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  “Yes, I am feeling quite well, although my family finds that difficult to believe when they look at me.” He smiled engagingly, his hazel eyes warm.

  Jane smiled back, feeling at ease with her visitor despite being caught poorly dressed. She had wondered if Captain Tremaine would call again after hearing about the connection between Fanny and Jamie. She was sure either Lord or Lady Tremaine would have told him of the betrothal. Evidently the captain did not consider it a reason not to further their acquaintance, and she was surprised to feel relieved this was the case.

  Jane realised she was being silent too long, but now that Captain Tremaine had called, she had no idea what to do with him. If she took him into the drawing room as manners demanded, she was not sure how Fanny would react. That was the trouble with living in a small cottage with only one drawing room, Jane thought regretfully.

  Edward was beginning to wonder at Miss Hampton’s hesitancy when the door she had come through minutes before opened again, and a middle-aged man of slight build with silver hair and spectacles joined them.

  “Captain Tremaine, may 1 present my father, Mr. John Hampton?” Jane said, feeling greatly relieved. If her father was the one who took Captain Tremaine in to meet Fanny, everyone would be more comfortable.

  As the two men exchanged greetings, they took each other’s measure, liking what they saw. Mr. Hampton opened the door into the drawing room.

  “Please come and meet my other daughter and join me in a glass of claret, Captain Tremaine,” he invited, and Edward entered a small drawing room furnished, like the entrance hall, in Sheraton-style pieces. Across the room, reclining on a settee before the window, was an obviously frail young girl. The high-necked, long-sleeved frock she wore did little to conceal her bone-thinness. Her head was covered by a large muslin cap that concealed her hair, and enormous dark brown eyes looked at him warily from a pinched face. Edward felt doubly ashamed for his brother.

  “Captain Tremaine, this is my younger daughter, Fanny,” Mr. Hampton introduced them, as he tugged a bellpull to order the claret. “Fanny, Captain Tremaine has returned from the Continent and come to pay his respects.”

  “I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Captain Tremaine,” Fanny said courteously but coolly.

  Edward took no notice of the thinly veiled hostility. He seated himself near Fanny and smiled charmingly.

  “It is I who am pleased to make your acquaintance, Miss Fanny Hampton. I trust the close connection between our families makes it acceptable for me to address you as Miss Fanny?” Edward said without waiting for a reply. “I am happy to see that you are feeling well enough to receive a visit from me. Finding that is so, I am charged by my mother to inquire if you could sustain a visit from her next week. Lady Tremaine is most eager to assure herself personally of your continued convalescence.”

  Fanny hesitated, her eyes going to her father’s face. What she saw there apparently moved her to respond civilly.

  “Thank you, Captain Tremaine. Please inform Lady Tremaine I shall be very glad to receive a call from her next week.”

  Mr. Hampton gave Edward a glass of the claret Mrs. Reid brought in, and Edward noticed from the corner of his eye that Fanny was taking the opportunity to study him under half-lowered eyelids. Edward suspected she had been reluctant to see a member of his family, but her face softened as she took in his appearance. No doubt, Edward thought, Miss Fanny realised from his appearance that he had also suffered from illness. He hoped it would create a bond of sympathy between them, and in fact when he turned back to her she no longer displayed any hostility and conversed with him quite pleasantly.

  After half an hour Edward rose to take his leave, not wanting to tire Fanny by staying too long. Mr. Hampton excused himself to return to his studies, and Jane accompanied Edward outside, walking with him to the gate.

  Halfway down the garden path, Edward stopped and patted Thomas, who was sitting on a stone bench by the path, soaking up the warmth of the morning sun.

  “Miss Hampton,” he said, “may I speak to you frankly?”

  Jane nodded, sensing he wished to discuss Fanny’s betrothal. “Yes, of course, Captain Tremaine.”

  “My mother has told me about the circumstances surrounding the betrothal between your sister and my brother. I am pleased your sister agreed to see Lady Tremaine, for Mother was concerned there might be undue speculation if Fanny continued to refuse to see the family of her supposed fiancé. The fiction of the betrothal need not be sustained much longer, but I think it best for your sister’s sake that it be continued awhile yet. And even more for ours,” Edward admitted candidly. “It would do our consequence no good if it were to become generally known how shabbily my brother has treated Miss Fanny.”

