Lady Knightley's Secret. Anne Ashley

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      ‘I wish I had had the pleasure of making her acquaintance,’ he remarked with total sincerity when she fell silent. ‘You make her sound a very interesting character.’

      ‘Oh, she was! There’s no denying she was a hard-headed businesswoman, as shrewd as they come, but there was a softer side to her nature too. She fell in love with my grandfather when she had just turned eighteen. Their marriage lasted such a tragically short length of time, less than six years, but she never married again, even though she received numerous offers throughout her life. She told me once that we were alike in that…that we were destined to love only once.’

      For a brief moment he glimpsed a faraway look in her eyes, then she seemed to collect herself and looked at him with that completely unforced smile of hers, which never failed to reach her eyes, igniting a sparkle in those lovely grey-green depths.

      ‘My apologies, Sir Richard. You must think my tongue runs on wheels. I’ve done nothing but chatter about myself since we began our ride.’

      Drawing her filly to a halt, she gazed at the rippling stream gurgling its way along the shallow valley below. ‘How beautiful it is here! Brin and Verity seem very contented in their new home, but they must find the landscape vastly different from their native Yorkshire.’

      Richard, too, cast his eyes over the hilly terrain. ‘The more I travel about this glorious land of ours, the more I come to realise that each county possesses its own individual charm and beauty.’

      ‘Mmm.’ Elizabeth frowned suddenly. ‘I ought to travel more. It’s a dreadful thing to confess, but I’ve never ventured further north than Gloucester. I’ve always wanted to visit Scotland, and I could take in other places on the way—the Peaks, and the Lake District, to name but two. Late spring or early summer would be the ideal time to travel, don’t you agree?’

      ‘Emphatically no, Miss Beresford!’ he astounded her by responding in forthright tones. ‘Your father was my godfather, so I suppose I’m the closest you’ve ever had to a brother. Therefore, I do not scruple to tell you that it would not only be extremely foolhardy, but grossly improper for you to embark on such a venture without the support and guidance of some male relative.’

      He could easily discern a look of combined annoyance and astonishment in her eyes, and was not just a little surprised himself that he had tried to interfere in something which was, after all, none of his concern. He was surprised, too, and not just a little bewildered by the totally unexpected and overwhelming desire he was experiencing to protect this young woman who was quite evidently battling against the very understandable compulsion to tell him to mind his own business.

      ‘I think, sir,’ Elizabeth said with careful restraint, ‘that it might be wise if we made our way back now. It doesn’t look as if Brin will be joining us, and I think if we are left alone together for very much longer we shall be in the gravest danger of coming to cuffs.’

      His response was to throw his head back and roar with laughter, which only succeeded in annoying her further, but by the time they had arrived back at the Dartwoods’ charming country residence genial relations had once again been restored.

      As she walked with Richard towards the house, Elizabeth was vaguely aware that there was a carriage standing in the courtyard, but gave not a single thought to the possible identity of the person who had called, until she entered her bedchamber and saw the disgruntled look on her maid’s face.

      ‘And what has put you out of temper this morning, Aggie? Had a difference of opinion with one of her ladyship’s servants, have we?’

      ‘To hear you talk, Miss Elizabeth, anyone would think I was the kind of odiously bossy female who always tried to rule the roost.’

      ‘And so you are!’ Elizabeth returned, never having put a guard on her tongue where Agatha was concerned. ‘Well, out with it, then!’ she encouraged when her maid regarded her in tight-lipped indignation. ‘If it wasn’t one of the servants then who, or what, has sent you into a fit of the sullens?’

      ‘Her ladyship has a visitor,’ Agatha unlocked her mouth to announce in tones of dire foreboding.

      ‘Ha! I begin to see daylight.’ Peeling off her habit, Elizabeth regarded the maid with an understanding smile. ‘So, darling Evadne is here, is she? Well, we knew it would be only a matter of time.’ A hint of mischief sparkled in her eyes. ‘Do you know, Aggie, Wellington could have done with your services during the Peninsular Campaign. You would have made an excellent spy. You possess the most uncanny knack of discovering things with quite remarkable speed,’ but Agatha refused to be diverted and looked at her mistress in some concern.

      ‘Be careful, my lamb,’ she urged. ‘She were a nasty, malicious child. I know people can change over the years, but it’s been my experience that they never do to that extent, unless forced to mend their ways.’

      ‘Pray, don’t concern yourself on my account.’ Elizabeth was completely undaunted at the prospect of coming face to face again with the female who had bullied her quite mercilessly years before. ‘You above anyone else should know that Evadne would never show herself in a poor light when in public. She will be all charm and social graces.’

      A hard look, rarely glimpsed in her, suddenly took possession of Elizabeth’s fine features. ‘One viper in a family is more than enough. But if she is foolish enough to cross swords with me again, then she might be surprised at the venom I possess. My grandmother taught me well. I’m more than a match, now, for my beloved sister.’

      Although Agatha said nothing further while she helped her mistress change her attire, she was still experiencing a deal of concern; but she was, as she had been told, fretting quite needlessly. When Elizabeth left the bedchamber and descended the ornately carved staircase she was complete mistress of herself.

      In point of fact, her self-confidence had reached a new high. She had, after all, coped superbly with Richard’s unexpected and rather unnerving presence in this house, not once betraying her true feelings for him. But it wouldn’t do at all to become overconfident, she reminded herself, recalling vividly that moment earlier when he had dared to presume that he could dictate how she should go on. Such impudence! She had come perilously close to losing her temper, but that, she knew, would have been a grave mistake. If she allowed anger to surface, what other emotions might she foolishly betray to the man whom she had adored since her girlhood?

      A young footman opened the salon door for her and she couldn’t prevent a smile at the anxious glance the Viscountess shot in her husband’s direction before he rose to his feet. Richard rose also, and she thought she could detect a flicker of unease in his eyes before she transferred her gaze to the elegantly attired woman seated beside a total stranger on the couch.

      If Lady Chiltham was experiencing shock over her sister’s drastically altered appearance she certainly betrayed no sign of it as she went rushing forward to embrace her warmly. Elizabeth, however, was far too experienced in the ways of her elder sister to be fooled by the false display of affection and, refusing to return the embrace, merely said, ‘You are looking well, Evadne. Marriage and motherhood evidently agree with you.’ The large cornflower-blue eyes were as brightly sparkling as she remembered, but her sister was betraying clear signs that she was rapidly approaching her thirtieth year. Tiny lines were beginning to mar what had once been a flawless complexion, and there was a definite hard, pinched look about the mouth that had once been so softly inviting to members of the opposite sex. ‘I trust your husband and children are keeping well?’

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