A Season for Honour

Chapter 20

The next morning, Octavia had awoken feeling happy and content. Tillie, her maid, had opened the curtains of her bedchamber, and the clear, bright morning sunlight, flooded into the room.

'Good morning, my lady,' Tillie said as she bustled around the room like she usually did every morning. 'I have left you a cup of chocolate on the side table next to your bed.'

'Thank you, Tillie,' Octavia replied as she stretched over to pick up the cup, 'I will ring for you when I am ready to get up.'

'Very good, my lady,' Tillie replied in a strained manner. Octavia knew that she was not used to being dismissed at this time of day. However, Octavia wanted to be alone with her thoughts, and she knew that would be impossible with Tillie hovering over her.

She smiled to herself, as she sipped the warm chocolate, at the thought of seeing him again. She remembered those precious memories of their encounters at Northleigh that she had stored away at the back of her mind. And, as she closed her eyes and rested her head back on the pillow, she imagined what it would be like to be in his arms once more.

She had just finished her chocolate when there was a knock on the door of her bedchamber. 'Come in,' she said as she arranged her pillow so that she could sit up a little higher in the bed. It was not unusual for Olivia to come and visit her in the morning, and she had fully expected her daughter to burst through the doors of the bedchamber. However, it was not Olivia's voice that answered her command.

'Can I come in?' She heard Katie say as she poked her head around the door. 'I haven't woken you up, have I?'

'Oh, no,' Octavia replied, 'please come in.' Octavia looked over at her friend, who had entered the room and was carefully closing the door behind her. 'I could not send you away, Katie. Come, sit next to me.'

Katie, who was wearing a richly decorated dressing gown over her nightgown, settled herself down next to Octavia on the comfortable bed. 'Well,' Katie said as she shuffled herself next to Octavia, 'how was it? Was Flora a success?'

'Of course, she was,' Octavia replied smiling at her friend, 'she charmed everyone, including those dragons her mother-in-law invited.

'Tell me all about it,' Katie said excitedly, 'I want to know everything.'

Octavia proceeded to tell her friend every interesting detail of the previous evening. She told her about how lovely Flora had looked and how she had won the hearts of her guests. She told her about the food served at dinner and gave her a detailed description of the dining-room and its décor. She had listed all the names of the guests that evening and had recalled amusing tidbits of the conversations she had had with them. However, she omitted to tell Katie about one of the guests until the very end.

'Captain Fallbrook was a guest,' Octavia said nonchalantly, unsure of the reaction his name would evoke. She had made up her mind last night that there was no point trying to hide from Freddie or Katie that she had seen him again. They would be bound to find out at some time or another about his existence. He was, after all, the Duke of Tyne's secretary and they would no doubt meet him at Holloway House over the next few weeks. And, of course, he was coming here this very afternoon to pick her up to take her driving in the park.

'Captain Fallbrook,' Katie said, looking at Octavia with big round eyes. 'What was he doing at Holloway House?'

Despite their close friendship, Octavia had never discussed with Katie the sudden dismissal of Alex from her household. At the time, Katie had been far too ill, and it would have been selfish for her to have burdened Katie with all her sadness she experienced when he left. Her sorrow had paled into insignificance compared to Katie's loss. And when Katie had finally begun to come to terms with her grief, Octavia had learnt to control her own feelings.