“I will not forget,” Gerry nodded, “but I would rather talk to his Lordship than that other man.”
Erlina then went to her own room and lay on the bed to think things through.
She could not help being feminine enough to resent Lady Isabel’s hostility to her.
She therefore chose to wear for dinner one of the prettiest gowns that she had brought down from the attic.
It was a little too big for her, but fortunately the current fashion had decreed that there should be no waist.
The skirt fell from under the bust. It was decorated with satin flowers round the hem and on the puffed sleeves.
Erlina did not like to think about how much the gown must have cost.
She knew that neither she nor her mother had ever owned such an expensive gown.
It was indeed fortunate that the Marchioness had bou
