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�Mrs. Radcliffe.� Rose Hannah turned back to Pansy�s mother, who was towering over her daughter in full silk-and-diamond battle gear and rapidly approaching full shriek, and put on her sternest bedside manner. �Let me have a moment with Pansy. I�m sure we�ll have her up in a bit. Why don�t you go downstairs and wait for the Sheridans, have a bit of brandy�� �Brandy! Why, Rose, you know I don�t drink!� Rose Hannah knew no such thing to be true, and was on the verge of telling her so, but managed to smile and say, �Consider it my prescription, Mrs. Radcliffe. Doctor�s orders. The calmer the both of you are, the better.� �Well, if it�s doctor�s orders,� murmured Mrs. Radcliffe, easing out the door. Rose Hannah turned to Nell and rolled her eyes. They spent a good half hour running through all of the customary treatments�raising her feet with pillows to send blood to the head, rubbing brandy on her lips and wrists, splashing cold water on her face, waving smelling salts and burnt feathers under her nose, slapping her hands, pinching her cheeks, until Rose Hannah was at her wit�s end; she maintained later that it was entirely fortuitous that Pansy revived at all. ��Rose�?� �Hurry,� whispered Rose Hannah to Nell. �See if you can�t get some hot coffee from the housekeeper. Try the ballroom if you can�t find her.� �Rose� what are you�� Pansy fluttered a bit and then opened her eyes entirely. �Why do you smell like cigarette smoke?� Rose Hannah laughed out of pure relief. �Mrs. Kirke helped me dress, you know what a chimney she is�Pansy, what happened?� �I don�t know� I was dizzy, and I tried to sit down, and didn�t make it, I suppose� goodness me, what time is it?� �Almost eight. Your mother�s nearly hysterical.� �Yes, well, Mother�s always nearly hysterical.� She struggled to sit up and saw Rose Hannah�s open bag on the table, which was littered with salts and spirits. �Goodness me, it looks like you�ve had a time getting me up. I am so sorry�it must be my nerves, you know my terrible nerves, I get them from Mother� perhaps my lacing is too tight�� Rose Hannah eyed her carefully. �Pansy� are you certain you�re all right?� �Well, yes�now�certainly. I would think so�� �You were out for nearly two hours altogether. I�ve never seen a fainting spell last that long.� Nell returned with the coffee at this point; Pansy took it gratefully and clasped Nell�s hand, told her how good it was to see her again, how long it had been; Pansy and Rose Hannah had been fast friends before the trip to the States and Pansy was fond of Nell. But it looked to Rose Hannah, as she went about packing up her medical bag, like Pansy was seizing any opportunity to change the subject. �Telegram for you, sir.� �Give it here, then,� West said, barely looking up from his maps. �I�m afraid the gentleman won�t let me have it, sir�he says he�s from that Ministry. Shall I show him up?� Both West and Dr. Munro looked up now. �Yes,� said West, folding his arms. �Do.� A man�sober, but rather well-dressed for a civil servant�arrived presently at the library door. �Dawson,� said West. �It�s about this blasted mess in the paper, isn�t it?� The man nodded silently and handed over the telegram. West looked over at Dawson. �McCullough�s dead, isn�t he?� Dawson tightened his mouth and nodded. �I thought as much. Ministry agents don�t go quietly. Poor blighter.� �Your response, sir,� Dawson said. �Yes� sorry to keep you waiting,� said West, who did not sound sorry at all. On a bit of scratch paper he scrawled his message. �Tell Seward to send me the latest as soon as he knows,� he added. Poor Pansy was so embarrassed by her fit that she began to divvy up her flowers between the two women. Fortunately, her sitting room looked like a small hothouse due to a deluge of bouquets from well-wishers that day. �You must take some of the roses, I�ve heaps, Nell�some of the pink and some of the red at least, I won�t take no for an answer. And some of the lilies. No! You must! I can barely breathe in here as it is, you must take some, it was so good of you to come with Rose�� Rose Hannah laughed to herself. They had finished helping Pansy redo her toilette�smooth her dark hair back into its braids and chignons, reapply the touch of powder to her cheek and coralline salve to her lips, find the earring that had fallen out when she fainted�and were seeing Nell off, back to Munro House. Rose Hannah always wondered how Nell felt about these things�being treated like a sister and a friend half the time, and left behind or shuttled back home like the maid she was paid to be. Did Pansy�s promises to send cake and more flowers home later make her feel appreciated, or just belittled? Rose Hannah didn�t know, and doubted Nell would ever betray an answer either way. She knew that Pansy meant well, though, because she treated Rose Hannah the exact same way. �Pick something for yourself,� she urged after they had seen Nell into the Munro carriage and gone back to Pansy�s rooms. �Try the gardenias�they would look so nice against your hair.