  Jane frowned at the remembrance. “I believe you are correct, Captain Tremaine. The betrothal should appear to die a natural death after Fanny recovers and rejoins society. I realise that in order for that to happen it is necessary that relations between our families resume their normal aspect.” Her frown cleared and her naturally pleasant expression returned. “And in truth,” she added with disarming frankness, “I have missed my association with Lady Tremaine, and I know my father has regretted his friendship with Lord Tremaine.”

  “As they have yours,” Edward returned, and repeated the conversation he had had with his mother earlier in the week. “We should like you to call at Haverton Park again, as well.”

  Jane hesitated. “Perhaps when my sister is a little stronger, but that I cannot promise. You must understand Fanny’s reluctance to see Jamie.”

  “I do, Miss Hampton,” Edward assured her, “and I cannot tell you how much I deplore my brother’s behaviour. But painful as it might be, your sister will have to face him some time in order to break off the engagement, which is all to her good. In the meantime, she should be encouraged to get out of doors and take some exercise if she is to recover fully. I know that from my own experience.”

  Jane looked at the captain critically. He was looking better in just the week since she had last seen him. His hair was still dull and his civilian clothes were as loose as his uniform, but his colour was better and he had an air of generally improved health.

  “Perhaps you would help me persuade Fanny, Captain Tremaine,” Jane suggested. “I have tried to persuade her to go outside, but to no avail.”

  Edward rose. “Perhaps between the two of us we shall,” he said, and they walked on to the gate.

  As the captain untethered Ariel, he gave Jane a smile of complicity, which caused a rush of warmth in Jane’s heart as she returned it. Whatever quirk of fate had caused the captain to stop and speak to her that June day on his way to Haverton Park, she was grateful for it, Jane mused as Ariel ambled down the road with his rider.

  Chapter Three

  Captain Tremaine called upon the Hamptons the next three mornings, and Jane was pleased to see that Fanny accepted his visits and even looked forward to them. Jane found herself anticipating the calls even more than Fanny. She was careful not to be caught again in her ink-stained smock, and began assisting her father in the afternoons instead of the mornings.

  The visits from Captain Tremaine soon established a pattern. After he talked for a half-hour with Fanny in the drawing room, Jane would accompany him outside where he would sit another twenty minutes or so in her garden, talking of various subjects. The captain’s company was a delight to Jane, who had had no brothers and was unaccustomed to having a male friend. The captain teased her gently, but he always paid flattering attention to her opinions.

  The fourth morning after Captain Tremaine’s initial call on Fanny, a crested carriage stopped at the Hamptons’ cottage gate. Lady Tremaine alighted, but to Jane’s regret, her eldest son was not with the viscountess. Masking her disappointment, Jane welcomed Lady Tremaine in the entrance hall, and Mr. Hampton emerged from his study to pay his respects.

  Lady Tremaine behaved with perfect cordiality, as though the only reason she had not called before was Fa
nny’s poor health. Still, Jane followed Lady Tremaine into the drawing room with some trepidation. Fanny had accepted Captain Tremaine’s presence, but would she accept Lady Tremaine’s? Mr. Hampton did not accompany his guest into the drawing room, but vanished back into his study, a breach of manners to which Lady Tremaine, used to the scholar’s ways, paid no attention.

  Fanny was sitting up in a chair that morning, her feet resting on a brocade stool, her hands lying listlessly in her lap. She was clad in a heavy dress of merino despite the warmth of the summer day, and a shawl was draped about her thin shoulders. As Jane escorted Lady Tremaine into the room, she saw the apprehension in Fanny’s expressive eyes and smiled reassuringly. Lady Tremaine went immediately to Fanny’s side and kissed her cheek.

  “I am so pleased you are feeling well enough to receive me,” she said, seating herself upon a chair next to Fanny and taking Fanny’s frail hands in her own. Her face showed no reaction to Fanny’s changed appearance, and Fanny visibly relaxed. “Society has been sadly flat without your presence and that of your father and sister,” Lady Tremaine continued, “and it is a situation which I am determined to remedy.”

