Chapter Sixteen“I’ll bet a monkey we have to endure a thunderstorm before nightfall,” Lord Gillingham said, staring out over the sea from the windows of the Orangery.
“’Tis too hot to bet, too hot to be anything but odiously unpleasant,” Isabel replied.
She was seated in a low cushioned chair in front of an open French window which led down onto the green lawns.
The Orangery was one of the most beautiful pieces of architecture in Mandrake. It had been built in the reign of Queen Anne and its designer had arranged that the windows, opening on one side to the sea and on the other to the lawns, should give one the illusion of being afloat in a boat filled with fresh greenery and golden fruit.
In the centre of the Orangery there was a tiny fountain and the water made a rhythmic tinkle as i
