Chapter Twenty-Five
~May 26~
Charles handed his mother a glass of Madeira before any of their guests arrived for their dinner party. He needed a bit of Dutch courage and thought his mother might as well.
“Oh, thank you, my dear,” she said and then downed nearly half the glass.
Charles could only laugh as he pulled out his pocket watch to check the time.
“I can’t imagine anyone will turn up right on time,” his mother said, looking at the clock on the mantel.
Charles checked to be sure the time on the clock and that on his watch matched. Naturally, they did. Every clock in the house was precisely set every day.
Just to prove her wrong, a knock was heard at the front door. Charles laughed and replaced his watch. “Who do you think that is?”
“The Brownings would be my guess,” she said w
