Chapter SixteenIn her room Rachel reviewed the damage, and decided that it might have been much worse. She was bruised and she was scratched, but that was the worst of it.
‘And you’ll go straight to your bed, Miss Rachel, and not see no one,’ said Louisa tearfully.
Rachel considered. She could say that she had had a fall, and either go to bed or sit comfortably here by the fire. But she wondered if it would be humanly possible to keep Mabel out of her room, because if it meant a tête-à-tête with Mabel, she would rather confront the whole family and have done with it. Also she wanted to see Miss Silver.
She stood warm and relaxed from her bath and looked thoughtfully at Louisa.
‘What I’d like to do, Louie, would be to have my dinner here quietly by the fire in my dressing-gown with Nois
