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“Now, Alice, take heart You see I am also of the same ilk as yourself Or have you not realised that? I a my ire”

Suppressing a cry, she pricked her treer on her needle It wasn’t the only part of her anato his words

“You may, of course, invite Miss Parris to visit,” said Edht too, if you wish”

Licking her finger, Alice thanked her husband profusely He returned to his reading and she to her needlepoint

Alice sat in theseat at the front of the house waiting The gig had been gone for some time A week after the invitation had been sent, Ed over to Macclesfield to collect Ann With the weather being fine and pleasant, the open carriage had been favoured for the journey across the Peaks However, with the noon sun fast approaching, Alice’s patience wore thin

Finally, when she thought so down the driveway

Springing up, Alice called to her husband, so that they ether

The for fetched down her luggage, Alice enquired as to the nature of the delay

“Ann, dearest friend, we expected you an hour ago,” said Alice holding Ann’s hands in her own

“The road was dreadful, quite rough in places,” explained Ann

Edmund shook his head “The turnpike has not been maintained by the trustees The tolls collected should be sufficient to pay for repairs I rite again to them”

Having greeted his guest, Ed the two friends to converse over a light luncheon

Ann gazed in awe at Westfell Hall Alice contained her natural desire to boast as she showed her friend about the main rooms

“Alice, you are reat house I had no idea the colonel had such lands and property,” said Ann visibly is

“His fah the colonel is descended froe of that family,” explained Alice “The titles went to other ancestors”