A frown appeared on the Marquis’s face and, feeling embarrassed, Nolita hurried across the hall to walk down the steps outside.
She was seated in the carriage by the time Bettine came running after her.
She climbed in beside her, the carriage, which was open, drove off and there was silence until they had crossed the bridge over the lake.
Then Bettine said in a small voice,
“Have I upset you?”
“I am trying not to think about it,” Nolita replied.
“Why does Papa want to waste time with all those stupid women?”
It suddenly struck Nolita that the child was jealous and she wondered why she had not thought of it before.
He was the only man in the house, if she did not count Esmond Farquahar, but, because she would want her father’s attention which he had obviously never given her, if she
