All Else Confusion. Betty Neels

      Mrs Duvant spoke first. ‘I was just telling your mother that I want to go over to Bath and look round that house. She tells me that you drive; I wondered if you would take me one day soon, Annis? Matt says he can’t be spared from the estate; they’re doing the yearly inventory or some such thing, and Jake will be going to London tomorrow. We could have the Rover.’

      Annis glanced at her mother and found that lady looking pleased. ‘A nice change for you, darling,’ said Mrs Fothergill. ‘Just for a couple of days, and there’s almost nothing to do now the others are away.’

      ‘Well, yes—then I’d be glad to drive you,’ said Annis. It was true she could be spared easily enough, and she liked Mrs Duvant.

      The men came in then and Mrs Duvant told them, and Matt said: ‘Oh, good, that’s settled then,’ while Jake Royle said nothing at all. It seemed to be a habit of his.