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The mill owner scowled at the lieutenant “Maybe in some places you frequent, but not in Macclesfield Your kind are not welco words with your co officer”

Grainger, his face etched with concern, hovered close to Alice “I waited for you, miss,” he said softly “Then, I knocked on the door and the master of the house was quite ada I’m sorry, Miss Alice, I will have to speak to your father, he ant to knohy you are late returning home”

Nerves were an excellent cure for drunkenness Alice sed back the waves of nausea, straightened her back and thanked the Huddlestones politely for their intervention Grainer led her to the awaiting gig, letting her hold his elbow as her wobbly feet negotiated the slippery paving

“I ca her up into the seat “The thought of returning to Dodsworth and telling your father you are … it would have been unbearable”

Alice’s lips trembled She was in ined Her father rarely chastised his only child, her nore her atrocious behaviour Grainger lay a horse blanket over her legs Alice shivered, wrapping her ar herself It was then she remembered she had left her pelisse in the inn—her name embroidered on the collar

Chapter Three

Colonel Edmund Seymour dismounted from his horse and took a deep breath Before him stood a country house blessed with er around his cravat It felt especially tight about his neck The ood nu the occupants could afford to pay their taxes It pleased him to know the family within had fared well over the years since his last visit

Fro he had brought to return The innkeeper had handed it over to the colonel and the gariven to Ed lady had been caught in a disgraceful act in the company of one of his junior officers

The scandalous tale had been told to his shortly after breakfast He had iised to the man, an important representative of the town’s factory owners, and he had proate theBear Inn There he had been met by the innkeeper, a man already unhappy at the state of affairs in his establishment Bills unpaid, rooms left in an atrocious state and much drunkenness

“My inn is a decent establishment, sir,” the rotund proprietor had said “This must stop, colonel As for your lieutenants, they had the coht and she left this behind” The innkeeper handed Colonel Seymour the pelisse The name clearly stitched on the inner lapel in white thread More evidence of the night time travesty

Following one in search of the miscreants What followed had been heard about the inn The officers, hung over, dressed in nothing but their breeches, faces white and sto, had received a verbal repries stripped away, pay docked and extra duties assigned; duties none of them liked to perform

Now, having ridden over to the hoy to iard to the behaviour of his officers He also wanted an explanation Why had Alice Aubrey been out unaccompanied in the middle of Macclesfield—a situation Edmund would never have tolerated if she had been his responsibility; he would have taken her over his knee without hesitation for such an act of folly

“Ned!” Henry Aubrey greeted Edrasped Edhtly in both of his own

“Henry,” acknowledged Edmund sombrely Immediately, he could see the effect of time on Henry’s face It had been years since his last visit and the aging process had quickly crept over Henry Edrey strands in his thinner hair and an expanding belly

Edible features no doubt caused by the stress of the previous night The lack of sleep clearly present under his eyes as was the pale pallor of the skin