One circumstance which had assisted greatly in the "settling down" process,
as far as Ann was concerned, had been Lady Susan's unexpectedly early
return from Paris. The end of the first fortnight of July had found her
back at White Windows.
"The heat was intolerable, my dear!" she told Ann. "And the dust. Not even
for the sake of a new rig-out could I endure it. I thought of cool little
Silverquay with the nice clean sea washing its doorstep every morning--and
I bolted. Madame Antoinette has probably been, wringing her hands over my
half-completed garments ever since!"
She was immensely entertained when Ann acquainted her with the identity of
the man who had come to her assistance on the night of the Venetian fete,
and chuckled enjoyably.
"Poor man! He must be frightfully bored at finding you here--established on
his very threshold, so to speak! Confirmed misogynists should never indulge
in the rescuing stunt--it's so liable to involve them in unexpected
consequences. How does he bear up under the discovery?"
"Not at all well," acknowledged Ann ruefully. "Sometimes I think he almost
regrets he didn't let me drown comfortably in the lake while he had the
chance!"
The wish she had expressed to Maria concerning her brother's then unknown
employer--that she hoped he wouldn't make a habit of dropping in at the
Cottage during the mornings--had certainly been very literally fulfilled.
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