grandmother say if she arrived to find an uninvited stranger in her house? A nameless stranger at that!’
‘You have a name. It’s Anne.’
‘Anne,’ she said. ‘It’s a pretty name. But it doesn’t somehow sound quite right.’
‘It will do for the moment,’ James said firmly.
‘There’s something else, Lord Aldhurst…’
‘What is it?’
‘You said…You told that doctor that he might be in danger if he took me in. What did you mean?’
‘I didn’t want an argument about where you should stay, that’s all.’
She shook her head. ‘Please be honest with me! What are these marks on my wrist? It wasn’t just a story to put Dr Liston off. I have been tied up, haven’t I?’
‘It looks like it.’
‘So there is danger…I knew it. I have this feeling…of some kind of threat…and…and something I have to do…But I don’t know what it is!’ She held her head in her hands. After a few moments she looked up again. ‘Why can’t I remember?’
James heard the beginning of panic in her voice and said, ‘Stop! Stop this at once. It won’t do you any good, Anne. And you can forget about danger. I told you last night—you’re perfectly safe here. Or…do you not trust me?’
‘Of course I trust you. I have to. There’s no one else.’
‘Exactly. So listen to me! You will remember who you are, and where you have come from quite soon. And if you don’t we shall set about finding out. But the first step is to get your strength back. Agreed?’
She nodded.
‘Then give me a smile.’ She smiled tremulously.
‘Brave girl! Not at all poor-spirited.’ He regarded her white face. ‘Now where is Mrs Gage? Liston said you were to have something to eat and then a rest, and that is what you shall do. Ah! I can hear her coming. But you’ll have to sit up straighter than that.’ He bent over and put his arms round her to lift her higher in the bed.
It wasn’t Mrs Gage who came in, but Mrs Culver. She gave a loud cough.
‘I believe the doctor ordered some food for the patient, my lord. The maid is just bringing up some soup for her.’
‘Ah, there you are, Mrs Culver,’ said James, completely unaffected by the look of shocked disapproval on her face. ‘Good. I’m sure Miss Anne is ready for it.’ He grinned at the housekeeper unrepentantly. ‘The pillows had slipped, Cully, and I was straightening them. That was all.’
Mrs Culver remained unappeased. ‘That wasn’t at all necessary, my lord. That is my job. It’s what I came in to do,’ she said austerely. She paused. ‘Am I to understand that the young lady has now remembered her name?’
‘No, but until she does we shall call her “Anne”.’
‘Very good, my lord.’ She took the tray from the maidservant who had followed her in and put it on the bed. ‘Now, Miss Anne, you must finish this all up, and then have a good rest. His lordship is a busy man, but he might find time to pay you a short visit this evening. Is that not so, my lord?’ She gave him a severe look. ‘A short visit.’
‘Of course! Whatever you say, Cully.’ James turned to the girl. ‘Try not to worry. Enjoy that soup if you can.
I remember it from my childhood. I wasn’t too fond of it then, and I don’t suppose it tastes any better now.’
‘It’s good, wholesome food and it didn’t do your lordship any harm,’ said Mrs Culver. ‘Nor your brother, either. Don’t listen to him, miss.’
After James had gone out, Anne took a sip of the soup. ‘What is his lordship thinking of? This is delicious!’ She finished the plateful eagerly, but refused an offer of more. Mrs Culver removed the tray and told the maid to take it out. Then, after she had tidied up and seen to Anne’s needs, she sat down on the chair by the bed. ‘I’ll just stay till you are ready to sleep, miss,’ she said.
Resting thankfully against the pillows Anne said, ‘Lord Aldhurst is very kind. Have you known him long, Mrs Culver?’
‘Ever since he was a little boy. His lordship and Master John lived here with their grandmother when the boys’ parents were off on their travels.’
‘Master John?’
‘His lordship’s younger brother.’ Mrs Culver sighed. ‘But he died, and now there are just the two of them left—Lady Aldhurst and his lordship.’
‘Lord Aldhurst is not married?’
‘Not yet.’ Mrs Culver gave Anne a look. ‘But I understand that he is as good as engaged. Before she left for London Lady Aldhurst was sure it was all settled.’
‘So he…he has someone in mind?’
Mrs Culver nodded and said cheerfully, ‘His lordship could have married any one of a number of young ladies, of course, but he and Lady Barbara have known each other since they were young. It would be a very suitable match.’ She paused. ‘And we’ll all be very pleased when he does marry. It’s time we had a new generation of Aldhursts running about the place.’ She got up from her chair. ‘But I can see it’s time you had a rest. I’ll get one of the maids to call in on you occasionally, but she won’t wake you. Sleep is the best cure for most maladies.’
But sleep would not come to the girl in the bed. She had found the news that James Aldhurst was about to be married dispiriting. He was her rock, her safe place in the uninhabited wilderness that was her world at the moment, and, however unjustified, the thought that he was about to marry someone else was most unwelcome.
She lay awake, thinking about her rescuer. He had been gentle enough with her, but she suspected he was not usually a patient man. He was an aristocrat to his fingertips, self-assured, his manner occasionally verging on the autocratic. But the servants seemed to like him. And there had been laughter in those grey eyes. Tall, athletic, dark haired, grey-eyed, with a sense of humour—James Aldhurst was a very attractive man…And, she told herself, he was a man who was about to marry. It was better to stop thinking how attractive he was!
She looked round the room for something to distract her and her eye was caught by a mirror on the dressing table opposite the bed. With a shock she realised that she had not the slightest idea of what she herself looked like. Was she beautiful? Or was she plain? What was the colour of her hair, her eyes? She pulled a strand of her hair forwards and saw that it was dark brown. But her eyes? Did she have a squint? Was her nose crooked? Were there gaps in her teeth? She stroked her nose. It felt reassuringly straight. And when she ran her tongue over her teeth they all seemed to be there. That left the question of her eyes, and that couldn’t be settled without looking in a mirror.
But the mirror lay tantalisingly out of reach. She sank back. Perhaps it would be better not to see herself at the moment…She would not be looking her best. A bandage was not an aid to beauty, and it was perfectly possible she had a black eye, too. She lay fretting about this for a full minute before she decided that it was no use—she had to get to that mirror!
When she first put her feet to the ground she was not so sure, but after a minute or two she managed to stand without too much difficulty. Taking one step at a time, she held on to the chair, the foot of the bed. So far, so good…She stretched out for the table…and suddenly her legs gave way and she lost her balance.
Rose heard the crash and came running in. When she saw her charge lying on the floor in a heap she ran out in a panic, calling frantically for Mrs Culver.
James had been out with the agent and had just come in. He was in the hall when he heard the maid’s cries, leapt up the stairs three at a time and was stunned when he got to the bedroom door to see Anne lying in a crumpled heap by