This statement, delivered in ecstatic accents, did not impress his host. It was on the tip of Tristan’s tongue to retort that, having not yet reached one-and-twenty, Freddie would fall in and out of love a dozen times before settling down, but he held back. The glowing look in the young man’s eyes and his beatific smile persuaded him that Freddie was well and truly smitten.
A mere eight years separated the two men. Freddie was the son of Tristan’s sister. She was sixteen years older than he and his only remaining sibling, the others having failed to survive beyond the nursery years. Her late spouse had taken the precaution of making his brother-in-law joint guardian of his only child. Tristan had barely reached his majority when his own father died and that circumstance, together with the responsibility for his widowed sister and her son three years later, had weighed heavily upon the young Lord Dalmorren, giving him a maturity well beyond his years. He therefore did not mock Freddie for his infatuation. Instead he got up from his desk and walked across his study to the side table, where he poured two glasses of Madeira.
‘Here.’ He handed one to Freddie. ‘I think you had best sit down and tell me all about it.’
The boy needed no second bidding. He pulled a chair close to the desk and sat down, saying eagerly, ‘We met in Bath, in February. Do you recall I told you I was going there with Gore Conyer? His family lives there. I never expected to like the place above half, but then I saw Her.’
‘And does the lady have a name?’
Freddie put down his glass and clasped his hands together. He said ecstatically. ‘Miss Fairchild, but she allows me to call her Lya!’
‘Leah, the name of Jacob’s wife, in the Bible?’ Tristan raised an eyebrow and said drily, ‘I believe that means weary, in Hebrew.’
Freddie shook his head, saying impatiently, ‘No, no, that’s not it at all. Quite absurd. Her name is Natalya, but those close to her use the shortened form.’ His face relaxed into another blissful smile. ‘Lya.’
With a great effort of will Tristan forbore to tease him. ‘You had best tell me where it was you first saw the lady.’
‘It was just as we were leaving the theatre. Gore’s parents had hired a box for us to see Macbeth. I am not a lover of Shakespeare, but it would have been churlish not to go. At the end, Gore and I waited in the foyer for Mr and Mrs Conyer to join us. They know everyone in Bath, you see, and it took them an age to make their way to the door. But that’s by the bye! I happened to look round and there she was, making her way out of the theatre with an old lady wearing the most outmoded fashions!’
He noted Tristan’s look of surprise and laughed. ‘No, it wasn’t Natalya in the odd clothes. She was looking very elegant in cream muslin, but her companion was dressed in the most shocking bright green creation and a headpiece bedecked with any number of feathers and ribbons. That’s what attracted my attention, to begin with, until I saw Miss Fairchild. Our eyes met and...that was it. I knew I was in love—’ He broke off and gave a loud sigh. ‘Oh, Tristan, if you could only have been there.’
‘I am glad I was not,’ retorted his uncle, grimacing. ‘I think I might have been very unwell!’
Freddie waved this aside. ‘I mean I wish you could have seen her. Then you would understand. She is the most beautiful creature! Face and figure quite perfect. Dark hair, coal-black eyes, an ivory complexion—exquisite!’
‘So what did you do?’
‘What could I do? I touched my hat as she went past.’
‘You disappoint me. I thought you would have immediately stepped up and demanded an introduction.’
‘If only I could have done so! Good God, Tris, I am not so lost to all good manners, you know. As it happens, it was a good thing I didn’t jump in. Mrs Conyer told me the old lady is Mrs Ancrum, one of Bath’s most respected residents and a stickler for propriety. Fortunately, the Conyers are acquainted with her and they presented me when we...er...happened to meet in the Pump Room.’
Tristan felt a smile tugging at his lips. ‘Goodness me. Shakespeare, the Pump Room—you grow old before your time, Nevvy.’
Freddie grinned. ‘I am merely getting in practice for when I have to take you there, my aged guardian! But enough funning.’ He put down his empty glass and leaned forward, fixing Tristan with his trusting blue eyes. ‘Tris, I am serious about this, I want to make her an offer, but I need to make sure I have your permission, first.’
‘And your mother’s agreement. She is your guardian, too, remember.’
‘Yes, yes, but Mama will not be a problem. She would never deny me my happiness. But that is not the only thing, I do not gain control of my inheritance until I reach five-and-twenty, so, until that time, I shall need an increase in my allowance, if I am to set up my own establishment.’
‘Naturally,’ murmured Tristan. ‘What do we know of Miss Fairchild, save that she is the most beautiful female you have ever clapped eyes on? What relation is she to this Mrs Ancrum?’
‘None. Natalya is an orphan. She lives in Sydney Place with her aunt and uncle. Mr and Mrs Pridham. They live very quietly, but they are perfectly respectable. And you are not to be thinking they have been putting Natalya in my way. Quite the opposite, in fact. She is closely chaperoned whenever she goes abroad, at balls she is permitted no