� They look good against your hair, Caspar had always said, but he had meant white roses. He always sent her white roses, held them against her throat and whispered that her skin was whiter, was softer to the touch. �There.� Pansy tucked a few waxy blooms into the upsweep of Rose Hannah�s hair. �That looks nice�it brings out the pearls very well. It�s a pity we don�t have anything to match your gown, but the scent is lovely. I�m going to wear the pansies Randolph sent�look, yellow and blue, my favorites. Mother says it�s a bit childish and d�class�e to be so fixated on the same flower as my name� I suppose it is, but it�s so sweet of him. See?� The box from the hothouse had a card tucked safely away: Toutes mes pens�es pour toi. She was busy explaining to Rose Hannah how the blue would match the blue satin trim of her white silk but the yellow wouldn�t clash like her mother said, it would only complement it�wouldn�t it?�and wasn�t that a fine pun Randolph had made in his note, he always signed his cards to her like that, and with a little doodle of a flower as well, and Rose Hannah was seriously beginning to consider giving Pansy a sedative when the Sheridans finally arrived. Dinner was light but fine; Pansy was nervous; Mrs. Radcliffe was loud and overtalkative. All in all, things were back to normal. Randolph caught Rose Hannah in the hall as they made their way to the ballroom. �Mrs. Radcliffe told me what happened,� he whispered. �Oh, no! She didn�t want anyone else to know�� �I won�t tell anyone else.� He edged closer to her as his younger sister Adele swept past. �What�s the matter? In your professional opinion, I mean.� �I don�t know�I�ve never seen a fainting spell that lasted so long, which says to me that it wasn�t a simple faint. Other than that, I can�t say.� �What can I do for her?� he pressed. He was a good match for Pansy, a young barrister from a good family�much calmer than Pansy�s mother�and devoted to her. �You can help me keep an eye on her,� she replied. �Be certain she sits out the galop and the Berlin�� �That�s easy enough; she doesn�t like quick dances.� �Easy enough, then. Be sure that she gets a good bit of sitting in, a turn around the conservatory if she needs it, and keep her away from the punch and champagne. Just lemonade, coffee, and a little wine if she seems faint. Keep her away from Mrs. Radcliffe if you can�walking round with her to greet the guests might do it. And come fetch me if she needs anything�whether I�m dancing or not.� She wondered if they were too well-matched�they seemed to exchange thoughts almost telepathically at times. She was certain that Randolph hadn�t had a chance to betray any of this to Pansy even if he wanted to when Pansy sidled up to her. �I don�t want you to worry about me tonight,� she said. �I�ve put plenty of fast dances on the card for you�Mother wanted more quadrilles and we had a terrible row over it�� �Oh, no! Not for my sake!� �Randolph says a few rows will do her good,� Pansy said stoutly. �And I did get my way after all, so you mustn�t disappoint me.� Randolph caught Rose Hannah�s eye as the guests began to arrive, as if to signal that he would take over for her. �What does it mean?� asked Munro, peering over West�s shoulder at the telegram. �Elba� Ima?� �Part of a code they use, should it fall into civilian hands.� West studied it a minute more. �It means� that an agent carrying a list of gentlemen associated with the Ministry�which would include you, Munro, and myself�has fallen into the hands of our fine friends out there. And this Bonneville�what�s the name in the paper?� Dr. Munro picked up the newspaper. �George Gordon Bonne�Old George! I�ll be damned. Poor chap.� �So it�s Bonneville�s house they hit, and Bonneville who�s gone into shock�as I can imagine, since very few of our associates know as much as you do, Munro, and Seward would rather I hadn�t told you as much as I have. Poor chap is right�I doubt he had any idea of the danger.� �But what did they want?� �The crux of it is that they already had figured out who I was�now they know of my association with the Ministry, and yours as well.� |
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| ansy? Pansy!� �Oh, thank God you�re here, Rose, she�s been like this for an hour, I didn�t know what to do and Randolph will be here any minute, his family will be here any minute, we�re having a light dinner before the ball and I don�t know what Mrs. Sheridan will think�� |
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