“Very good, my Lady,” the maid said and curtseyed.
Nerina sat up in bed and put her arms round her knees.
‘So I’ve won,’ she thought. ‘He will not visit Lady Clementine after all.’
She was elated with her victory and, when Bessie came in a few minutes later, she found her lying back on her pillows smiling happily at the ceiling.
“What’s pleasin’ your Ladyship?” Bessie enquired.
“Me, myself,” Nerina answered. “I am the cleverest person that ever was, I am really, Bessie. I always thought I had brains, but now I am sure I have.”
“Pride goes before a fall,” Bessie muttered. “Is it true we are leavin’ for Wroth at midday?”
“Yes and I am longing to see The Castle,” Nerina replied. “Elizabeth did not tell me anything about it. She was so full of misery at the thought that she might have t
