Runaway Miss. Mary Nichols

not?’ she demanded.

      ‘Determination, independence, more than your share of looks. Do you think your employer will like those traits? The role, I believe, requires you to be self-effacing and to remain in the background.’

      How did they get from discussing the history of Leicester to this personal exchange which was making her very uncomfortable? For the first time since her flight she began to wonder about her future, which was in the hands of her mother’s friend. If Mrs Summers rejected her, refused to harbour her, what would she do? Rose would leave her soon to go back to her own mother and she would be without any kind of support. What use determination and independence then? ‘We shall have to wait and see,’ she said.

      ‘And if you do not suit?’

      ‘Then I shall have to find something else.’

      ‘Do you know the Lake District, Miss Draper?’

      ‘No, I have never visited it.’

      ‘If you need assistance, I shall be happy to provide it.’

      She laughed, slightly bitterly. ‘I thought you said you had no use for a lady’s companion.’