Bath Belles by Joan Smith

is not at all well,”she said, shaking her head and happily taking on his troubles. “The gout, you know. He drinks a little more wine than he should. I wonder if your papa would mind my playing cards for money. Dear me, and I fear I lost nearly a shilling, Belle. Mr. Stone is such a clever hand with cards.”
    Esther and I outlined the afternoon we had arranged and discovered to our astonishment that Mama had made plans of her own. “Mr. Stone is taking me for a drive,”she said, and giggled like a schoolgirl. “I thought you would be here to stay with Esther, Belle. I had no idea Mr. Sutton would ask you out.”
    “Mr. Stone—that old soaker! I wouldn’t be seen dead in a ditch with him if I were you. It’s no great matter. Esther and I will go together with Mr. Sutton and Mr. Duke.”
    Esther was very happy with this arrangement. I was less happy, and quite unhappy that Mama was showing such signs of giddiness over Mr. Stone. I was sure she would ask Esther and Mr. Duke to join her, but she made no such offer,
    “I begin to think it is you who need a chaperon, Mama!”I said in jest.
    “At my age? Why, Belle, you cannot think it is romance! We are only going for a drive, and Charles mentioned stopping off to visit his daughter.”
    “Charles, is it?”
    “He asked me to call him Charles, but I did not ask him to call me Bridget.”
    “Who is this Charles Stone, anyway?”I demanded. I heard echoes of Papa’s stern tone and noticed that Mama assumed the mousish look she had worn whenever Papa was angry. I regretted it as soon as I had spoken.
    “He’s a very fine gentleman, Belle. He used to be an M.P. for some place in Wiltshire. Quite unexceptionable, and besides, I am only going for a drive with him.”
    “Oh, Belle, you’re as bad as Papa!”Esther chided.
    “Your papa was not bad!”Mama said, and burst into tears.
    That was the conclusion to our evening out. Such unusual social activity had left us all on edge. The tyrant relented and said more calmly that we must all be a little careful with London gentlemen.
    “You weren’t so careful with Eliot Sutton,”Esther reminded me.
    “That’s different. He’s Graham’s cousin,”I defended.
    We soon went up to our beds. Memories of the evening floated through my mind as I lay trying to sleep. I thought of the little brass key and wondered whose door it opened. It niggled at my mind, but it didn’t prevent me from enjoying my memories. Mostly I thought of Eliot Sutton, who was so very much like Graham. Was it possible he and I ... But it was early yet for that.
     

Chapter Six
     
    We had just finished breakfast and were putting on pelisses and bonnets for our shopping spree when there was a knock at the front door. “Maybe it’s someone to see the house!”I exclaimed, and rushed to admit the caller.
    I stood blinking at Mr. Maitland, accompanied by Mr. Duke, and a very odd pair they made, the one so tall and gallant, the other so stumpy and rumpled.
    “As you see, it’s me again, Miss Haley,”Mr. Duke said, and stepped in uninvited.
    “We are just going out,”I objected. Mr. Maitland had enough manners to stay on the doorstep, but in the end I nodded him into the hall, as Mr. Duke was already in the saloon, babbling some inanity to Esther.
    “Jolly fine day, only as cold as bedamned, and a miserable gray sky,”I heard him say.
    “At least it’s not raining—or snowing,”Mama replied.
    “We’ve come at an inconvenient time. We’ll return later,”Mr. Maitland said.
    I was very curious to learn why he was here at all, and I gave some indication of this. “I must talk to you,”was all he said, but he said it rather imperatively.
    “There are a few things I’d like to say to you as well,”I shot back swiftly.
    He cast a disarmingly intimate smile at me. “I wager there are. Who could blame you? But I want a chance to explain my farouche behavior.”
    “As you can see, we were just leaving. I can’t disappoint Esther and