Therefore, if Iris had known that her husband was to be away, what was the point of inviting the Earl to dinner?
She could hardly expect to give a party on her own.
Then it suddenly struck Sorilda that her step-aunt might have asked the Earl to dinner, intending that there should be nobody else present.
That was quite impossible!
However much one could trust the servants they were, although sometimes people tended to forget the fact, human beings and they would talk, not only inside The Castle, but also in the village and in the inn where they drank their ale.
For the Duchess of Nuneaton to dine alone with the Earl of Winsford would be a juicy morsel of gossip that would fly round the County with the speed of a forest fire.
No, Sorilda told herself, her step-aunt would be more discre
