Knowing what trouble it would cause and how furious Selene would be with her, she sent up a little prayer to her mother.
‘Please, Mama, you know how to behave so much better than I do. Help me – help me to deceive everybody! Don’t let anybody be – suspicious.’
Then she found herself remembering Selene saying it was a challenge, which no Hungarian would refuse and she could almost see her father’s eyes twinkling.
“I only wish you were coming with me, Papa,” she said to him. “You snapped your fingers at all the pomposity of the English aristocrats and persuaded Mama to run away with you. If you can do that, why should I worry about a simple funeral?”
As she fell asleep, she felt she could hear her father laughing.
*
Yvette woke Pandia early because she said she had to work on her hair.
