‘At the time, neither of us was aware of the unsavoury rumours,’ she replied carefully, irritated that the conversation had once again returned to a subject that, in her opinion, was best consigned to history. ‘Lord Barrington assured my father that it was a most respectable place and, since there were to be two other young ladies in his party, Papa bowed to what he called “his lordship’s better judgement”.’
Well able to imagine the kind of ‘young ladies’ who were known to frequent the usual supper parties given by the ramshackle viscount, Richard managed to bite back his groan of dismay. ‘From the tone of your voice, I must assume that it was on one such occasion that your father found his trust to be somewhat misplaced?’
‘Oh, I am perfectly sure that the resultant gossip cannot have failed to reach your ears, my lord,’ she said curtly. ‘No doubt your acquaintances have done their best to make capital of the event.’
‘Let me assure you that I do not normally hold listening to gossip among my faults, Miss Wheatley,’ replied Richard, somewhat incensed that she appeared to number him amongst Barrington’s cronies. ‘But on this occasion, I have to confess that, when my grandmother informed me that she had heard that you once threw a glass of wine into his lordship’s face, I found myself inclined to commend your perspicacity.’
‘Threw a glass of wine!’
For a fraction of a moment, Helena found herself to be almost incapable of coherent speech but then, to Richard’s utter astonishment, her eyes suddenly gleamed and her lips began to twitch. ‘Is that what the wretched fellow put about?’ She chuckled. ‘Well, I have to say that I am sorry to disabuse you of such a delightful notion, my lord, but I fear that the incident was not nearly so dramatic. The plain fact of the matter is that I was finding his lordship’s attentions rather too—how shall I put it?—assiduous for my liking and, after having repeatedly asked him to desist from his attempts to molest me, I felt constrained to give him a rather hefty shove which, in the event, I fear, caused him to tip his own drink all down his shirt front!’
Richard’s face lit up and he let out a shout of laughter. ‘Good for you, Miss Wheatley—I wish I had been there just to get a glimpse of the look on his face!’ But then, as he considered the implications of Helena’s story, his eyes grew serious. ‘He must have been very angry with you—he did not try to harm you in any way, I trust?’
‘I have to confess that I was far too mortified to wait for his reaction,’ admitted Helena, with a slight smile. ‘I simply vacated the supper booth and made my own way back to the pier. I was obliged to offer the ferry-man quite a large sum of money to bring me back across the river but, as it turned out, the man was most obliging. He insisted upon leaving his scull to take me to the hackney-carriage stand, for which I was very grateful, since I am afraid that I have had little experience of hiring such vehicles. He told me that he had young daughters of his own and even waited until he had seen me safely into what he assured me was “a respectable jarvey’s rig”.’
The earl shook his head, uncomfortably aware of the innumerable ways in which disaster might well have befallen an unaccompanied young lady in such a dubious area.
‘You clearly had the saints on your side that night, Miss Wheatley,’ he exclaimed, as he swung the phaeton into the quieter environs of Curzon Street and finally brought it to a halt in front of Standish House. ‘Your father must have been beside himself when you turned up in a hired hack—no wonder he decided to draw up that contract! Although, upon reflection, it seems to me that the unfortunate episode should have been more than enough to put him off his whole scheme altogether.’
‘Oh, you need have no fear, sir, Papa knows that I am well able to take care of myself,’ she replied airily, her eyes following the earl’s movements as he leapt down from his perch and proceeded to walk round the carriage to hand her down.
At Helena’s somewhat naïve remark, Richard hid a smile, as he led her up the steps to the front door. It seemed to him that Miss Wheatley’s rather suburban upbringing had failed to cover some of the less palatable aspects of society life. But then, as soon as Bickerstaff had ushered them into the salon, where his grandmother was waiting in attendance, he was obliged to dismiss the matter from his mind in order to concentrate on the impending interview.
In spite of herself, Helena could not help feeling just the tiniest twinge of nervousness as she approached the rather autocratic-looking old lady, who was seated on a high-backed chair at the far side of the room. Not that it mattered in the slightest what the countess thought of her, she hastened to assure herself, since—assuming that she managed to play her cards with sufficient skill—any association between the two of them would, hopefully, be very short lived. Nevertheless, she found that she could not control the little tremor of anxiety that ran through her as Lady Isobel raised her lorgnette and proceeded to inspect her minutely from the top of her head right down to the tip of her toes.
‘Well, don’t just stand there, girl!’ commanded the dowager. ‘Come over to the window and let me get a proper look at you!’
Torn between, on the one hand, a fierce desire to retort that she had no intention of being ordered about in such a peremptory manner and, on the other, a deeply instilled supposition that the young were under some sort of obligation to tolerate the idiosyncrasies of a generation much older than themselves, Helena swallowed her resentment and walked over to face the countess.
‘That’s much better! Now, turn around!’
Stifling her indignation, Helena did as she was bidden but, as Markfield’s pensive face hove into her view, she could not resist casting him a fulminating glare. How dared he bring her here to be treated in such an insulting manner! This fiasco was turning out to be even worse than she had feared it might!
In growing disbelief at his grandmother’s discourteous treatment of her guest, Richard watched in awe as Helena, exhibiting nothing of her innermost feelings, stood graciously erect, her chin raised high, and suffered the dowager’s continued appraisal of her person with, he was bound to admit, the most incredible forbearance.
‘Excellent!’
With a satisfied nod, Lady Isobel then bade Helena take the seat opposite her own. ‘Very good posture and admirable self-control, I see!’ she chuckled. ‘I do believe the gel will serve, dear boy!’
Helena, somewhat taken aback at the countess’s words, sat down on the sofa indicated and said nothing, having made up her mind to run whatever gauntlet the dowager had in mind for her with as much dignity as she was able to muster and then, when the two of them were done with their self-indulgent theatricals, to make her escape as soon as it was decently possible.
‘She does have a voice, I take it?’ the old lady then queried, frowning in disapproval at Helena’s continual silence.
‘Grandmama, please!’ protested Richard. ‘Don’t you think you have embarrassed Miss Wheatley quite enough for one day?’
‘Embarrassed her?’ exclaimed the countess, raising her eyebrows. ‘I? The gel don’t look in the least embarrassed!’ And, leaning forwards, she tapped her folded fan on Helena’s knee and asked briskly, ‘Am I embarrassing you, child?’
‘Not in the least, ma’am,’ replied Helena coolly and, having suddenly caught sight of the glint of amusement in her hostess’s faded blue eyes, instantly made up her mind that even if they were intent upon making some sort of game of her, she would refuse to allow either of them to intimidate her. Having already found her own way home on that earlier occasion with little difficulty, the vagaries of public transport were now much less of a mystery to her and she was quite confident that she would have no trouble hailing a cab in broad daylight in this prestigious area.
Lady Isobel nodded her approval. ‘Come along then, child. What have you to say for yourself?’
‘I am not altogether sure what you would have me say, ma’am,’ returned Helena calmly. ‘I was under the impression that I was invited here to take tea with you, not as