Lady Knightley's Secret. Anne Ashley

to say goodbye—a cowardly way of doing so, I know, but it is for the best. Had I seen you again I might have weakened and agreed to be your wife, which would have been a grave mistake for both of us. I know you felt honour bound to ask for my hand after what had taken place between us, but I cannot allow

      you to make that sacrifice. I gave myself willingly, and do not regret what happened, nor shall I ever. But how can a marriage be a happy one, my darling, when the love is all on one side? One day you will meet someone and fall in love, and bless me for my actions of this day. God keep you safe. Mary.

      Richard swallowed the hard lump which had lodged itself in his throat, and cast his eyes again over those words written in a beautifully flowing hand, a hand which for some obscure reason seemed oddly familiar. His Mary had released him from his obligations, but did he want to be freed? He wasn’t certain, but knew that he couldn’t leave things this way. He owed that young woman so much. He simply couldn’t allow her to walk out of his life like this. It was his duty to find her.

      ‘She hasn’t written down her direction.’ He looked up at the rather concerned face of his sergeant. ‘Did she leave a forwarding address, do you know?’

      ‘That I don’t, sir. Miss Mary left with all ’er servants. There’s only the Froggies ’ere now.’

      ‘They’re Belgians.’

      ‘All the same to me, sir. Do you want I should fetch the ’ousekeeper?’

      Richard nodded, but she wasn’t able to help him. Mademoiselle had never mentioned her address. The only thing the housekeeper could suggest was that he wait until her master returned from Italy at the end of the month, and ask him if he knew where Mary resided in England.

      But Richard was not forced to await the owner’s return. Tragically, a little over a week later, he was to read a report in a newspaper of the passenger vessel The Albatross, bound for Southampton, capsizing in mid-Channel. Amongst those listed as missing, believed drowned, were a Mrs and Miss Mary Smith.

      Chapter Two

      With all the exuberance of an excitable child, Lady Dartwood uttered a shriek of delight as she watched the carriage pull up outside the front entrance and saw a young woman in a very fashionable fur-trimmed travelling outfit step gracefully down the steps.

      ‘She’s here, Brin! She’s arrived at last!’

      ‘Will you stop jumping up and down that way!’ her husband admonished with a passable attempt at sounding severe. ‘For heaven’s sake remember your condition!’

      ‘I can hardly forget it, now can I?’ Glancing down at the rather large, figure-damaging protuberance at the front of her gown, the Viscountess’s expression managed to betray dismay as well as a deal of motherly love for her unborn child. ‘And Elizabeth’s so beautiful, too. I know you’ll fall instantly in love with her!’

      The Viscount rose from the comfort of his armchair and took his young wife gently in his arms. ‘I promise I shall like her for your sake, Verity. I know how very fond you are of your old school friend. But you’re the only girl for me. How many times do I need to assure you of that?’

      She rewarded him for his sound good sense, but quickly extricated herself from his embrace as the door opened and a young woman in her early twenties swept into the room and came tripping lightly towards them, looking so gracefully ethereal that the Viscountess couldn’t help but feel a tiny stab of resentment, but hid it quite beautifully as she gave her friend an affectionate hug.

      ‘I swear, Elizabeth, you get lovelier each time I see you. And slimmer, too!’

      ‘And you are blooming, my dear Verity. The very picture of health!’ Elizabeth then turned and held out one hand to the Viscount. ‘How do you do, my lord. Your wife mentions you so often in her letters that I feel I have known you for years.’

      ‘And I must reciprocate, Miss Beresford,’ he responded, executing an elegant bow before releasing his brief hold of the slender, tapering fingers. ‘My wife has spoken of nothing else since she received your letter accepting her invitation to be our guest.’

      ‘How odiously stuffy!’ Verity’s expression of staunch disapproval drew spontaneous chuckles from both her husband and her friend. ‘Now you must know that in my delicate condition it isn’t very sensible to vex me. So let’s have no more of this unnecessary formality!’

      ‘In the circumstances it might be wise to indulge her, sir,’ Elizabeth suggested. ‘But only on condition,’ she added, casting the most winning smile up at him, ‘that you refrain from addressing me in any one of those repulsive abbreviations so widely used where my name is concerned. I cannot abide Lizzie or Eliza. And I’m not enamoured of Beth, either.’

      The Viscount readily agreed, thinking what a graciously charming young woman Verity’s friend was, her manners open and wonderfully unaffected, and by the time she had left them a short while later to dress for dinner, he had decided, without any further coaxing from his wife, that he liked Elizabeth Beresford very well.

      ‘Why in heaven’s name isn’t that charming young woman married? She’s not only extremely pretty, but intelligent too.’

      Not in the least surprised that he had been captivated so easily by Elizabeth’s engaging manner, Verity smiled with satisfaction. ‘I honestly don’t know, Brin.’ The smile faded. ‘I wouldn’t be at all surprised, though, if it didn’t have something to do with her upbringing. She had quite a miserable childhood. From odd things she has let fall from time to time, I gather her parents’ marriage wasn’t a happy one. I believe Elizabeth was quite close to her father, but didn’t deal at all well with her mother. And as for that sister of hers…!’

      ‘Mmm.’ He glanced thoughtfully at the logs burning brightly on the hearth. ‘I hope you’ve forewarned her that it isn’t unusual for Lady Chiltham to pay us impromptu visits?’

      Verity’s sudden scowl betrayed her feelings quite beautifully. She disliked Elizabeth’s sister intensely and considered Lord Chiltham a pompous nincompoop. The Chilthams, however, resided less than three miles distant and for the sake of neighbourly harmony she had managed to conceal her dislike whenever they had happened to meet.

      ‘She was so spiteful to Elizabeth when they were children. Elizabeth never returned to school after a vacation without having acquired at least one livid bruise from that sister of hers.’

      ‘It isn’t uncommon for brothers and sisters to quarrel, my dear,’ his lordship countered fair-mindedly.

      ‘I realise that. But Evadne’s seven years Elizabeth’s senior. It was nothing short of malicious bullying.’ A sudden gurgle of laughter escaped her. ‘I’d like to see her try it now,’ she went on, the wicked glint in her eyes betraying how she would relish the prospect of an unfriendly encounter between the sisters. ‘Elizabeth has changed out of all recognition since she went to live with her grandmother. I think darling Evadne’s in for a rather severe shock when she does see her again.’

      ‘Well, Elizabeth certainly didn’t strike me as a shrinking violet. She certainly is nothing like her sister, though, not even in looks.’

      ‘Very true,’ Verity concurred. ‘She was painfully shy at school, but thankfully that’s no longer the case. She appears to be remarkably resilient too, now. Which is a blessing considering her recent loss. I must say she seems to have got over her grandmother’s demise very well.’

      In this, however, Viscountess Dartwood couldn’t have been more wrong, as Elizabeth’s personal maid and lifelong devotee could have enlightened her if asked.

      None knew better than Agatha Stigwell, who had been employed as nursemaid in the Beresford household, what a miserable existence her young mistress had endured in her formative years. She had witnessed, first hand, the petty cruelties the pampered Evadne had inflicted on her sister and had been appalled by the sheer indifference Mrs Beresford had always shown when dealing with her younger daughter. The