Chapter 3

The little maid bobbed a curtsey and hurried out.

I washed my hands and took a seat, and Mrs Rivers placed the meal before me.

I began eating. “Mmm.” The cook at Thorny Walk House never prepared food as succulent as this, and I sometimes wondered if it might be because there was love in this house.

“Thorn?” Thomas strode into the kitchen. He looked me over, and I knew what he saw: me in a dinner jacket but with my hair in disarray from the gallop to Greenbriers. He shook his head. “What’s to do?”

“I need to speak with you privately.” I sent Mrs Rivers an apologetic glance.

“I’ll keep this warm for you, shall I?”

“Thank you.” I seized Thomas’s sleeve and dragged him along after me. “Where can we be private?”

He gave me an odd look. “Mother and Father are in the lounge. We can go to the conservatory. I must say you’re making me curious.”

I hurried him through the house until we came to the conservatory. The odour of Lady Eugenia’s roses scented the humid air.