Plenty of fluids and fresh air would do the trick. She wandered the squalid streets of London, looking in shops, giving coins to beggars and street urchins. She bought her mother and father trinkets although she wasn’t sure her mother deserved a present.
As the carriage rumbled along the uneven street, Susanna glanced into an alleyway and was startled by what she saw. A woman who must have been in her 60s trying to fight off two ragamuffins, intent on grabbing her bag and rifling through her pockets.
‘Stop!’ she cried to the driver, rapping the underside of the carriage with her umbrella. The horses lurched to a halt at his bidding and she jumped down at the mouth of the alley. Making a terrific noise and holding her umbrella like a weapon, she charged into the chaos with more courage than she really felt, her heart hammering. By this time the woman was on her knees and the boys had taken a small, drawstring bag from her. They scampered away at Susanna’s approach.
Susanna crouched and looked at the badly shaken woman. Her bonnet was gone and her carefully coiffured grey hair fell loose over her face. She was attractive, but looked unwell, with dark circles under her eyes, her skin tinted a waxy colour.
‘Let me help you,’ Susanna said, placing a hand under the trembling woman’s elbow just as Georgina’s carriage driver arrived on the other side.
The woman glanced up, fixing pale blue eyes on her. ‘Thank you,’ she murmured in a soft expiration.
‘We’ll take you home,’ Susanna said, and the driver lifted the frail woman into his arms and carried her from the alleyway.
The woman dozed, seemingly exhausted, all the way back to a smart Chelsea townhouse. The driver lifted her down from the cushions, and Susanna hurried to the door and rapped.
The liveried butler who answered gaped at them and stood back at once, allowing admission. ‘Mistress,’ he said, wringing his hands. ‘What has happened?’
‘She was set upon by some boys,’ Susanna explained.
‘Shall I go upstairs?’ asked the driver.
‘Yes,’ Susanna directed, ‘and fetch the doctor,’ she told the butler.
The man scurried off and Susanna ascended behind the driver. He carried her into a woman’s bedchamber and laid her down on the bed. A fire burned cheerily in the grate as Susanna bent and removed the woman’s shoes before pulling up the quilt from the foot of the bed, covering her to her neck.
The woman blinked sleepily at her, reached for Susanna’s hand. ‘Thank you to you both.’
Susanna pulled up a chair. She held the woman’s hand and stroked it with her other while the driver hovered by the fire.
‘Do you want to leave me here?’ she asked. ‘I’ll wait until the doctor comes and send a note for you to bring me back.’
He inclined his head. ‘Very well, miss.’
When he had gone, the room was silent save for the crackling of logs in the hearth and the soft, sighing breath of the woman in the bed. Susanna sat content to hold her hand as the woman slipped into slumber. As her eyes grew heavy in the soporific heat, a commotion downstairs roused her, voices raised before thundering boots sounded on the stairs.
Susanna braced herself for the anxiety and upset of a concerned relative as the door burst open. She almost reeled back in her chair when confronted with Elijah Storm.
He saw her instantly, his face turning from grief and worry to startled surprise. Then his attention switched rapidly to the woman in the bed, and Susanna hurriedly pushed her chair back as he stalked around the foot of the four-poster.
‘Mother,’ he said, reaching for the woman’s hand, and Susanna wondered then why she hadn’t seen it before. The woman’s attractive face carried more than a hint of her son’s beauty.
‘It’s all right, Elijah,’ Mrs Storm murmured softly. ‘I have been in good hands.’
Elijah turned his crystal blue gaze on Susanna and she blushed, hands twisted together, awed by him as she usually
As the carriage rumbled along the uneven street, Susanna glanced into an alleyway and was startled by what she saw. A woman who must have been in her 60s trying to fight off two ragamuffins, intent on grabbing her bag and rifling through her pockets.
‘Stop!’ she cried to the driver, rapping the underside of the carriage with her umbrella. The horses lurched to a halt at his bidding and she jumped down at the mouth of the alley. Making a terrific noise and holding her umbrella like a weapon, she charged into the chaos with more courage than she really felt, her heart hammering. By this time the woman was on her knees and the boys had taken a small, drawstring bag from her. They scampered away at Susanna’s approach.
Susanna crouched and looked at the badly shaken woman. Her bonnet was gone and her carefully coiffured grey hair fell loose over her face. She was attractive, but looked unwell, with dark circles under her eyes, her skin tinted a waxy colour.
‘Let me help you,’ Susanna said, placing a hand under the trembling woman’s elbow just as Georgina’s carriage driver arrived on the other side.
The woman glanced up, fixing pale blue eyes on her. ‘Thank you,’ she murmured in a soft expiration.
‘We’ll take you home,’ Susanna said, and the driver lifted the frail woman into his arms and carried her from the alleyway.
The woman dozed, seemingly exhausted, all the way back to a smart Chelsea townhouse. The driver lifted her down from the cushions, and Susanna hurried to the door and rapped.
The liveried butler who answered gaped at them and stood back at once, allowing admission. ‘Mistress,’ he said, wringing his hands. ‘What has happened?’
‘She was set upon by some boys,’ Susanna explained.
‘Shall I go upstairs?’ asked the driver.
‘Yes,’ Susanna directed, ‘and fetch the doctor,’ she told the butler.
The man scurried off and Susanna ascended behind the driver. He carried her into a woman’s bedchamber and laid her down on the bed. A fire burned cheerily in the grate as Susanna bent and removed the woman’s shoes before pulling up the quilt from the foot of the bed, covering her to her neck.
The woman blinked sleepily at her, reached for Susanna’s hand. ‘Thank you to you both.’
Susanna pulled up a chair. She held the woman’s hand and stroked it with her other while the driver hovered by the fire.
‘Do you want to leave me here?’ she asked. ‘I’ll wait until the doctor comes and send a note for you to bring me back.’
He inclined his head. ‘Very well, miss.’
When he had gone, the room was silent save for the crackling of logs in the hearth and the soft, sighing breath of the woman in the bed. Susanna sat content to hold her hand as the woman slipped into slumber. As her eyes grew heavy in the soporific heat, a commotion downstairs roused her, voices raised before thundering boots sounded on the stairs.
Susanna braced herself for the anxiety and upset of a concerned relative as the door burst open. She almost reeled back in her chair when confronted with Elijah Storm.
He saw her instantly, his face turning from grief and worry to startled surprise. Then his attention switched rapidly to the woman in the bed, and Susanna hurriedly pushed her chair back as he stalked around the foot of the four-poster.
‘Mother,’ he said, reaching for the woman’s hand, and Susanna wondered then why she hadn’t seen it before. The woman’s attractive face carried more than a hint of her son’s beauty.
‘It’s all right, Elijah,’ Mrs Storm murmured softly. ‘I have been in good hands.’
Elijah turned his crystal blue gaze on Susanna and she blushed, hands twisted together, awed by him as she usually
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