had turned her fair cheeks coral, and her small nose was pink at the tip. Her long-lashed eyes were golden brown, and bright with emotion. It was cold as ice outside, and she looked like a sunrise in a rose garden. Her rose-colored gown fitted her perfectly: a column of rose silk that showed her high breasts and rounded hips to perfection. Thick, shining gold and red hair was pulled back from her lovely face to fail in a tumble of curls on one shoulder.
She looked at no one but the earl. She hesitated; her smile trembled. A moment later she rushed across the room to fling herself into his arms. “Geoff!” she cried, hugging him. “After all this time and all the miles, I’m back, here-in England!”
“So you are, so you are,” the earl repeated awkwardly, patting her on the back. He held himself stiffly, and looked over her head to see if anyone but her maid had come in as well.
“Oh,” she said, immediately stepping back. “How rude of me to be so forward, but I forgot myself at the sight of you again. You reminded me of the good times we had together. I didn’t have many, and I needed all I could get back then, and thank you for them.”
The earl glanced over at his guest. The viscount was watching him with a peculiar, thoughtful smile. “It’s not what you think,” he said, and turned his attention to his newest guest again. “But where’s Tanner?”
She lowered her eyes. “Dead, almost two years. Didn’t you know?”
“I hadn’t heard from him, but hadn’t expected to. We were not precisely friends.”
“I thought we were friends though!” she exclaimed.
“Yes, we were,” he said quickly. “But what happened to Tanner? He was in the pink of health when I left.”
“It was an accident… honest!” She laughed ruefully. “Doesn’t everyone in Botany Bay say that when someone they know dies? Habit on their parts, I suppose. But it’s truth. He was drunk, he was wagering, he bet Morrissey- remember him? He bet he could take a really high jump. The horse did, but Tanner couldn’t stay on it.”
She raised a hand as though she was brushing away cobwebs from in front of her face. “No matter, it’s over, and long done. I waited to get back on my feet, to get my mind together. Then I decided to come home. Tanner left me rich! Fancy that! He took your advice and invested. You started him off when you were there, but then he scrimped and invested more and turned out to be a hand at it. Never fear that I’m here for a handout. The fact is, thanks to you, I’m rich, Geoff!”
He didn’t reply.
She stepped back, looking somehow smaller. “Oh,” she said in a stilted little voice, ducking her head. “I beg your pardon. I mean, Your Lordship. I forgot you were a nobleman now. Please forgive me.”
“No pardon necessary. But where are my manners? Allow me to introduce you to my dear friend, Leland Grant, Viscount Haye. Leland, this is Mrs. Daisy Tanner.”
“Enchanted,” Leland said, sweeping her a flourishing bow.
She glanced at the viscount, ducked a curtsy, and her face went pink again. She looked back up at the earl. “It was bad of me to come without an invitation, but I couldn’t wait to see you. I now see that was very rude. I’ll return another time, if you wish.”
“I wish you to stay,” the earl said.
“Should I leave?” Leland asked. “I understand old friends wanting to catch up on old times. I’m the one who can see you some other time.”
“Nonsense,” the earl said. “Stay. We’ve no secrets, do we, Mrs. Tanner?”
“No, and it’s still just Daisy, please! ‘Mrs. Tanner’ feels so cold.”
“Daisy it is then,” the earl said. “And so Geoff it must remain, too, at least in private. Now, have you had luncheon, Daisy?”
“No,” she said.
“Then you will, here with us.” He looked over her head again. “There’s your maid. But where’s your companion?”
“I have none,” she said. Her hand flew to her mouth. “Another mistake! I’ve only been in town a few days and I thought-you and I-such old friends. But I see things are different here, aren’t they? I’ll leave instantly!”
“Nonsense. I think your maid will preserve your name for the space of a luncheon. But you must find a decent companion soon, because a young woman can’t stay on in London without one. Are you staying on, and where?”
“I’m at Grillions, which is a good hotel, I’m told.”
“It is.”
“I plan to rent a house in a good district too, because I certainly want to stay on. Where else should I go? I won’t go back to Elm Hill, where I lived with my father. What would I do there alone anyway? I never want to return to that place, too many bad memories, too many bad people, or at least ones that didn’t care.”
“Then I insist you join us for luncheon. We can try to sort things out for you. I know a realtor in London. We’ll try to find you a companion, too. Let’s set things in motion for you while we dine.”
He offered her his arm. She put her hand on it and looked up at him. “I also need to know where to order new gowns.”
“I don’t know a fig about fashion,” he told her. “But the viscount is an expert on it. He’s a tulip of the
“Too true,” Leland said sardonically, one hand on his chest. “I’m the very pinnacle of frivolous knowledge. All London knows it, and you, lovely lady, may of course rely on me.”
She looked up at the viscount and saw amusement in his knowing gaze. Amusement and something more, something she’d vowed to avoid. She quickly looked away. “Thank you,” she told the earl, ignoring his guest. “I knew all would be well once I got back to London-and you. That is,” she corrected herself with a smile, “when I saw you.”
“I’m glad you remembered to come to me when you were in need,” he said, patting her hand.
“I could scarcely forget you!” she exclaimed, wide-eyed. “Whether or not I was in need.”
“What a delightful luncheon we shall have, my lord,” Leland said, as he watched his friend beam at the compliment. “Lobster and squab, and a touching reunion, too. I
The earl’s face became ruddy. “Daisy is an old friend,” he said.
“Yes,” Leland said with a smile. “What a lot of lovely old friends you seem to have. I can’t
Chapter Two
She was too nervous to eat, but Daisy knew how to pretend she was enjoying her luncheon. Years of marriage to a man who wouldn’t put up with disobedience had taught her that much.
When her heart had slowed to a normal beat after her daring entrance, she sat in the earl’s dining parlor and tried to make polite conversation. They spoke about the earl’s three sons: Christian, son of his body, and the two adopted sons of his heart. They were all recently married, the earl reported, and doing wonderfully well.
“Marriage was like an epidemic around here last year,” the viscount commented with a theatrical shudder.
They laughed at the obvious distaste in the viscount’s expression. But Daisy was truly happy for all three young men. She’d liked each of them, and they each in turn had treated her with the same sympathy and courtesy their father did. Now she tried to listen to stories about Christian’s new house, his adopted brother Amyas’s penchant for Cornwall, and the miracle of Daffyd’s settling down at last. But she couldn’t stop sneaking glances around at the room she sat in.
She’d lived in a fine house when she’d been a child, but she’d never seen anything like the earl’s dining parlor. An elaborate Venetian cut-glass chandelier hung over the dining table, which was set with fresh flowers as well as food. The china plates the food was served on were almost transparent; the glasses looked as though they’d been spun from water; the cutlery was elaborately embossed and pure silver. The walls were covered with patterned stretched green silk; the sunlight that poured in through the long windows made them shimmer. The sideboards and chairs were antique, heavy with age and worth. The footmen were smiling but silent, the food served beautifully. Daisy was awed.
The gentlemen she dined with matched the splendor of the room. They were both well dressed, charming, and mannerly, more so than any men she’d seen in years.
