A Lady Of Rare Quality. Anne Ashley

      ‘But for your intervention, Miss Milbank, I might well be suffering a deal more than a few bruises and a sore arm.’

      ‘You make too much of it, sir,’ she responded, raising a hand and moving it swiftly through the air, as though attempting to rid herself of a troublesome insect.

      ‘Not according to what my sister and servants tell me,’ he countered, his voice, like his gaze, revealing nothing of what was really passing through his mind.

      ‘Then let us both thank Providence, sir,’ Annis suggested, all at once sensing that Viscount Greythorpe was a gentleman who favoured plain speaking. ‘The unexpected encounter has been as much to my benefit as yours. Had I not come upon you lying in the road, I might well have been denied, outright, the interview I’m being granted now.’

      For an instant something that might well have been akin to approval flickered in the depths of deep blue eyes. It was gone too quickly for Annis to be certain. None the less, she considered it a modest victory. At least she had succeeded in piercing that inscrutable mask, if only briefly. Just what could lurk, hidden from the world at large, behind that impassive façade she might never be granted the opportunity to discover. There was one thing of which she was absolutely certain now, though—the master of Greythorpe Manor was not so coolly detached as he might wish to appear.

      ‘It wasn’t until last night,’ she began, ‘while I was lying in bed, that I began to appreciate, perhaps for the very first time, that any gentleman who places a high value on his reputation must of necessity remain on his guard. Females, of course, need to be extra-vigilant. But there are pitfalls for the unwary of both sexes,’ she continued, gazing thoughtfully into the fire, and thereby missing the quite different flicker this time that glinted in his lordship’s eyes. ‘Here am I, a complete stranger… How can you possibly be sure I am who I say I am, seeking you out for a legitimate reason, and not some designing harpy out to entrap you for personal gain?’

      If his lordship was taken aback by the indelicate choice of language, he certainly betrayed no sign of it. ‘Be easy on that score,’ he said, his intense gaze not wavering for a second. ‘I have no doubt that you are Miss Annis Milbank of the Shires. And not, I am persuaded, come here for reasons of your own.’ If possible, his gaze grew marginally more searching. ‘Nor, I am persuaded, did you agree to come here altogether willingly, but at Lady Pelham’s personal request.’

      She could not help but admire his perspicacity. Seemingly his sister had passed on what little information Annis had been willing to divulge the previous evening, and he had deduced correctly that she was here at someone else’s behest, though whether he was altogether pleased about it was a different matter entirely. She strongly suspected that he was not, and was doing his utmost to conceal the fact.

      The suspicion did not, however, deter her from assuring him that he was perfectly correct. ‘Indeed, yes, sir, a circumstance I should now be in a position to prove, if I hadn’t foolishly overlooked the fact yesterday that I had, for safekeeping, placed my godmother’s letter of introduction in one of those bags now awaiting my arrival at the posting-house in your local town. Furthermore,’ she added when he made no response, ‘you are perfectly correct in your assumption. I did indeed undertake this mission most reluctantly.’

      Curiosity evidently had managed to get the better of him, because he put in rather sharply, ‘Why so?’

      ‘Because I consider I’m not the most suitable person to adopt the role of emissary. I am on occasions too plain-spoken for some people’s tastes.’ She shrugged. ‘Lady Pelham, however, thought differently, possibly because her long and close friendship with my late mother resulted in my own extensive knowledge of her private concerns.’

      ‘Miss Milbank,’ he said after a further prolonged silence, during which she was yet again subjected to close scrutiny, ‘I do not boggle at plain-speaking. You may fulfil your designated role with impunity.’

      Thus assured, Annis didn’t hesitate to reveal the dilemma besetting Lady Henrietta Pelham. She deliberately refrained from embellishing the reasons why her godmother considered it detrimental to visit Greythorpe Manor at the present time with explanations of her own. Yet, surprisingly enough, it was precisely her own views on the matter that he sought the instant she had revealed all.

      ‘Come, Miss Milbank,’ he urged, when she continued to regard him with just a hint of suspicion in what he considered a refreshingly direct gaze for one of her sex. ‘I do appreciate you were in Draycot’s company for a brief period only, and on that single occasion. Nevertheless, I cannot believe he departed from your godmother’s home without leaving an impression upon you.’

      He detected just a hint of a smile playing about the sweet curve of her lips, before she turned her head to watch the flames dancing in the hearth. For several moments the only sounds he detected in the room was his own even breathing matching the steady ticking of the mantel-clock; and the strong suspicion that Annis Milbank was for the most part a very restful young woman passed through his mind a moment before she admitted,

      ‘My every instinct tells me my godmother isn’t very far out in her assessment of that particular person’s character, sir. I cannot imagine Mr Draycot would ever concern himself overmuch about the feelings of others.’

      She turned her head to look at him, her gaze so prolonged that his lordship had little difficulty in detecting the flecks of green contained in the depths of her lovely grey eyes. ‘It is also my opinion that Lady Pelham has assessed the situation perfectly. It might indeed prove to be a grave error if Helen is forcibly removed from Draycot’s sphere at the present time.’

      ‘So, you too believe my sister might be persuaded to elope?’

      ‘I sincerely believe it’s a distinct possibility, yes,’ she answered, scrupulously truthful. Her sigh was clearly audible. ‘Yesterday evening, I found myself on numerous occasions comparing Helen with your cousin Louise. There is less than two years between them, and yet the difference is quite marked. Unlike Louise, your sister doesn’t lack self-confidence and is mature beyond her years.’

      ‘And yet, from what you tell me, she’s singularly failed to appreciate she has become the target of some gazetted fortune-hunter,’ he countered, rapier-sharp.

      ‘True. But I didn’t attempt to suggest she lacks any of those less favourable feminine attributes,’ Annis parried, with equal swiftness. ‘What female on the verge of womanhood would not feel highly gratified to become the sole object of a handsome man’s attentions? Draycot’s a veritable Adonis, sir! Why, even I found myself blinking several times when he walked into Godmama’s parlour! And you may be sure that a handsome face hasn’t caused so much as a fluttering in my breast for years!’

      It could well have been a trick of the light, but Annis felt sure she detected what looked suspiciously like a twitch at one side of his lordship’s mouth, before he raised a shapely hand to massage his chin, as though giving due consideration to what he had just learned.

      ‘Sir, I wouldn’t dream of attempting to suggest your sister is so well adjusted that she doesn’t require guidance,’ she went on, when he continued to gaze meditatively at some imaginary spot on the hearth rug. ‘But what I do believe is that eventually sense will prevail and she will see Draycot for precisely what he is. Lady Pelham is wishful for Helen to attend the party here at the beginning of April, and become acquainted with her Greythorpe relations. What she’s endeavouring to do is not reveal her opinion of Draycot, and give the impression that she has any intention of removing Helen from his sphere by insisting they accept your invitation to spend several weeks here.’

      ‘Yet she is determined that Helen should spend those few days in Devon next week,’ he parried, but Annis wasn’t in the least discomposed by the sharpness of the response.

      ‘And very well it was managed too,’ she praised, determined to reveal her admiration for the method her godmother had so cleverly adopted. ‘You must remember, sir, that that particular invitation was issued and accepted long before Draycot’s arrival in Bath. And, incidentally, before your first communication was received by Lady Pelham,’ she reminded