‘Perhaps you could, but why should you do so? I am sure you would be happier with someone else.’ She flicked a little glance at him. ‘Jane Grisham, perhaps. You have been friends for so long I think you would suit very well.’
‘No, how could you say that?’ he protested. ‘Lya, I knew from the first moment I saw you that I wanted you for my wife! I know what it is, you have seen how easy Jane and I are together and you are jealous. That shows you care for me!’
Smiling, she shook her head and reached up to put a warning finger against his mouth.
‘Hush now, Freddie. The fact that I am not at all jealous tells me quite the opposite. I am very flattered by your offer, but believe me, I cannot love you.’ He looked downcast and she reached out to take his hand. ‘I hope we can remain friends.’
‘I hope so, too.’ He sighed. ‘Ah, well. I suppose there would be a deal of opposition to our marrying now. However, in a few months we will both be of age. Who knows but I might persuade you to change your mind by then? And such a show of constancy must weigh with my mother, as well as with the Pridhams. No, you will not make me give up hope just yet.’
‘Very well.’ Natalya knew she was being cowardly in not making her rejection absolute, but Freddie was looking so much more cheerful she could not bear to dash his hopes. Also, she was very sure his infatuation would soon fade. ‘Let us agree to remain friends, then. In truth, I should not like to fall out with you, Freddie, I have so few real friends in Bath and I count you as one of them.’
‘I am honoured you should think so.’
He was still holding her hand, but when he would have lifted it to his lips, she gently pulled away, saying with another smile,
‘We have been sitting together for a full quarter of an hour and I think you should escort me back to Mrs Ancrum, before she grows anxious.’
Tristan was determined not to stand and watch Freddie and Natalya going down the country dance, but he could not prevent his eyes from straying back to the dance floor. He had just decided to take a look in the card room when a jovial voice at his shoulder made him turn quickly.
‘If it isn’t Tristan Quintrell. Never expected to see you in this place!’
‘James!’ Tristan put out his hand, genuinely delighted to see his old friend. ‘Last time I heard, you were in the Peninsula. You had just made major.’ He looked around. ‘Is your wife with you?’
James Moffatt pulled a face. ‘You don’t think I’d come to a ball of my own volition, do you? Dolly is here somewhere, chattering with her friends.’
Tristan laughed. They had been at school together, but had lost touch in recent years and he was content to spend several minutes catching up on the past.
‘So, you have sold out,’ he said at last. ‘What brings you to Bath?’
‘Old wounds. Took a bullet in the leg, old boy, and one in the chest that just missed the lung. It has left me devilish weak, I can tell you. In fact, this is one of my first outings. Dolly decided retiring to Bath would be just the thing for us, so she packed up everything and moved us here. Had to sell my hunters. I don’t ride much now, y’see.’
He placed one hand on his chest, looking glum.
‘I did not bring any of my riding horses to Bath,’ Tristan replied. ‘I did not think I’d need ’em.’
In truth, he had not expected to be in Bath so long. He had anticipated being here a week or so, to make Miss Fairchild’s acquaintance and pursue his enquiries about her family. The only reason he had taken the house in George Street was in order to bring his mother and Katherine here, should an alliance between Freddie and Natalya prove inevitable.
‘I should like to explore the countryside around Bath,’ said the Major, interrupting his thoughts. ‘but Dolly won’t countenance any exertion until the sawbones says I am well enough and he’s not keen on my doing anything more than taking a gentle airing around the city at present. Dolly won’t even let me drive up to Lansdown, where I believe the view is well worth the effort.’
Tristan decided not to mention his recent ride there, fearing it might upset his friend. Instead he tried to give James’s thoughts a more cheerful turn.
‘That will wait until you are stronger. In the meantime, there are numerous entertainments to be had in Bath itself. The theatre, lectures, even balls such as this!’
The Major grimaced. ‘We have been here a few months now and I’m afraid it’s not the place for me. Too full of gossip and invalids! When the lease runs out at the end of the summer, I think we’ll be off back to Berkshire. Why are you here?’
‘Family matters.’ Tristan did not want to elaborate.
‘Ah, yes. That’s your nephew over there, ain’t it, Tris? Dancing with Miss Fairchild.’
‘Are you acquainted with the lady?’
‘I know of her. Local beauty.’
‘I can see that. Tell me something I do not know.’
‘Not much to tell. The Pridhams keep her closely guarded.’
‘What of her parents?’
‘I know nothing about ’em, old friend. Ah, here is Dolly now. She can tell you more.’
James smiled as his wife came up and took his arm. After pleasantries had been exchanged, he told her of Tristan’s interest in Miss Fairchild.
Mrs Moffatt regarded him with her bird-bright eyes.
‘Why, she is quite a mystery, my lord! No one knows anything about her father, but I heard tell that her mother’s family has quite cast her off. Some say she was born the wrong side of the blanket, but the fact that Mrs Ancrum has taken the chit under her
