"Poor old Con! You have had a trying week." Nell's smile was sympathetic. She wriggled uneasily. "I wish you hadn't had to do it all - and all because I wasn't paying enough attention to my own two feet!" she added ruefully.

It was late Thursday night and we were lying on Nell's bed in the pension. I had not long returned from Innsbruck, where I had left Joey and the Robin in Herr Marani's capable hands: he would take them up to Spartz on the morrow, where they would be met by Dr Jem himself. I mentally gave thanks again for the great assistance Herr Marani had provided that week, and shuddered to think how much harder it would have been without his help.

"Don't blame yourself, my dear. Why, by all accounts it was that wretched child Eustacia - yet again! Oh, I wish we'd never taken her!"

I waved a hand around expressively as I gave vent to my exasperation, and Nell caught it gently in her own. "But what do you mean, it was Eustacia?"

I was thrown off-balance by her confusion at what seemed entirely logical, and had been universally accepted as fact. "The girls are all remarkably clear that Eustacia was the reason for your fall. Certainly I know it's what Jo thinks, and she was right beside you both..." I trailed off uncertainly.

Nell shook her head thoughtfully. "I don't think so, Con. Don't look at me so doubtfully, please! - I didn't bang my head, you know. - Eustacia was pulling on my arm a little, naturally; really I was going too fast for her, but we didn't have much choice in that. Truth is, I suppose I was going too fast for me, too - or at least too fast for me to be pulling anyone else along. I was so concerned with minding her footing, I didn't pay enough attention to my own. In a way, I'm grateful for that - it would have been terrible if I'd pulled her over instead, and now I think about it I realise I could very easily have done so."

I frowned at this new perspective. "You're the first person to describe it like that. The others were all furious with her, naturally. Are you quite sure, Nell?"

Her face was impassive, and I couldn't help wondering if this was a version of events Nell had decided upon, more than an account she truly remembered. It would be very like her to take the responsibility on her own shoulders and shrug off the part which might be blamed on others, but I felt discomfited by the possibility of her lying to me about it. "I'm reasonably sure, and the burden of proof must fall on anyone who says otherwise. I do wish they wouldn't use it as another reason to snipe at her. Heaven knows I'm as tired of her as anyone else is, but it doesn't seem very fair, and I feel unwittingly complicit, somehow."

To a certain extent, Nell was making a lot of sense; and yet, at the same time, this show of frank generosity jarred so deeply with Eustacia's own gracelessness it left me incensed on Nell's behalf. "But she's not even sorry! She's still as arrogant as ever! Do you know, she was even late down to breakfast on Wednesday morning? Any other girl would be trying as hard as she could to make amends and avoid further trouble. She's the absolute limit, Nell..."

"But why would she be sorry, if she doesn't think she's done anything wrong?" Nell pointed out, not unreasonably, trying and failing to conceal a smile at my careless slang. "Oh, what a mess! I don't mean to say Jo must be maliciously blaming Eustacia - she just wouldn't do that, she's too upright and honest - but I wish she'd think twice before opening her mouth!"

"She's very upset about Robin, though," I reminded her, and we both grew sombre and said nothing, for on that matter there was nothing that could be said, at least until Dr Jem had seen her for himself. It was my turn to feel awkward. "I daresay I haven't helped matters as I might have done, either."

Nell flashed me a sudden smile of support. "Don't - just don't. I'm sure if it had been your foot, I'd have been much less equitable. As it is, you've held everything together brilliantly and I just get to lie about being the magnanimous injured hero!"

"Your English," I murmured reprovingly, feeling better than I had done since Monday - had it really only been three days? It felt much longer.

"What of it? You knew what I meant, and what other purpose has language?" she retorted.

"Philistine." I leant closer and whispered a gentle kiss behind her ear. "Isn't it nice to be so completely off-duty like this?"

"It's almost like a holiday!" Nell offered, so brightly it made me giggle. "I should break my foot more often." She ran a hand lightly behind my neck and across my shoulder. "How long 'til you have to go back?"

I grinned enigmatically and leaned in for a very leisurely kiss before answering. "Sunday morning, my love. If I take the nine o'clock train I should get back to the School at a respectable hour of the evening." I smiled at her face on hearing this news. "Well, I couldn't leave you without seeing you properly settled, could I?"

"Very noble," Nell nodded, her fingers working lazily at the top button of my blouse, "quite the sacrifice, I'm sure. Two whole days here? How did you ever manage that?"

"I imagine Mlle was thinking of how bored and lonely you'll be over the next two weeks," I shrugged. "And really, since I couldn't possibly be back for lessons tomorrow, what real benefit would there be to me being there over the weekend?"

She looked suddenly pensive and her fingers paused in their task, resting on my third button. "I will be horribly bored and lonely, won't I?"

"You will," I agreed, "but the rest will do you good, and I'll write to you. Anyway, don't let's borrow trouble - you're not bored or lonely now, are you?"

She grinned wickedly and resumed her divestment. "No, that's true. Oh, just think - two whole days..."