"Esther M. Friesner - A Beltaine And Suspenders" - читать интересную книгу автора (Friesner Esther M)

They traveled down to Sussex the next morning. Olivia, in a fit of whimsy, had

chosen to do her holiday shopping while inStaddle , with an eye to returning to

London in time for Christmas. As a result of the Dickensian excess the Yuletide

always evoked in her soul, her baggage had evolved from a simple rucksack for

easy cross-country hiking to a swarm of bulging valises and portmanteaus bought

inStaddle High Street to contain her acquired freight of gifts. She had thought
it was a fine idea to take the whole jumble of luggage along with her on the

expedition, intending to be most efficient by returning directly home from

Sussex. After many qualms, she even went so far as to purchase herself an

evening gown, so as not to appear at Lady Battle-Purfitt'stable inappropriately

dressed. She assumed thatTilly and the vicar would be likewise burdened with at

least a steamer trunk between them. To her chagrin, she found them awaiting her

on the railway platform bearing a rucksack apiece, no more, and those far

smaller than her own.



Fortunately, Lady Battle-Purfitthad a car waiting to pick them up on arrival.

The family manor of Earl's Benefice, much diminished by the family fortunes and

the late war, was still a picturesque locale enhanced by an Adam house of

considerable taste and beauty. Her ladyship was constructed along similar lines,

being an attractive if formidable woman whose whole demeanor was one of tenacity

and purposefulness. When she informed her guests at the dinner table that they

were to keep the windows of their bedrooms open throughout the night, so as to

benefit from the bracing nature of the country air, even the normally headstrong

Olivia heard herself chirping rhapsodic agreement over her ladyship's mandate