in the usual way, but Richard and I are deeply in love.” I paused, searching for the right words. “Most people think he saw me as a better replacement for Julia Cartwright, but he’d already determined to be rid of her by the time we met. You remember Steven Drury, of course?” Lady Skerrit nodded. “She’s like the female version of Steven. They’re well suited.” I paused again. It felt like a betrayal, but I could trust Lady Skerrit not to gossip. “We didn’t look for this, but believe me it’s there.”

My best friend’s mother frowned. “I could see little evidence of his affection for you tonight.”

“You mean Miss Terry?” She nodded, tight-lipped. “I’m afraid I made a mistake. I told Richard about Miss Terry’s behaviour to me in the past.” I spread my fan and stared at the pattern, rather than meet her eyes. The cherubs painted on to the pleated surface stared back at me blankly.

“It seemed to me that this only attracted him to her, rather than repulsed him. He hardly took any notice of you at dinner.” Her voice sounded as fierce as a mother cat’s, defending its young.

I tried again. “Lady Skerrit, did you notice how often my glass was empty, or if I’d had enough to eat?” She shook her head. “He saw to it I had everything I needed but in a way that didn’t draw notice, because he knows I dislike that. If I had required his attention, believe me he would have given it.”

“Why should he devote himself so much to Miss Terry?”

“Because he wishes to bring her down,” I confessed. “He will entrance her, lead her on and then drop her.”

“Why should he want to do that?”

It sounded far-fetched, if one didn’t know Richard. I shrugged. “I told Richard about the slights she offered me in the past. I only mentioned them, but Richard has a fierce loyalty to those few people he allows into his confidence.”

She bridled, her shoulders stiffening. “He won’t do it here.” After a pause, she continued, in a softer tone, “But really, my dear, everything I’ve seen here today only confirms the reputation he brings with him. He’s a roué, a rake, a charming deceiver.”

I looked up at her, smiling slightly. “Yes, it is quite a reputation, isn’t it? But I cannot take credit for reforming him. He gave all that up before he met me. He told me he’d grown up.”

“I’ve never seen a leopard change its spots that much,” she commented acidly.

I couldn’t tell her everything. Not the years of anguish he spent living down Gervase’s scandal, furious with his parents for sending his brother away, angry at his mother’s cold, calculating attempts to marry him off. “He created his own reputation and then it bored him.” I hoped that would do. A thought occurred to me, how I could make her understand. “Lady Skerrit, do you trust Martha?”

“Lady Hareton? Of course I do.”

“Then ask her how it is between Richard and me. She only saw the depth of affection we share once, but she’s unlikely to have forgotten it.” I had recourse to my fan once more. I continued to trace the pattern with my finger as I told her. “This must go no further, but if I can’t trust you, I can’t trust anyone.”

No one could hear us. They were all sitting slightly apart, most of them listening to Eustacia Terry in full flow. Still, I spoke quietly. “Steven Drury attacked me at the Abbey—in a particular way, if you know what I mean.” I met her eyes, and saw she was horrified, but in consideration of where we were, she didn’t exclaim aloud. “He didn’t succeed, but in order to escape him, I was forced to rouse the house with my screams. Martha and James saw Gervase stop Richard from killing Steven, and then he turned to me, and—well, they all saw what happened then.” The kiss, the total attention to me, the way he picked me up and took me away to tend to my sprained ankle. His total absorption in me. I smiled when I remembered. They saw what I meant to him, and they were unlikely to forget, since it was so unlike anything they had seen in him before. Richard didn’t allow people to see the man under the glittering exterior very often.

Lady Skerrit took a deep breath to steady herself, and let it out slowly. “I see. Well I would trust Lady Hareton’s opinion as much as I trust my own. Thank you, I shall certainly speak to her.”

“And when the gentlemen return, watch him closely, ma’am. I’ll try to draw him out for you, just for a moment.” She nodded, but I saw she was still sceptical, her lips pursed, a slight frown still creasing her forehead.

I got to my feet. “If you’ll excuse me now, I’ll try to limit the damage Richard is inflicting. Speak to Miss Terry, try to warn her away.”

“I’m not sure that’s wise, my dear. Perhaps, if things are as you say, you should speak quietly to him later. Persuade him not to lead Eustacia on.”

I shook my head. “He won’t be deterred from his purpose. Not after I made the mistake of telling him—what I have told him. But perhaps I can make Miss Terry listen. He will only persist if she encourages him.”

“I doubt it,” said Lady Skerrit, but she let me go.

I walked to where Miss Terry and her friends stood, to one side of the great fireplace, out of reach of the sparks that occasionally spat from the logs. They bowed civilly enough but a distinct chill lay in the air, as though they had been talking about me. I had