Silence in Hanover Close - Anne Perry [87]
Charlotte saw the urgency in her eyes as she waited for an answer.
“Not at all—a carriage ride is an excellent idea,” Charlotte responded with a smile. It was not what she had planned, but it might serve, and she must court Veronica’s friendship. If they were alone together in a carriage, secure from interruption, she might elicit some confidence. “I should enjoy that very much,” she added for good measure.
Veronica relaxed, some of the tension easing out of her slender body. She smiled. “I’m so glad. I wish you would call me Veronica, and may I call you Elisabeth?”
For a moment Charlotte was startled; she had almost forgotten her alias. “Of course!” she said after a moment’s hesitation, then in case Veronica thought she disapproved, “That is most kind of you. Where do you care to drive?”
“I. . .” Veronica’s pale cheeks colored very slightly, and instantly Charlotte understood; she was not yet ready to commit herself to such trust.
“Why not let us see where the wish takes us?” Charlotte suggested tactfully. “No doubt something agreeable will occur to us once we are started.”
Veronica was visibly relieved. “How sympathetic you are.” The moment had passed without the need for explanation, and she was grateful. “Have you had a pleasant time since we visited the exhibition?” she asked.
Charlotte had to invent a reply on the spot. “If you wish for a frank answer, I am afraid nothing worthy of repeating.”
Veronica’s smile expressed her comprehension completely. She had endured years of being a model widow, a decorous wife, and before that a demure young lady seeking a suitable marriage. She had an intimate acquaintance with boredom.
Charlotte was about to introduce another topic when Loretta came in, her face registering good-mannered surprise.
“Good afternoon, Miss Barnaby,” she said. “How pleasant of you to call. I hope you are well, and enjoying your stay in London?”
Before she could fumble for an appropriate response Veronica helped her by announcing their plans. “We are going to take a drive.”
Loretta’s eyes opened wide. “In this weather? My dear, it is bitterly cold and looks as if it might well snow again.”
“Very bracing,” Veronica said immediately. “And I am longing to get a little air.”
The corners of Loretta’s full-lipped mouth curved upward minutely. “Are you going to call upon anyone?”
This time Veronica was slower, and her eyes slid away from her mother-in-law’s. “I . . . er—”
“We have not decided,” Charlotte interrupted for her, smiling at Loretta. “We thought we could go wherever the whim took us.”
“I beg your pardon?” Loretta was put off her stride by such an unexpected answer.
“We have not decided,” Veronica repeated, seizing on the escape. “We shall drive for pleasure. I have been inside too much lately. I am sure fresh air would do me good. I feel peaked.”
“And what about Miss Barnaby?” Loretta inquired. “She is not in the least peaked. In fact she appears in the most robust good health.”
Charlotte knew she had anything but the pale and languid look of fashion, but she did not care. “I am perfectly happy to take a ride,” she insisted. “Perhaps we should see some sights.”
“You are too amiable,” Loretta said coolly. “I thought perhaps you might have considered visiting Harriet Danver.”
They all knew she meant Julian, but they kept up the fiction.
With Charlotte’s moral support Veronica had gathered courage. This time she met Loretta’s eyes. “No,” she said blandly. “We had merely said it would be nice to take a ride. I thought I might show Elisabeth some of the fashionable places in London that she has not seen.”
“In this weather?” Loretta said again. “There is no sun whatever and it will be dark by four. Really, my dear, you are being a trifle impractical.”
“Then we had better hurry.” Veronica was not to be dissuaded. Her will was growing stronger; Charlotte could see it in the angle of her head and the increasing quickness of her answers.
Loretta smiled sweetly, taking them both by surprise. “In that case I shall come with you. Then if you do decide to call upon the Danvers