  Fanny replied in a somewhat restrained manner, but soon began to thaw under Lady Tremaine’s determined warmth. Jane gave an inaudible sigh of relief and drew another chair forward and joined their conversation. Lady Tremaine chatted in a lively fashion, bringing Fanny up-to-date on the local gossip. Jane noted with satisfaction that Fanny looked more animated than she had in a long time, and her own attention began to drift as Lady Tremaine talked on. Jane was wondering anew where Captain Tremaine was this morning when a comment of Lady Tremaine’s recaptured her attention.

  “I have the most interesting news to impart,” the viscountess said, pausing a moment so her announcement would have the proper effect. Jane and Fanny looked at her expectantly, and Lady Tremaine continued, “The new Earl of Staplefield is in residence at Bramleigh.”

  Her tidings had the desired impact. Her two listeners were speechless for a moment, and then began questioning her eagerly.

  “When did he arrive?”

  “What is he like?”

  “Will he be staying long?”

  Lady Tremaine laughed, her hazel eyes sparkling, pleased with the effect of her news. “I’m afraid I cannot satisfy your curiosity as of yet. I only know he is in residence. Jamie and Christopher brought the news. They were out riding yesterday afternoon when they saw a carriage with the earl’s crest go by.”

  Jane saw Fanny stiffen slightly at the mention of Jamie’s name, but her interest in the new earl overcame her reluctance to refer to her betrothed.

  “Did they actually see the new earl?” she asked.

  “No,” Lady Tremaine responded, “but it was indeed he. One of our footmen spoke to a servant from Bramleigh who was in the village, and he was told that the earl plans to stay several months.”

  “Do you think the new earl will really follow his uncle’s wishes as to his style of life at Bramleigh?” Jane asked.

  “I suppose he must if he did not contest the will,” Lady Tremaine replied.

  ”I should think more of him if he did not contest the will,” Fanny said. “After all, it was the old earl’s money. The least the new earl could do is obey his wishes.”

  “I shall be curious to meet him,” Jane said musingly, wondering what sort of man the eccentric Louis Grandville had as his heir.

  “We all are,” agreed Lady Tremaine. “I have already informed Lord Tremaine that he must call upon our new neighbour as soon as possible. Unfortunately Lord Tremaine insists upon waiting until the earl has a chance to get settled in. My husband can be most provoking!”

  Jane and Fanny laughed with Lady Tremaine, and Fanny looked speculatively at her sister. “Jane, do you suppose you could persuade Father to—”

  “No,” Jane interrupted. “Even if we could coax Father to leave his books, he is not vicar of this parish and would not feel right in making such a call.”

  “I suppose not,” Fanny agreed reluctantly.

  “Do not worry,” Lady Tremaine said. “You will have a chance to meet him. I am planning to hold a dinner in the new earl’s honour. You will come, of course.”

  Fanny’s eyes dulled, and her animation vanished. “I do not think I am yet up to the rigours of a night out,” she prevaricated.

  Lady Tremaine refused to accept Fanny’s excuse. “Oh, I cannot hold the dinner for a week or so—I doubt I shall be able to persuade Lord Tremaine to call upon him for several days. By then you will surely be strong enough. And if I am not mistaken I strongly suspect that a quiet dinner party would be more likely to encourage your recovery than discourage it. You see, my dear, to be in company is good for the constitution.”

  Before Fanny had a chance to make another excuse, Lady Tremaine rose to leave, her silk skirts rustling about her. “I must leave now so I do not tire you overmuch. I cannot say how pleased I am to see you recovering so well, Fanny, and I shall be a frequent visitor. I know how dull it is to be forced to lie idly halfway between well and ill.”

  Lady Tremaine adjusted her hat in the mirror, and then turned to Jane.

  “I have thought of the very thing to liven your sister’s convalescence,” she exclaimed. “I have a copy of Marmion that I have finished. You must come this afternoon and collect it for Fanny. I know she will enjoy it excessively.”

  Lady Tremaine could easily send a servant with the book, but Jane saw at once that the viscountess was attempting to restore the previous informal relationship that had existed between the two families. She and Fanny had often walked to Haverton Park of an afternoon to call upon Lady Tremaine and share news of the latest fashions and gossip.

