Miss Terry looked at her tormentor, her pale eyes doubtful. “Does Rose do it?”

“Sadly no.” He shot a regretful glance to where I stood by Lizzie, his eyes glinting with banked-down delight. “She has expressed a positive dislike for it, but I may bring her round yet.”

“No you won’t,” I told him, and I moved forward to join in again. Not being a saint, I had enjoyed Miss Terry’s embarrassment, but enough was enough, at least for now.

“Nor,” continued my love, pursuing his quarry, “have I ever heard her say ‘la’. You should take it up, sweetheart, you could set quite a fashion.” I frowned at him but he continued to smile at her, unperturbed, elegantly assured.

Miss Terry must have thought everyone in London used the term, but she should have realised that nothing is so dated as the jargon of a previous generation.

The shock of realisation jolted me. He’d called me “sweetheart”’ in company. Richard wasn’t demonstrative in public, and usually referred to me as “Rose” or “madam”.

I knew, as clearly as if he’d told me, that he was letting Miss Terry know something about us, but I don’t know if she’d noticed. She didn’t know Richard well.

“You shall tell me what words I should use instead.” She leaned forward confidentially to lay her hand on his arm.

He looked down at the hand, and then up at her face. Miss Terry had recovered her composure and seemed too dense to see that his smile had gone, or so sure of herself she didn’t imagine he could resist her charms. He bowed his head. “Naturally, I would be delighted.”

We moved on. He behaved himself impeccably with everyone else, but in a quiet moment said to me, “I would appreciate your opinion on these people some time. I don’t know them from Adam. See if I won’t try to bring them out.”

I sighed. I’d seen the gleam in his eye, his enjoyment at baiting Miss Terry. “You won’t get rid of Miss Terry for a while. She put it about you jilted Julia Cartwright for me—” He glanced at me, frowning. I continued hastily, “Oh, everyone knows the right of it, but she loves to make trouble, and she’s been heard to say if you’ll jilt one, then you’ll jilt another. She imagines that every man who comes within her orbit will fall madly in love with her.” Julia Cartwright had run off with my erstwhile suitor, Steven Drury, before Richard had formally asked for my hand in marriage. The fault lay with her and Richard had taken great pains to ensure no condemnation lay on me. He would not like Eustacia’s gossip.

“Does she indeed?” He lifted a single delicate eyebrow in displeasure.

“She’s stupid, you mustn’t mind her.”

“Oh, but I think I must.” He would say nothing else, and Lady Skerrit was coming towards us, so he moved forward with his charming smile to greet her.

Dinner was served in the large dining room, at a huge table built there in situ by the original builders of the house. If this was not a formal occasion, I swear Gervase would have been under it, examining the timbers for signs of the long-dead carpenter’s tools. He did ask Lady Skerrit if he might come another day with his sketchbook. “I find this building enchanting, and I’m sure it must hold many secrets.”

“Gervase will ferret them all out,” Richard warned her. “I’ve never seen such a passion for antiquities. I believe we have an old castle ourselves, Gervase.”

Gervase turned in surprise. “Have we? I don’t recall.”

“Our Tudor ancestors virtually abandoned it. Our father takes no interest in it. You should go to see it. For all I know it’s a complete ruin, but it might amuse you to restore it.”

“It might indeed.” Gervase’s face brightened. He proceeded to ask Lady Skerrit many questions about the house, some of which she couldn’t answer.

Tom had no idea either. “I didn’t think anyone else would be interested in Peacock’s. I love it, but then I would.”

“It’s a wonderful example of early Tudor, one of the finest I’ve seen.” Several young ladies heard Gervase’s comments, and I wondered how many would find a similar passion in the early Tudor style before Gervase left the district.

Richard, placed by my side at the table, set himself to charm Miss Terry, seated on his other side. I had some suspicion of what he was about, and I wasn’t sure I approved. He told her she must be sure to come and see us later in the year, as he wished to go to London after our bride trip.

“Bride trip?” I hadn’t thought about after the wedding.

“Yes, had you forgotten? Bride visits will have to wait until I’ve had you to myself for a while.”

“Where are we going?”

“Everywhere and nowhere.” He gave me a maddeningly enigmatic smile and would say no more, returning to Miss Terry instead. “You remind me of someone, ma’am. One of the Misses Gunning perhaps.”

Eustacia lowered her eyelids and smiled up at him, a trick she practised on the local cavaliers, with excellent results. I had seen it many times in Exeter Assembly rooms, and it rarely failed in its effect. Richard smiled back at her, and Gervase, seated on my other side, choked. The Gunnings were great beauties, famed throughout society. It was an outrageous compliment, but Eustacia saw nothing amiss in it. “Or Miss Chudleigh,” Richard continued, his quarry well in his sights. Miss Chudleigh’s morals were known to be lax, to