Chapter Two
Great Expectations
Her first Tea with her new in-laws was a tense experience for the newlywed who, while eager to make a good impression, still felt a bit unsettled by recent events. She found herself looking to Lady Maude for reassurance, and there she found a gracious hostess, a worldly-wise woman with a fond, almost maternal smile, always ready for her. Philippa sighed in silent admiration of the genteel poise that air of supreme self-confidence the older woman exuded. On the other hand, she had to keep her gaze from the grinning Uncle Max, whose restless animal energy still unnerved her. She felt she was getting more used to the man’s rough, gregarious ways, the jokes and s****l innuendoes, more appropriate to the male locker room, she imagined. Lady Maude took these off-
