Emily Goes to Exeter (15 page)

‘I am sure you are both wishing me gone,’ said Mrs Courtney with an artificial laugh but showing no signs of getting to her feet.

‘I could never bring myself to say such a thing.’ Sir George leaned back in his chair and smiled blandly
on Mrs Courtney. ‘But I fear you will find Miss Pym and me boring company, for we have so much to discuss.’

Mrs Courney bridled. The hint was too obvious. She rose to her feet. ‘But I am so sure I have met you, Miss Pym. Do not worry. I shall recall where and when. I have an excellent memory.’

‘And that is a threat,’ said Hannah gloomily when Mrs Courtney had left the shop. ‘She did meet me at Thornton Hall. She came to find out whether Mr Clarence planned to divorce his wife and quizzed me on the subject. I would have told her but I did not want to shame you by revealing you were taking tea with a servant.’

‘An ex-servant,’ said Sir George. ‘Of what were we talking? Ah, yes, the gardens at Thornton Hall. On your next return, Miss Pym, write to me of your arrival and I shall take you to see them.’

‘I should like that above all things,’ said Hannah, feeling as shy as a girl.

He smiled at her, thinking it was pleasant to squire such a grateful and entertaining lady.

Hannah did not want him to be the first to suggest that they leave, and so she reluctantly gathered up her gloves and reticule.

‘Where are you going now?’ asked Sir George as they stood outside in Berkeley Square. ‘Kensington?’

‘Now,’ said Hannah. ‘I shall go to the Bell Savage in the City and buy a ticket for the Bath coach.’

‘Then let me summon a hack for you.’

‘I would rather walk, sir,’ said Hannah, who was by
now so happy and excited that she felt she would burst if she did not get some exercise.

‘As you will, Miss Pym. All success and good fortune on your next journey.’ He raised his hat and bowed low and Hannah dropped a curtsy. She turned back, however, after a few moments and watched Sir George’s tall figure cross Berkeley Square in the dim light and stood there watching for quite a while after he had disappeared from view.

Then Hannah set out for the City. She wanted to jump, to skip, to shout aloud. He had invited her to see the gardens. She could enjoy her next journey without wondering whether he would remember her or would see her at all.

She stood under a street lamp and pulled a folded newspaper cutting from her reticule and studied it. It was an advertisement for the Bath coach.

She put it away and set out with a brisker stride towards the City.

Hannah no longer felt lonely. There was so much to look forward to. Lord Harley’s wedding, the visit to Thornton Hall gardens, and a whole new adventure on the Bath Road.

The wonderful thing about a stage-coach was that it was a great equalizer. The upper classes, although affecting to despise this mode of travel, often stooped to use it, for a lady, say, could travel with only her maid rather than having to use not only her own carriage but hire five attendants to protect her from the perils of the road.

Hannah finally reached the Bell Savage and purchased an inside ticket for the Bath coach. She stood for a little while afterwards in the bustle of the inn yard. The coach had just arrived from Bath, swinging into the courtyard on its high red wheels. She could smell it, that smell of wood and leather and horse sweat.

Her heart began to beat hard with excitement. She stayed watching and listening for quite a long time before setting out on the long road home. By the time she reached Hyde Park corner, she realized she was tired, but no driver of a hack was going to risk the perils of Knightsbridge Road in darkness and so Hannah forged on alone, nervously looking to right and left, dreading every moment she would be attacked and wondering why she had not gone home immediately after leaving Gunter’s.

But at last she wearily climbed the stairs to her rooms above the bakery. She made up the fire and sat
down exhausted in a battered armchair and kicked off her shoes.

Her eyes began to droop and once more she felt the swaying of the coach and the long blast of the guard’s horn as the Flying Machine bore her through the length and breadth of England.

M
.
C
.
Beaton
is the author of the hugely successful Agatha Raisin, Hamish Macbeth and Edwardian murder mystery series, all published by Constable & Robinson. She left a full-time career in journalism to turn to writing, and now divides her time between the Cotswolds, Paris and Istanbul.

The Travelling Matchmaker series

Emily Goes to Exeter

Penelope Goes to Portsmouth

Deborah Goes to Dover

Belinda Goes to Bath

Beatrice Goes to Brighton

Yvonne Goes to York

The Edwardian Murder Mystery series

Snobbery with Violence
 

Sick of Shadows 

Hasty Death

Our Lady of Pain

The Agatha Raisin series

Agatha
Raisin and the Quiche of Death

Agatha
Raisin and the Potted Gardener

Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet
 

Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of  Dembley

Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage

Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist

Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death

Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham

Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden

Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam

Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell

Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came

Agatha
Raisin and the Curious Curate

Agatha
Raisin and the Deadly Dance

Agatha Raisin and the Haunted  House
 

Agatha Raisin and the Perfect Paragon

Agatha Raisin and Love, Lies and Liquor

Agatha Raisin and Kissing Christmas Goodbye

Agatha
Raisin and a Spoonful of Poison

Agatha Raisin: There Goes the Bride

Agatha Raisin and the Busy Body

The Hamish Macbeth series

Death of a Gossip 

Death of an Outsider

Death of a Hussy

Death of a Prankster

Death of a Travelling Man

Death of a Nag

Death of a Dentist

Death of an Addict

Death of a Dustman

Death of a Village

Death of a Bore

Death of a Maid

Death of a Witch

Death of a Cad
 

Death of a Perfect Wife
 

Death of a Snob

Death of a Glutton
 

Death of a Charming Man
 

Death of a Macho Man
 

Death of a Scriptwriter
 

A Highland Christmas
 

Death of a Celebrity

Death of a Poison Pen
 

Death of a Dreamer
 

Death of a Gentle Lady

Death of a Valentine

Death of a Sweep