! But so it was – not that she will own it!'