Debutante in the Regency Ballroom: A Country Miss in Hanover Square. Anne Herries

      ‘I think she was a little affected by my request, but you do not censure me for making it, I hope?’

      ‘How could I? There is no harm in such an invitation. I hope you have not been doing anything worse?’

      She blushed. ‘You are right to scold me. I should not meddle—but I still think she likes him. I should like to see her married and safe, because I care for her. She is not so very old, you know, though I dare say some may think she is past the age of marrying.’

      ‘I do not think it at all,’ Harry replied. ‘I am older than Miss Royston by some seven years, I believe.’

      ‘Well, it is different for a man, is it not?’ Susannah asked innocently. ‘Do you not think it would be a fine thing—if they were to decide to marry?’

      Harry hesitated. He knew that Gerard had suffered a disappointment of some kind. He was fairly certain that the young lady in question had been Amelia Royston, but he did not know what had happened. Gerard had been a changed man when they next met, slightly bitter at first, though he had changed again later. Having his life saved had seemed to instigate a new reason to live in Gerard, and then something else had happened. Harry wasn’t sure what it was, because he had never asked. Gerard was a man who kept his secrets. If he wished someone to know, he would tell them. They were good friends, but they did not intrude on each other’s lives.

      ‘If they decided it for themselves—I would think it a very fine idea,’ he conceded. ‘However, I do not think it right that we should make a push to help bring such a marriage about, though I confess I should like to see him settled in England.’

      Susannah bestowed a look of glowing approval on him. ‘You are such a good friend,’ she told him with a confiding air. ‘I think you must be my very best friend.’

      Harry hesitated. He was tempted to tell her that he would like to be much more than a friend, but she was clearly enjoying his friendship and he did not wish to startle her by declaring himself too soon. She was many years his junior and he wasn’t sure that it would be fair to ask her to be his wife. She would find her life much changed—as the chatelaine of his various estates, she would have many duties.

      ‘I should always wish to please you,’ he said. ‘I think you must know that, Susannah?’

      ‘Yes, I do …’ she replied and glanced away, suddenly shy.

      He was on the point of pressing further when they were interrupted by the arrival of some friends, who took Susannah’s attention. Harry was asked to make up a four at whist and departed. His eyes strayed across the room to where Susannah was playing a game of jackstraws with some of the younger members of the company. Her laughter was music to his ears and he felt his heart jolt when their eyes happened to meet for a moment and she lowered her eyelid, giving him a saucy wink.

      Harry knew that by naming him as her very best friend she had paid him the highest honour she could accord, but it was still not quite what he wanted from her. She had learned to trust and like him, but that was not the wild passion he wanted her to feel—the passion he thought necessary in a marriage. He was certain there was passion in Susannah. He just needed to awaken it.

      He had been thinking for some days of things that might make him seem a hero or a little bit exciting in her eyes. His mind kept coming back to an idea that had been growing for a while now. It was completely mad, a wild flight of fancy that he would not normally consider—but it might just work. If it did he would gain so much, but he could also lose everything on the toss of the dice.

      Harry had nerves of steel at the gambling table or in the face of the enemy, but when it came to losing Susannah, he knew himself a total coward. To have her turn away from him now might be a blow from which he could never recover. No other woman had come close to having this effect on him, and he had begun to understand what might have made Gerard lose the will to live during those hellish months in Spain.

      Harry’s plan was risky. He was weighing the consequences, gradually gaining more confidence in the outcome. If he managed to pull it off, he would win the best prize of his life!

      It was not to be thought of until Susannah’s own dance was over, of course. He knew that she was looking forward to her special evening and he would do nothing that might interfere with her pleasure. However, he might just put his risky plan into place a day or so after. Her visit to town would be nearing its end, and if it did not work … but Harry dared not allow himself to think of failure, for that would be terrible.

      He would wait until after the dance, but if Susannah still seemed to think of him as simply a friend, he would do it!

      Susannah retired happily to bed that night. She had noticed Amelia looking pensive a few times during the evening, which surely meant that she had been missing the earl. He had not been invited to the dinner or the card evening they attended, for it was a small affair consisting of about twenty-five guests.

      ‘I happen to know Gerard has other things on his mind at the moment,’ Harry had told her. ‘Some problem with his estate, I understand. I believe he has actually left town for a few days.’

      ‘He will be here for my dance?’

      ‘Oh, yes, I am certain of it, for we have a meeting of the Four-in-Hand club,’ he told her with a smile. ‘I have proposed my sister’s boy as a new member and we shall be taking a vote.’

      ‘Oh, yes, Mr Sinclair is very keen to join, I believe,’ Susannah said and laughed. ‘He wants to be just like you, Pendleton! He is for ever telling me how much he admires you. I had no idea of what an excellent sportsman you are until he told me that you are held to be top of the trees by the Corinthians. He never ceases to sing your praises.’

      ‘Indeed?’ Harry looked thoughtful. ‘How very kind of him. I wonder what he is after now.’

      ‘That is unkind!’ Susannah cried, scolding him, but with a gleam of mischief in her eyes. ‘I am quite sure his affection for you is genuine.’

      ‘Yes, I know it is,’ Harry replied and smiled oddly. ‘Toby likes to kick up a few larks, but he is actually a very sensible young man. I am thinking of taking him into a new venture I am setting up—but you will please not mention that to him. I want to give him a chance to … enjoy himself before he knuckles down.’

      ‘Oh …’ Susannah stared at him. Lord Pendleton never ceased to surprise her. Every time they spoke she discovered something new about him, and she was beginning to like him more and more. She knew that he attended every function where he might expect to see her, and he had offered to take her driving in the park whenever she wished. As yet she had not accepted that particular invitation, because she had a feeling that once she did their relationship might become more serious. She was not yet sure that she wished Harry to make her an offer. He was the most generous, easiest gentleman of her acquaintance, but she still could not help feeling that she would like something exciting to happen.

      Climbing into bed, Susannah dismissed her small doubts. She had another eight days or so before they were due to leave for Bath and in three days it would be her dance. She did not know why, but she felt something exciting might happen then …

      Susannah emerged from the lending library the next morning. She had been to return some books for her mother and collected two others that she hoped she might have a chance to read before they left town, though she was not at all certain she would even attempt them. Her maid was carrying a small parcel they had collected for Amelia and Susannah carried the books. She had turned aside to glance in the window of a milliner’s shop when she became aware that more than one person had stopped behind her to look at the bonnets displayed there.

      ‘When is your engagement to be announced?’ a feminine voice asked behind her. Susannah stiffened as she recognised the voice and the one that answered.

      ‘Oh, I think it must be quite soon,’ Mary Hamilton said and giggled. ‘He has been most particular in his attentions recently. Mama is certain he will come up to scratch before the week is out.’

      Susannah stiffened