Regency: Mischief & Marriage: Secret Heiress / Bartered Bride. Anne Herries

certainly. Everyone has heard quite enough of me for one evening.’ Eliza retired gracefully to sit by her employer’s side.

      She listened appreciatively to the music. Susanne played with more accomplishment than Kate and, when they sang a popular ditty, their voices blended well with Lord Seaton’s. She applauded their performance as warmly as anyone.

      ‘I believe we should leave now,’ Lady Sarah said when the entertainment finished and the company began to talk amongst themselves. ‘I am feeling a little tired.’

      ‘Allow me to escort you to your carriage, ma’am,’ Daniel offered, startling Eliza who had not been aware that he was standing so close.

      ‘So kind,’ Lady Sarah said and took his arm. ‘It was a pleasant evening, but it is late for me. I knew your uncle once, sir. You must call and take a dish of tea with us one afternoon.’

      ‘I should be delighted,’ Daniel said, inclining his head.

      Eliza gathered up all their bits and pieces. She followed behind, noticing with approval Lord Seaton’s consideration for her employer. He walked her to her waiting carriage, helped her inside, seeing her settled comfortably before turning to Eliza. His blue eyes were thoughtful as he offered his hand to help her ascend the steps.

      ‘I hope your evening was not too tedious, Miss Bancroft?’

      ‘Not in the least, sir. I enjoyed your singing immensely.’

      ‘I enjoyed your rendition of “Greensleeves.”’

      ‘And Miss Roberts played with remarkable proficiency.’

      ‘She is undoubtedly an accomplished young lady.’

      ‘Yes, I am certain she is.’

      What was the message in his eyes? Eliza was not certain; it might be merely imagination, but he seemed to say that he cared nothing for Miss Roberts and very much for her. No, she was letting her feelings run away with her.

      It seemed to Eliza that Lord Seaton held her hand for a little longer than necessary. Perhaps only seconds, but enough to make her heart flutter. Her body began to heat and very peculiar sensations made the nape of her neck tingle. She removed her hand from his grasp.

      He was too dangerous to allow even the smallest flirtation.

      ‘Thank you, sir. I can manage now. Goodnight.’

      ‘Goodnight, ladies.’ He stepped back as the groom closed the carriage door. ‘I shall call one afternoon, Lady Sarah.’

      Sitting back against the squabs, Eliza refused to feel pleased by his promise. It would be extremely foolish to allow herself to like Lord Seaton too much. Yet she did, she did… already her thoughts dwelled on him far more than was sensible or right.

      Chapter Four

      Daniel doused his head with cold water and groaned. Whatever had possessed him to drink so much wine after he returned to his lodgings the previous evening? He shook the water from his hair and sank back into the rapidly cooling bath his valet had prepared for him. Last evening’s dinner party had been a total failure as far as he was concerned. Not only had he been bored by Miss Roberts, finding her shallow and foolish, he had left without speaking to her father.

      ‘Damned idiot!’ he muttered as he rose from the water and towelled himself down, the droplets glistening on skin that was slightly golden in tone.

      Why the hell had his father lost so much money to Cheadle? It was the cause of all this bother, the reason he had no choice but to offer for a girl he did not truly admire. He must either marry to advantage or enter the army and sell his estate to salvage what little he could.

      Surely there must be another alternative?

      The thoughts had been going round and round in his head since waking. He had really believed he could go through with the marriage to Miss Roberts until… he had seen her looking at him with those thoughtful eyes.

      Miss Eliza Bancroft.

      Damn it all, why should the girl affect him like this? She wasn’t beautiful by the standards of the day. Perhaps if they had met first in society he would have passed on without a second glance.

      Liar!

      Daniel groaned as he accepted that Miss Eliza Bancroft had been the reason for his failure to address Miss Roberts. He was intrigued by her manner of plain speaking. She found him amusing, did she? Her careless remark had pricked his vanity. He was accustomed to having young women hang on his every word. Indeed, he might have married long ago if beauty or money had been all he required in a wife.

      The woman had bewitched him! What an idiot he was, mooning over a girl’s smile like a green youth.

      Daniel’s mirth vanished as swiftly as it had come. His situation was serious. He had to find some way of paying those damned mortgages.

      Eliza looked out of the front window as she heard voices below and was in time to see that Lady Julia and Kate had arrived. They were all to visit the Pump Room together that morning. Picking up the reticule she had been asked to fetch for Lady Sarah, she went downstairs in time to witness their friends being admitted.

      ‘Eliza,’ Kate said, ‘isn’t it a glorious day? I have asked Mama if we may leave her and Lady Sarah for a while once they are settled with their friends. It is far too pleasant to be stuck indoors. Do you not agree?’

      ‘It would be pleasant to walk if Lady Sarah does not need me.’

      A walk was exactly what she needed after a night of too much thinking. Despite all her good intentions, Eliza had not been able to dismiss thoughts of Daniel Seaton. She wished she did not know his secret for it seemed to draw her closer to him. Had they met in company for the first time the previous evening, she would not have felt so troubled.

      How could he think of marrying such a foolish girl as Miss Roberts? She was far beneath him in every way.

      Immediately, Eliza was ashamed of the thought. Miss Roberts was a perfectly pleasant girl, just a little foolish to set her cap at him in public the way she had.

      Good gracious! Was she feeling jealous?

      Eliza scorned the wayward notion. She had no business thinking of Lord Seaton at all.

      Kate’s friendly chatter was just what was needed to banish her foolish thoughts. Eliza gave her new friend all her attention as the four ladies were driven to the Pump Room in an open landau.

      Lady Sarah seemed happy to be reunited with an old friend, and once the two older ladies were settled in the Pump Room with a glass of the restorative water, Kate persuaded Eliza they should leave.

      ‘Certainly you must go with Kate,’ Lady Sarah added her voice to the young lady’s. ‘I shall be perfectly comfortable here—and we are all to take luncheon together at Lady Julia’s house. Do not be late for that, girls.’

      ‘No, of course not,’ the girls chorused.

      Kate slipped her arm through Eliza’s and they left the Pump Room, heading for the fashionable shops that abounded in the town.

      ‘I need a new fan for best,’ Kate told her as they emerged into the warm sunshine. She was dressed in a pretty green walking gown with a bonnet of chip straw trimmed with matching ribbons and white shoes and gloves. ‘My favourite snapped in half last time I used it. The struts are so fragile, are they not?’

      ‘I have one that my mother gave me,’ Eliza replied. ‘I have not…’

      She meant to say that she had hardly used it but, seeing the gentleman walking towards them, her heart caught. He was so extremely handsome in his coat of blue with dove grey breeches and boots that shone like gloss.

      ‘Miss Henderson… Miss Bancroft…’ Daniel