She danced a creditable minuet with Sir George and then sat at his side, where she enjoyed watching the other guests, too happy to be aware that speculative eyes were being cast in her direction and various dowagers were wondering sourly if that confirmed bachelor, Sir George, had fallen at last.
And then there was the carriage ride home in the small hours of the morning, the air of Covent Garden full of the smells of fruit and vegetables from the nurseries of Kensington as the market prepared for the morning’s trade.
But nothing, nothing at all in that whole magical evening could match the moment when Sir George helped Hannah down from his carriage in South Audley Street and raised her hand to his lips.
Benjamin was waiting at the top of the stairs to take Hannah’s cloak, to lead her to a seat by the fire, to lean forward and watch her lips as she poured out all the glories of the evening.
When she had at last fallen silent, Benjamin wrote down, ‘When will you see him again?’
Hannah clasped her hands. She knew she could not bear to wait in London hoping he would call. If he did not call, then she felt her heart would break.
‘After Brighton,’ she said. ‘We will go to Brighton, and then I shall see him again.’
Titles by M.C. Beaton
The Travelling Matchmaker series
Emily Goes to Exeter • Belinda Goes to Bath
Penelope Goes to Portsmouth • Beatrice Goes to Brighton
Deborah Goes to Dover • Yvonne Goes to York
The Edwardian Murder Mystery series
Snobbery with Violence • Hasty Death
Sick of Shadows • Our Lady of Pain
The Agatha Raisin series
Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death • Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet
Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage
Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist
Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death
Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham
Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden
Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam
Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell
Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came
Agatha Raisin and the Curious Curate • Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House
Agatha Raisin and the Deadly Dance • Agatha Raisin and the Perfect Paragon
Agatha Raisin and Love, Lies and Liquor
Agatha Raisin and Kissing Christmas Goodbye
Agatha Raisin and a Spoonful of Poison • Agatha Raisin: There Goes the Bride
Agatha Raisin and the Busy Body
The Hamish Macbeth series
Death of a Gossip • Death of a Cad
Death of a Hussy • Death of a Snob
Death of a Prankster • Death of a Glutton
Death of a Travelling Man • Death of a Charming Man
Death of a Nag • Death of a Macho Man
Death of a Dentist • Death of a Scriptwriter
Death of an Addict • A Highland Christmas
Death of a Dustman • Death of a Celebrity
Death of a Village • Death of a Poison Pen
Death of a Bore • Death of a Dreamer
Death of a Maid • Death of a Gentle Lady
Death of a Witch • Death of a Valentine
Death of a Sweep
About the Author
M.C. Beaton is the author of the hugely successful Agatha Raisin, Hamish Macbeth and Edwardian murder mystery series, all published by Constable & Robinson. She left a full-time career in journalism to turn to writing, and now divides her time between the Cotswolds, Paris and Istanbul.
Copyright
Constable & Robinson Ltd
162 Fulham Palace Road
London W6 9ER
www.constablerobinson.com
First published in the US by St Martin’s Press, 1991
First published in the UK by Robinson, an imprint of Constable & Robinson Ltd, 2011
Copyright © M.C. Beaton 1991
The right of M.C. Beaton to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library
ISBN: 978–1–84901–908–8