The Accidental Marriage by Sally James Page B

there wasn’t room for all of us in the main coach. We had to travel more slowly, so we are a few days behind them. They won’t know what’s happened to us.’
    ‘You can send a letter to London, it will reach your sister a few days after she arrives at home.’
    ‘Thank you, yes, I’ll do that.’
    ‘I see. You will be able to see Maggie tomorrow. But now I have a drink for you. I expect you are thirsty.’
    She helped Julia to sit up and drink. It was pleasant, some sort of fruit tisane, Julia thought, but soon she was too drowsy to ask more questions, and sank back to sleep.
    It was dark when she woke again, but there was a lamp, turned low, on the floor in a corner of the room, and a nun sat quietly on a stool beside the bed, telling her beads. When Julia stirred she rose and put a cool palm on Julia’s forehead
    ‘Good, you do not have the fever now.’
    ‘I’m quite well. What time is it? May I get up? Where are my clothes, please? And where is Maggie?’
    ‘So many questions! It’s almost dawn. Maggie is being well looked after. I will fetch you some food, and afterwards you may dress and go to see her.’
    She would say no more until Julia had eaten some soft, delicious rolls spread with sweet butter and cherry conserve, and drunk a cup of strong, aromatic coffee. She left the room taking the tray with her, and returned with the clothes Julia had been wearing. A second nun followed with a jug of water and some towels, and Julia saw there was a small washstand in the far corner of the cell.
    ‘I will come back for you in a few minutes,’ she said. ‘I have brought a brush for your hair.’
    To her annoyance, Julia felt astonishingly weak. She discovered she was wearing a voluminous nightgown, not her own, and she must have been bathed while she was asleep or unconscious, for her body smelled of delicate flowers, not rank river water, and she could smell the same on the soap which rested on the towels. She managed to strip off the nightgown and wash, then she struggled into her own clothes, which were freshly laundered, the underclothes smelling of lavender. Her woollen gown had, she saw, been expertly washed, but it had shrunk a little from its immersion in the river, and clung to her body. Some of the dye had been lost, but it was warm and she was thankful to have it. In addition there was a thick shawl, which she pulled round her shoulders.
    She brushed her hair, which had also been washed. How long had she been unconscious, and how deeply, for her to be treated like that and not be aware of it?
    Instead of her own boots there was a pair of soft leather slippers, lined with fur, and thankfully she slipped them on. The room was cold. Then she sank down onto the bed, feeling unaccountably weak after the effort.
    A minute or so later the nun returned.
    ‘Are you able to walk?’ she asked.
    ‘I feel weak,’ Julia confessed, ‘but I must see Maggie.’
    ‘First the Mother Superior wishes to talk to you. She is anxious to know who you are and where you were going, so that she can send messages to your friends who may be expecting you, and worrying. You can include a note for them.’
    * * * *
    Julia felt amazingly unsteady as she was led along a series of wide passageways and into a bare room containing no more than a plain table and a few chairs. A tall, distinguished-looking nun, who was standing beside the window, turned and came towards her, smiling.
    ‘I am pleased to see you looking better,’ she said. ‘Please, sit down, and tell me about yourselves.’
    Julia explained quickly. ‘The last thing I remember is Maggie falling into the pool beside the ford, and then I jumped into the water because the horses were dragging the coach and I was afraid it would fall over and I would be crushed. Is Maggie here? How is she? And how long have we been here?’
    ‘It’s three days since the accident. I am told a wheel came off the carriage. You were unconscious for a while, and had a fever, but