all means,’ said Lady Hester amiably. ‘Do tell me why you hit upon poor Laurie for the task of introducing you.’
‘It was not by chance, you know.’ Maidie dug once more into her reticule, and brought out the letter, which she gave to Lady Hester. ‘This is from Lady Delagarde.’
‘Thank you. Do sit down, child.’
Thus adjured, Maidie resumed her former chair as Lord Delagarde walked across and took a seat on a little sofa that faced the fire. She eyed him surreptitiously, aware that he was watching her. Not, she dared say, with any degree of approval. Not that she wanted his approval. If there had been any other option open to her, she would have felt much inclined to abandon her scheme, for she was sure he was going to prove difficult. He was evidently a man used to having his own way, and all too likely to give her a great deal of trouble.
The thought faded from her mind as Lady Hester came to the end of the letter she was reading, and spoke.
‘It is Dorinda’s hand, I can vouch for that.’
‘I never doubted it,’ said Delagarde. ‘I hope I can recognise my own mother’s handwriting. What of it? You have not heard the half of this ridiculous story. Here is this female—’
‘Lady Mary, you mean,’ interpolated his aunt.
‘If she is Lady Mary—’
‘Oh, I think there can be no doubt of that.’
‘Thank you,’ put in Maidie gratefully. ‘I cannot think why he would not believe me.’
Delagarde almost snorted. ‘Because your conduct hardly tallies with the title.’
‘Laurie, do be quiet!’ begged Lady Hester. ‘Let the child tell her tale in her own way.’
‘Her tale is imbecilic. She does not wish to marry some fellow or other, and has thus fled her natural protector to come here and demand that I bring her out, on the pretext of that letter. A more stupid—’
‘Hush! Let her speak.’
Maidie threw her a grateful look, and launched once more into an explanation of her difficulties and the ingenious solution she had worked out. Unlike her great-nephew, Lady Hester listened without comment, and even managed to keep Delagarde from bursting out until Maidie had finished. Only then did she speak.
‘I think I understand. There are one or two matters I should like to clarify, however. The exact relationship between us is readily discovered.’
‘Readily discovered?’ echoed the Viscount, incensed that his great-aunt should give the time of day to the chit’s nonsensical scheme. ‘If you hunted it down through half the family tree, I dare say. Besides, I am sure there must be a dozen other males closer related to her than I am myself.’
‘But none of them, my dear Laurie, is a viscount.’
Maidie found herself the sudden recipient of a suspicious look from his lordship, and a questioning one from Lady Hester. What were they at now?
‘Why should that weigh with me?’ she asked forthrightly. ‘I am an Earl’s daughter.’
‘And may look as high as you please for a husband? I wonder just how high you are looking to go.’
Regarding Lady Hester frowningly, Maidie shrugged. ‘His rank is immaterial. It is not that which will determine my choice. I only meant that my title is bound to make it easier for me to find someone willing to marry me.’
‘Undoubtedly,’ agreed Lady Hester affably. ‘Tell me, Lady Mary, why do you wish to be settled in life?’
A sigh escaped Maidie, as the picture of her self-imposed future formed itself in her mind. ‘To tell you the truth, I had as lief not be—married, I mean. But when Eustace began plaguing me with his attentions, and then Adela must needs try to hint me into accepting him, I began to see what awaited me if I chose to remain single.’
An odd look crossed Lady Hester’s face. ‘Well, I do not ask why you wished to remain single, for that I can readily understand. I am single myself. But what was it that you feared?’
Maidie shifted her shoulders in a gesture of discomfort. ‘To be the object of incessant suits for my hand. Once word of the legacy got out, I could see there would be no peace for me. So I thought the best solution would be to find myself a complaisant husband, who would not object to my continuing interest in other matters, and so end the nonsense at once.’
Lady Hester was regarding her keenly. ‘What legacy?’
‘Oh, I discovered when I came of age that my mother’s fortune had been settled upon me.’
‘Indeed?’
‘Yes, which is why Adela suddenly changed her behaviour towards me.’
‘I imagine she might,’ came the dry comment.
‘Of course I was glad to have such an independence,’ pursued Maidie, ‘for it made it possible for me to make my own choice of occupation, rather than become a companion.’
‘A companion! Good gracious, why should you wish to?’
‘I didn’t wish to. Only I previously thought that it would have been my one path to escape from working as an unpaid drudge to Adela. But I was forced to recognise that the very independence that offered me freedom also made me a target for gentlemen seeking to marry well.’
Lady Hester was now looking very thoughtful indeed. Was she beginning to understand the motives that drove Maidie? Delagarde, on the other hand, was still frowning heavily, she noted. He caught her eye, and got up.
‘Interesting though this history may be, Lady Mary, it makes no difference to—’
‘Laurie!’
‘What is it, Aunt Hes?’
‘Pray sit down again. It happens that I find this history extremely interesting.’ She turned to Maidie as Delagarde reluctantly reseated himself. ‘Let us re-examine this question of our relationship.’
‘But you have already admitted that the Burloynes are related to the Otterburns,’ Maidie protested.
‘Yes, but I am a little uncertain of your mother’s parentage. I did hear that one of the Burloyne cousins married Shurland, now I think of it, but I don’t recall which one. If memory serves me, there were three Burloyne brothers of my generation. Their father married into the Otterburn family, through one of the daughters of my own great-aunt.’
Delagarde blinked. ‘You are very well informed, Aunt Hes.’
‘One likes to keep abreast of these things.’ She sounded casual, but Maidie, when the elder lady turned back to her, was surprised to encounter an extremely penetrating glance. ‘Which of those three brothers was your grandfather Burloyne, child?’
‘The second one, Brice.’
‘Indeed?’ A long sigh escaped Lady Hester, and she sank back into her chair. ‘Well, well. Brice Burloyne’s granddaughter. And no male relatives.’
‘No, for all the Burloynes are dead now, and I have no uncles or male cousins.’
‘Except Shurland,’ put in Delagarde stubbornly.
‘But I have told you—’ Maidie began.
‘Enough!’ broke in Lady Hester. ‘Do not fall into a pointless dispute. Now, my dear Mary—if I may call you so?’
‘Oh, please don’t,’ begged Maidie instantly. ‘No one ever calls me Mary—except Adela, and that was only to annoy. My great-uncle Reginald, when he found himself saddled with the care of me, dubbed me Maidie, and so I have remained.’
‘Very well then, Maidie, if you wish it. Tell me about this Adela. She sounds a most unpleasant sort of woman.’
Maidie