Free Daughters Of Eden: The Eden Series Book 1 by Charlotte Bingham

anything from the closet Poppy decided that if she timed a foray to follow the butler’s visit to the library to serve the first round of drinks, and his subsequent disappearanceback to the servants’ quarters to have his usual smoke, she might be able to eavesdrop directly at the library doors, although looking back afterwards she could hardly have said why she wanted to take such a risk a second time.
    Having made as sure as was possible that there were no other sentries posted anywhere in the shadows of the hall she tiptoed over to the doors and pressed herself as close as she dared against them. The first voice she heard was that of her husband, who seemed to be addressing the gathering quite formally.
    â€˜Which is why I am proposing that a select number of us make the journey next week in order to attend the rally,’ he was saying. ‘I have assurances of safe conduct and a personal invitation for six of us to enjoy the hospitality of the same host who entertained us on our last visit. I think it is essential that we attend in person as a delegation in order to show our continued solidarity, as well as to express our loyalty to the person whom we all hope and trust may one day lead us with the same vision and purpose and dynamism with which he is leading his own country.’
    He then paused and continued in German.
    Poppy straightened up. German, as even she knew, was really the first language of the English court. No one who moved in royal circles was completely ignorant of it. It just so happened that she understood not a word of it. She straightened up, frowning to herself, as she tried to work out the implications of the gathering in the library. As she did so she heard footsteps approaching the library doors, and voices becoming louder. It tookhardly more than a few seconds, and she was once more back in her original hiding place, her heart in her mouth.
    Her viewpoint from the cupboard was less than perfect, but she nevertheless was quite able to see several men milling about the hallway, led by Basil, and the chauffeur Leon, who had somehow materialised from nowhere. The group stood about chatting quietly in a mix of languages until one of the men eventually detached himself from the others, seeming to be heading towards her hiding place. With relief Poppy saw it was the bespectacled gentleman whom she had directed to the cloakroom the previous evening, and so pushing herself back tightly into the corner of the large cupboard she closed her eyes and said a very silent prayer.
    â€˜No!’ she heard the man’s distinctive tones call back to the rest of the party. ‘There’s no brandy in here! Only brooms. Brooms and soda, anyone! Ah, here we are …’ He had obviously moved on to the next cupboard.
    Poppy heard all this being greeted with a murmur of laughter, followed by a clink of glasses, and a toast which she couldn’t quite make out.
    She had just breathed a sigh of relief when a low voice said, ‘Just stay right where you are and don’t move until I tell you.’
    To her horror Poppy heard the key being turned in the door. Left alone in a darkness that now seemed suffocating, Poppy began to panic. It took all her strength of mind not to go at once and hammer on the door and beg to be let out. She managed to control her claustrophobia by closingher eyes and breathing in slowly and deeply. A quarter of an hour later, just as she was wondering whether she might be about to asphyxiate, she heard the key turn in the lock.
    Her unlikely rescuer stood in the frame of the doorway, squinting through his heavy-framed spectacles as he tried to adjust to the dark inside.
    â€˜Gracious heavens, I thought you’d forgotten me. Or that you weren’t coming back.’
    â€˜Neither of those things, my dear Lady Tetherington,’ the man assured her calmly. ‘You’re not the sort of young woman who is easily forgotten, and there was no chance of my