‘Oh, tosh, there can be no harm in it. Why, you did the self-same thing yourself.’
‘Aye, and I am aware of the gossip that created!’
Another fat chuckle. ‘I told you, my lord, a man cannot sneeze in Bath without it raising comment, not but what everyone believes you came to approve your ward’s choice of a bride!’
‘The devil they do!’
‘And why not? Young Erwin never made any secret of his preference for Natalya. Speculation is rife. If you listen to gossip, which I never do.’
He grinned at that. ‘But you are not averse to fuelling the gossip by allowing Miss Fairchild to dance all night with my nephew, is that it?’
‘It is my belief that the more they know of one another the better. That way the affair will either fizzle out when they discover they are not suited, or they will make a match of it.’
An elderly couple was bearing down upon them and, with a nod and a smile, Tristan excused himself and moved away, leaving Mrs Ancrum to talk to her friends uninterrupted. She was right, confound it, they did make a very striking couple and danced well together. Freddie was tall, although still showing some of the lankiness of youth, and his partner, with her deep brown eyes and her raven-black hair, lustrous in the candlelight, was the perfect foil for his classically fair good looks.
The Pridhams were sure to hear that Freddie had been showing their ward an undue amount of attention. Tristan gave an inward shrug. He was not the boy’s keeper and Mrs Ancrum was right to let them have more time together. They needed to discover their true feelings and better they should do it here, in public, than stealing time alone together. He turned away. Good luck to them.
For Natalya, standing up again with Freddie was a mixed blessing. She knew her aunt would want her to refuse, but Freddie danced well and he begged her so charmingly that she succumbed to the temptation, especially since she could see Lord Fossbridge bearing down upon her and the thought of spending two country dances with him, listening to his ponderous compliments and enduring his even more ponderous dancing, was not to be borne.
If it had been Lord Dalmorren coming to solicit her hand, she would have refused Freddie, but Tristan had not approached her all evening, save to greet her when she arrived with Mrs Ancrum. Not that it mattered, she told herself as she skipped along beside her partner. She did not care in the least whether he danced with her or not.
‘By Jove, that was lively,’ declared Freddie, as the last bars of music died away. He held on to her hand. ‘Shall we sit out the next? I want to talk to you.’ He squeezed her fingers. ‘Please say you will, Lya. I do not know when we may get another chance like this.’
Natalya felt a momentary panic. He was going to propose to her and she would much rather he did not. When Tristan had asked her bluntly if she would marry Freddie, she had felt so uncertain about her future that she had seriously thought she might do so, even though she did not love him and doubted if he was truly in love with her. But when the two men had entered the ballroom together this evening, all her doubts had disappeared. She had known then that she could never marry Freddie.
Now he was smiling down at her, his face alight with hope, and her heart sank. However, there was no avoiding it now, so they had best get it over. She allowed him to lead the way to two chairs set a little apart from their neighbours. Natalya fanned herself nervously while Freddie, looking equally ill at ease, fidgeted beside her.
He laughed suddenly. ‘This is not how I envisaged this moment, Lya, but if I do not speak now heaven knows when we may have another opportunity.’
‘Oh, please, Freddie, please say no more.’ He looked at her in alarm and she went on, with some difficulty. ‘Am I—would I be correct in thinking you mean to offer for me?’
‘Well, yes, but I am making such a mull of it, aren’t I?’
She reached out and touched his hand. ‘Dear Freddie, that is not why I stopped you. You see, I do not want—that is, I do not think you should propose to me.’
‘Are you afraid your aunt and uncle would object, or that my own family would refuse to allow it?’
‘I am sure of it, but I would not let that stand between us, if...if I loved you.’
‘And you don’t?’ His blue eyes were fixed on her. ‘Are you sure you could not learn to love me, in time?’
She shook her head. ‘I like you very much, as a friend, Freddie, but I do not love you. And I do not think you really love me. Not the deep, lasting love that is required for a happy marriage. No, let me finish,’ she said quickly, when he opened his mouth to protest. ‘I fear we should not suit, my dear friend. Our interests are so different. You do not share my love of art, for instance, or astronomy. And you only enjoy music if you can dance to it. You fell asleep during the last concert you attended in Bath, did you not?’
‘Confound it, Lya, what is that to say to anything? True, I do not like reading, as you do. And I cannot understand your interest in old stones or...or history, but I would be happy to go with you to visit the Royal Academy or the museum in London, or even if you wished to travel around England looking at ancient monuments and the like.’
This was said with such an air of dogged determination that she laughed. ‘I can see by your expression that the very idea of it fills you with horror.’
‘No, no, you mistake me,’ he said hastily. ‘I could learn
