Belinda Goes to Bath by M. C. Beaton

say no more at present. With any luck, this marquess was in love with Belinda and did not know it.
    ‘Then if you will leave this way, my lord,’ said Hannah. She showed him through her bedchamber to the corridor door, ushered him out, and then returned through the sitting-room to Belinda’s bedchamber.
    Belinda was sitting by the fire. She had lit an oil-lamp and her eyes were bleak as she looked at Hannah. ‘How dare you!’ said Belinda.
    Hannah silently handed her the letter from Penelope Jordan. Belinda read it and her face went as red as the fire she was sitting beside.
    ‘Yes, all the servants must know. To whom did you give your letter?’
    ‘To a lamp-boy,’ said Belinda.
    ‘A humble lamp-boy is of too low a rank to carry a letter to a marquess. You should have known that. Do your aunt and uncle not have many servants?’
    Belinda shook her head. ‘No, we only have a butler, two footmen, two housemaids, two chambermaids, a lady’s maid, a cook, a housekeeper, one kitchen maid, one odd man, and of course the coachman and groom.’
    ‘Then I must tell you that the lamp-boy would take that letter of yours to the servants’ hall, where it would be delivered to the butler. The lamp-boy would tell the butler in front of the others from whom it came. So it would no doubt get to the ears of Miss Jordan’s lady’s maid and so to me.’
    Belinda’s anger had died. The full horror of what she had done was slowly dawning on her. Love had blinded her to the fact that the Marquess of Frenton regarded her as a slut and therefore easy game. How shabby and brassy and common she now must appear set beside the beautiful Penelope.
    Hannah did not want to add to Belinda’s distress by telling her the marquess knew about that footman episode. Both Belinda and the marquess were ashamed of themselves. Good! If the passage of true love ran smooth, then it could not possibly end happily, in Hannah’s experience. She remembered a gamekeeper at Thornton Hall who had fallen in love with a pretty chambermaid, and she with him. Mrs Clarence was still in residence and had smiled on the lovers. Everyone had thought they were a perfect match and said so. Before the gamekeeper had even thought of popping the question, Mrs Clarence had called him in and offered him a cottage on the estate where he could live with his bride. The couple hadgrown shy and embarrassed and awkward at all this headlong enthusiasm to get them to the altar, and love had faded away. Such a pity, thought Hannah. Their characters had been so well matched. She always thought that had a few obstacles been thrown in their way, then they might have tied the knot and lived happily ever after because they were so compatible, and couples must have something other than love between them to survive the rocky road of marriage.
    ‘I suppose I should be grateful to you for interrupting us when you did,’ said Belinda awkwardly.
    ‘It was very painful for me,’ said Hannah. ‘In future, Miss Earle, no matter how strong your feelings, you must let the men do the pursuing. That is the way of the world. Any bold move on the female’s part is always misinterpreted, and men only value what is hard to get. The weather is improving, and we shall shortly be moving on.’
    ‘I would rather leave on the morrow,’ said Belinda in a low voice.
    ‘Too soon,’ said Hannah. ‘One more day. Take my advice and keep to your bedchamber and do not venture belowstairs. Or sit and read to Miss Wimple. She needs her mind improved. The marquess will at first be relieved at your absence and then he will miss you.’
    ‘I do not want him to miss me,’ said Belinda pettishly. ‘The least he could do is apologize.’
    ‘You can hardly expect him to do that after having sent that letter and given him the wrong impression.’
    ‘Am I so very bad, Miss Pym? Am I going to be damned as an Original? Why cannot I behave asother young misses?’ Tears stood out in Belinda’s eyes.
    ‘Not your