“Spoilsport!” he hissed in my ear. “No dicky for you later, my boy,” he said, confirming my thought that he’d planned to say something embarrassing. All but Sissy turned to see what had made the noise.
Matthew departed for the kitchen while, in keeping with my new status as servant, I followed behind the rest of the party out of the main door. My destination was the stables, but for the moment, I remained with the family as we crossed the quadrangle in front of the house.
“I must say, Flora, I’m rather disappointed that your workmen have not maintained the old tennis courts. I do like to see nicely mowed stripes in the grass. I’m afraid our workmen at our dacha outside St. Petersburg never seemed to manage it either. They can never manage to get the lines straight. Of course, Vladimir li
