CHAPTER SEVENThere was the sound of birds singing and the soft buzz of a bee against the windowpanes. Clarinda lay listening for a little while before she opened her eyes.
The sun coming in from the big casement facing her was almost blinding and she stared about her in bewilderment at the carved posts of the great bed she was in, at the blue draped curtains, the gilt mirrors and gold framed pictures.
“Where am I?” she asked aloud.
In an instant Betty was beside her.
“Oh, Miss Clarinda, you’re awake!” she exclaimed.
“Yes, I am awake,” Clarinda answered slowly. “I seem to have slept for a long time.”
“Five days, miss,” Betty told her.
“Five days!”
Clarinda felt almost speechless.
“But why? And where am I?”
“You’re at Melburne, miss. His Lordship felt it best to bring you here in c
