“It will be no trouble,” Charlotte smiled. “But Alana must be ready at ten o’clock.”
“I will see that she is,” Mrs. Bredon promised, “and thank you very much, Lady Charlotte, for your thoughtfulness.”
“I am so glad that I can be of some help, but please don’t say anything about it to Mama, She does not like me to do things on my own initiative and she might think that I was interfering.”
The way Charlotte spoke made it easy for the Vicar’s wife, who disliked the Countess, to understand why Lady Charlotte had not visited Alana immediately after her father’s death.
In fact the whole village had considered it rather heartless, considering how many years Mr. Wickham had journeyed up to the Big House three times a week for Lady Charlotte’s music lessons.
Now Mrs. Bredon understood that Lad
