The Englishwoman Trilogy: Box set of: Englishwoman in Paris, Englishwoman in Scotland, Englishwoman in Manhattan by O'Brien Jenny

Author:O'Brien, Jenny [O'Brien, Jenny]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: Saturday's Child
Published: 2017-06-22T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Tansy was having a lovely time; a lovely albeit lonely time - not that she’d admit the lonely bit to anyone, especially herself. She’d managed to tidy up after lunch and, racing upstairs, flung off her dress, her only dress, in exchange for her leggings and a thick jumper. Hanging up the black haute couture sheath on its padded hanger she relished for a moment the feel of the silky fabric running through her fingers.

She’d packed the dress at the last minute because it could be stuffed in the corner of her rucksack and was just one of those items that looked better without an iron. Her parents were regular churchgoers even if she’d lapsed but she’d just known going to church was something she’d be expected to do in such a small community. In truth, she’d enjoyed sitting tucked away behind a pillar; an observer instead of one of the observed.

Going to church had always been a grand occasion back home, a military procedure ensuring all the boxes were ticked. Hair coiffed. Shoes polished. Matching handbag. Impeccable nail varnish with none of those chipped bits that were the bane of her life. As often as not, there’d be someone somewhere with a camera or a phone snapping away, trying to catch her out like the time she’d appeared on the front cover of The Sun in odd shoes, something easy to do when she had boxes of the ruddy things in addition to the hangover from hell. Here, life was much simpler as she stared down at her trainers. Here she had a flat pair of black shoes for work, her boots and her trainers. She didn’t need any more.

She bundled her increasingly patchwork hair under her hat before hurtling downstairs and out the back door to where Mary had propped her bike earlier. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d ridden a bike so it must have been a very long time ago. She must have had a bike but she couldn’t really recall, apart from a pink number with the cutest white wicker basket she’d had when she was about six. But riding a bike was one of those things you never forgot or, at least that’s what she kept repeating as she wobbled down the drive. Maybe it was the bike’s fault? Mary was quite a bit shorter, she mused, looking down at her knees almost bent double. But, whatever the reason, she wouldn’t go far, just far enough to escape the confines of the castle and its grounds. She’d never felt claustrophobic before but now… Now she wanted to get as far away from the castle as she could. She wanted to get as far away from him…

If she’d had either the knowledge or the wherewithal to raise the saddle it would have been a different matter but she hadn’t so she didn’t. Instead, she compensated for lack of stability by increasing her speed. She’d always been a speed merchant be it boats, cars,

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.