Only as they drove away did Prunella stammer in a very small voice,
“I did not – know I could – feel like that.”
There was no need to explain what she meant and the Earl said quietly,
“I knew that you could, but I wanted to have evidence of it.”
She was too bemused to ask him for an explanation and, only when she found herself sitting in a small restaurant not far from the Theatre Royal, did she say, as the Earl asked her what she would like to eat.
“I feel as if I – could never eat – or drink again.”
“You will,” the Earl replied with confidence. “I am therefore going to order what I think you will enjoy.”
Prunella had no wish to argue with him and, when the waiter poured out a glass of champagne, she sipped it absently, her ears still seeming to hear Kean’s vibrant voice.
Then, wh
