Regency Rumours: A Scandalous Mistress / Dishonour and Desire. Juliet Landon

from across the table. ‘You’re viewing it upside-down, by the way.’

      Hurriedly, Lord Appleton turned the painting round, frowning at it as if it should have known better. ‘Er…well, no old man. I suppose fishing’s more my line.’

      ‘That’s what I thought. I should stick to it, if I were you. That piece was exhibited at the Royal Academy last year.’

      ‘Eh? Oh…really! Good lord!’ said Lord Appleton, sinking a little into his cravat. He passed the painting on, taking another longer look at Amelie.

      Every other remark was complimentary, but the one whose look held all the approval Amelie needed had again shielded her from the merest hint of disdain, even that provoked by ignorance. As at the ball, she felt the warmth of his protection and, while talking to her table-partners, watched how his dark handsome head bent towards Hannah, giving her all his attention while caressing the neck of a dessert-spoon with long fingers and nodding at some serious point she was making. No wonder, Amelie thought, that Hannah was in love with him and how changed he was from the hard-bitten cynic she had first met in the London goldsmith’s shop. How could the two counterparts ever be reconciled?

      

      By coincidence, the answer to that vexed question came after the sumptuous dinner when she seized the chance to speak to Lord Rayne, who had left Caterina to the dedicated attentions of Tam, Hannah’s brother. As if their meeting had been booked in advance, he offered her his arm and together they strolled out on to the rustic verandah that overlooked the river and the meadows beyond. They were not alone, but no one approached them as they perched on a low windowsill with the evening sun in their eyes.

      ‘We’ve had little chance to talk, my lord,’ said Amelie, adjusting the Chantilly lace shawl over her shoulder. ‘Could we be friends now, or did my earlier resistance quite put you off? It was meant to, of course, at the time.’ She could see why Caterina had lost her heart to this young man, and why she would fall some way short of his more cosmopolitan tastes.

      His smile, though, was boyish as he looked out across the river at the gliding of late wherries and their passengers. ‘Our family has a reputation for not being easily put off,’ he said, turning to her. ‘I’ve been waiting for the right moment to talk with you.’

      ‘About your brother’s offer? You disapprove of it, I fear.’

      ‘Why should I disapprove, my lady? It’s extremely sudden, I have to admit, but I approve of Nick’s choice. No, I envy him and congratulate you.’

      ‘But…but you used the word “unfortunately” to Colonel Tate. I thought that—’

      ‘Heavens above, no, my lady. It’s only unfortunate that you’re not engaged to me instead of Nick. But I’m not in a position to offer for anyone yet, you see. Otherwise.’ He sighed, and looked away again.

      For Caterina’s sake, Amelie thought it best to let the subject rest. ‘Well, then, I’m glad we have your blessing. It would have made me very unhappy otherwise. I would like us to be friends, my lord, and your sister too, though I’m afraid I cannot say the same.’ she looked over to the group where a loud voice shouted down the rest ‘.for everyone.’ Seeing the amusement on her companion’s face, she relented. ‘Oh dear, I hope he’s not a particular friend of yours, is he?’

      But his smile told her otherwise. ‘Old Colonel Dandyprat? No, he still thinks he’s in the army. We’ve known him since we were children so we can take his silly prattle with a pinch o’ snuff. We used to mimic him a lot. Still do, sometimes. You should hear him on do-gooders…philanthropists, you know. His favourite aversion.’ His comely features adopted Colonel Tate’s florid puffiness and petulantly wobbling mouth as if he had practised for years. ‘"Them young bits o’skirt ought to be locked up!'” he yelped, for her ears only. ‘"Vagabonds! Nob-thatchers! And anybody who thinks ‘em worth helping must be addle-brained! A load o’ loose screws, that’s what they are! The workhouse is too good for tarts like that."’ His features relaxed as laughter overtook him again, and he did not notice how Amelie’s expression of astonishment changed to sheer relief as the uncompromising sentiments were spoken once more, this time in their original context. ‘We’d never take him up to the workhouse,’ he said, still chuckling. ‘He and my mother have fearsome arguments about it, but nobody ever gets the better of her. “If only you knew what trouble you people cause!"’ he mimicked again. ‘She tells him to go to the devil.’

      ‘She’s very fierce, your mother?’

      ‘Oh, she’s a character,’ he told her.

      Amelie hoped he might have gone on to elaborate, but his place was taken by his sister. ‘Seton,’ said Dorna, ‘be a darling and rescue Hannah from Mr and Mrs Horner. The poor girl looks desperate.’ She took his hands and pulled him up. ‘Besides, it’s my turn to talk to Amelie.’

      But by now, Amelie’s curiosity had been aroused by several anomalies, one of which concerned the fearsome Marchioness, another was to do with the names handed down from the ancestors.

      ‘Our names?’ said Dorna, in answer to her query. ‘Elyot and Rayne are both family names dating back to Tudor times. The first Lord Elyot had a son named Sir Nicholas Rayne who was assistant Master of Horse to Queen Elizabeth. He married the first Adorna whose father, Sir Matthew Pickering, was Master of Revels when the palace at Richmond was still used by the royals. Apparently, there were as many fireworks over that match as there were over the Queen’s affaire with the Earl of Leicester. A huge scandal, there was. Since then, the position of Assistant Master of Horse and Keeper of the Royal Stud has been passed down through Sir Nicholas’s family, which is how my father comes to hold the office. That’s why he can’t be with us.’

      ‘But he’s now the Marquess of Sheen.’

      ‘Yes, he was created earl by King George III, then he became a marquess and, as you know, one usually has to be the earl or marquess of somewhere, so he took the name of Sheen, since that’s where we’ve always lived.’

      ‘The old name for Richmond.’

      ‘That’s right. So Nick took the handed-down title of Lord Elyot, and Seton became Lord Rayne. It must be so confusing to strangers, with all these names from the past.’

      ‘But then, you are a lady by birth as well as by marriage.’

      ‘Which is why I’m Lady Adorna Elwick, rather than just Lady Elwick. As if it matters,’ she laughed, nudging Amelie, who knew that it did. ‘The first Adorna had a brother named Seton who wrote stageplays for the Earl of Leicester’s company, and their brother Adrian acted with William Shakespeare.’

      ‘Really? So Adorna’s scandalous affair with the first Sir Nicholas…is that something the present Marchioness prefers to keep secret?’

      ‘Mother?’ Dorna’s laugh rang out as she threw back her fair head, curving her long throat. ‘Heavens, not a bit of it. Mama is no stranger to scandal. I sometimes think she thrives on it. Ah…Nick! There you are. Have you come to interrupt our cosy chat?’