  “Thank you, Lady Tremaine,” Jane replied. “I shall be happy to walk over later this afternoon.” And perhaps, she thought, I shall also see Captain Tremaine, since he did not come to call here this morning.

  Mrs. Reid had asked for the afternoon off, so Jane had first to assist with clearing up after their lunch before she could dress for the walk to Haverton Park. She wished to look her best, and considered her gowns several minutes before choosing a white muslin trimmed in red ribbons. She completed her toilette by tying a wide-brimmed gypsy hat over her brown curls, and viewed her reflection in the glass with satisfaction. She would never be a Beauty, but she appeared fresh and neat, and that would have to do.

  It was not an unpleasantly hot afternoon, and Jane walked easily, arriving at Haverton Park looking almost as fresh as when she had set out. Dawkins showed her into the rose drawing room on the first floor to wait while he informed Lady Tremaine of Jane’s arrival.

  Jane considered the rose drawing room to be the most charming room in Haverton Park, and it was filled with pleasant associations of many happy hours spent there. Lady Tremaine had furnished the drawing room in her favourite Hepplewhite furniture, upholstered in rose silk. The backs of the chairs and the settee were heart shaped, and heart-shaped garlands of flowers were printed upon the rose-and-white-striped paper on the walls. A cream, rose, and green carpet continued the colour scheme, and the windows, which commanded a view of the gardens behind the house, were hung with draperies of heavy rose damask.

  Jane was standing by the window admiring the magnificent pink and white peonies in the centre garden when Lady Tremaine entered the room,

  “I am sorry you have had to wait so long, Miss Hampton. I thought I had left the book on the desk in my sitting-room, but it finally came to light in the library,” she explained. “Who would have thought!” she added with a smile.

  Jane turned from the window and took the gold-embossed volume Lady Tremaine extended to her.

  “Thank you, Lady Tremaine. I know Fanny will enjoy reading this. Her taste in literature is not in accord with my father’s, and I fear she is finding her long convalescence quite tedious.”

  “We must organise some outings and other diversions,” Lady Tremaine proposed, sitting on the sofa and motioning Jane to
sit by her, “for my elder son as well as Fanny. Edward is looking better than when he first arrived, but I fear it will be a long time before he is himself again.”

  Lady Tremaine’s smile vanished and she and Jane exchanged a look of mutual understanding as they thought of their respective relatives’ illnesses.

  A maid entered with a tea service, setting it on the round table next to the sofa. Lady Tremaine gracefully poured Jane a cup. “Sugar?” she asked, holding the tongs above the sugar urn.

  “Please, one lump.”

  “Do you think Fanny is well enough to attend a dinner party next week?” Lady Tremaine asked as she handed Jane the delicate pink jasperware teacup.

  “I think she is well enough,” Jane answered cautiously as her hostess poured herself a cup of tea.

  “May I speak frankly?” Lady Tremaine asked at Jane’s temporizing.

  Jane dipped her head in assent. “Please, Lady Tremaine.”

  “I realise it will be very uncomfortable for Fanny to face Jamie in a social setting for the first time since…” Lady Tremaine trailed off. “It will be uncomfortable for us all,” she finished. “But the sooner the situation is faced, the sooner it will be forgotten, both by Fanny herself and the rest of our small country society.”

  “I know you are correct, Lady Tremaine,” Jane agreed, “but, if you will allow me an observation, it is not only Jamie that Fanny fears to meet in public but also friends who knew her when she had her former looks. With respect, Fanny is young. Indeed, I am five years older, and I think I should feel the same reluctance. But nevertheless I shall undertake to see that she attend the dinner.”

  “Good,” Lady Tremaine said, patting Jane’s hand in approval. “I do understand how Fanny feels, but I think she will find she will not be the centre of attention she fears, especially if the new Earl of Staplefield accepts my invitation.”

  Their conversation was interrupted by the entrance of Lady Tremaine’s elder son. Jane felt a slight tremor go through her body at the sight of the captain, and wondered at her response, for Edward Tremaine was still far too emaciated to be considered a well-looking man. His attire—a blue coat, plain buff kerseymere breeches and a waistcoat of striped toilinette—hung on him loosely, and his fair hair lacked the sheen of health. But yet when Captain Tremaine smiled at Jane welcomingly, her heart turned over.