"Annie-bud. Good to have you home again.
"
The pet name, an endearment of long standing, cheered her insensibly. No one but Charles had ever called her Annie-bud. It made her feel cherished and warm all over.
She gave her hand to the older gentleman and smiled when he kissed her fingers in the grand manner. "What are you up to, Sam?
"
she asked. "You
'
ve never kissed my hand before. Besides, hand-kissing is old hat.
"
"Tell Harry that,
"
he said, and led her to a settee close to the blazing grate.
"She
'
s been laying down the law again, has she?
"
asked Annabelle, accepting a glass of sherry from her brother-in-law
'
s hand.
There was no necessity for Sam Routledge to elaborate. In the years since she
'
d been part of the Jocelyn family, Annabelle had observed Henrietta
'
s impatience with her father
'
s ignorance of and indifference to the prevailing modes of etiquette. He was a self-made man and proud of it. And though he was a little rough around the edges, his heart was in the right place. Annabelle had a soft spot for the old boy, as he had for her.
"Do you doubt it? If she had her way, I wouldn
'
t be here for her party. She
'
s scared I
'
ll put my foot in my mouth in front of these swells.
"
He gestured vaguely with one hand. "But I couldn
'
t resist hanging on for one more day just to see you, Annabelle.
"
"You
'
re too hard on her, Sam. Henrietta is no snob.
"
"Worst thing I ever did was marry her above her station,
"
he said candidly. Seeing that his son-in-law was fiddling with a decanter on the far side of the room, out of earshot, he went on, "You should have seen her in her heyday, Annabelle. You wouldn
'
t recognize her. She was an out-and-outer, a dasher, something like yourself! But now
…"
he threw his son-in-law a contemptuous look, "she
'
s as dull as that old dog over there.
"
Annabelle choked on her sherry. "Really, Sam, Charles is very kind,
"
she remonstrated.
"Yes, and so
'
s the coup de grace at a botched execution,
"
he answered darkly. "But my gel ain
'
t happy, I tell you, Annabelle. She just ain
'
t happy!
"
"She
'
s still not over Jonathan
'
s birth,
"
commiserated Annabelle.
"Piffle! That ain
'
t it. There
'
s something else. I wish you would find out what
'
s at the bottom of it.
"
"Oh, I don
'
t think Henrietta would confide in me, Sam. We
'
re really not that close.
"
He looked as if he might say more, but the doors opened, and the guests began to idle in for the pre-dinner sherry.
Twenty people sat down to dinner.
"Who are all these people?
"
asked Annabelle of Lord Dalmar before the company moved en masse into the dining room. Her head was reeling from so many introductions to new faces.
"I
'
ve never seen half of them before in my life.
"
Lady Diana turned a brilliant smile on him. "Excuse me,
"
he said to Annabelle with a trace of apology. "Your sister-in-law has evidently made this a formal do. I
'
m to take in Lady Diana. Be kind to Ransome. He
'
s really not a bad fellow.
"
And with a cheeky grin he left her and went to partner Lady Diana.
Annabelle was seated between Colonel Ransome and John Falconer. She lost no time in quizzing both gentlemen on topics which were of keen interest to her. But by the time dinner was over, all she had gleaned from Colonel Ransome was that he had been acquainted with Bertie some years before. Dalmar
'
s brother proved only slightly less taciturn on the subject of Lady Diana.
"Oh no, there were no hard feelings when Diana broke the engagement. How should there be? It was not her doing. It was her father, the Earl, who was the instigator.
"
"But how is it that they come to be on such friendly terms? As far as I understand, Dalmar has been out of the country for five years or more.
"
"Correspondence, I suppose,
"
was the careless answer.
Shocked, Annabelle blurted, "You mean that when her husband was alive, Lady Diana corresponded with Dalmar?
"
Falconer, perceiving that he had inadvertently placed his
brother in an awkward position, hastened to exculpate him and only succeeded in damning him more.
"David has always looked out for Diana
'
s interests. What I mean to say is, she looks up to him. That is, she has this effect on all of us poor gentlemen,
"
and he laughed, rather hollowly, trying to lighten Annabelle
'
s grim expression. Failing to elicit even the tiniest flicker of a smile, he prudently turned to the lady on his left and began an animated conversation on the spectacle that awaited them at Lewes on Guy Fawkes
'
Night.
When the ladies retired to the drawing room, Annabelle adroitly managed to place herself in the chair next to Lady Diana
'
s. Mere whimsy, she told herself. By his nefarious scheme to rob her of the diaries, Dalmar had forfeited his place in her affections, or he soon would. She had made up her mind to cut him out of her heart, and when Annabelle set her mind on anything, even the fates could not subvert her from her course. Still, she was curious about the lady who she was certain would step into her shoes the moment the break with Dalmar became official.
"It was very kind in you to tear yourself away from town for our little house party,
"
was Annabelle
'
s opening conversational gambit.
Enormous, artless blue eyes were turned upon her. "David said I might come,
"
lisped the Incomparable, as if that settled the matter.
Annabelle
'
s brows lifted. "Your friends must miss you,
"
was her only comment.
"Oh, I
'
ve brought them with me. David hinted that I might,
"
and Lady Diana gestured with one delicate hand to the group of young ladies, strangers to Annabelle, who were gathered round the piano, selecting music for when the gentlemen should join them.
Smiling a shade too brightly, Annabelle murmured, "Do you generally travel with your own court?
"
"Not generally, no, but David didn
'
t want me to be bored.
"
Grossly affronted, Annabelle inquired, "Bored? In the country? Who ever heard of such a thing?
"
Bertie, t
ê
te-
à
-t
ê
te with Henrietta, overheard the remark and
flashed Annabelle a wildly disbelieving look. Annabelle
'
s antipathy to country life was well known.
"I
'
m never bored in the country,
"
confided Lady Diana, looking slightly pained at Annabelle
'
s recriminating tone. "But David said that I wouldn
'
t know a soul here, and he did not think I should be comfortable in such circumstances. David likes me to be comfortable,
"
she concluded in all seriousness.
Bemused, Annabelle absently replied, "Oh yes, I
'
ve been assured that my
fiancé
always looks out for your interests.
"
A frown marred the beauty of that perfectly guileless face. "I wish you would not call him that,
"
reproved Lady Diana softly.
"What?
"
asked Annabelle.
"Your
fiancé
. He was my
fiancé
before he was yours. And you don
'
t hear me calling him 'my
fiancé
,
'
do you? Besides, David doesn
'
t like the term. He told me so himself.
"
"But he is no longer
your
fiancé
,
"
explained Annabelle patiently. "You married Lord Merril, if you remember. And now you are a widow.
"
"Yes, and you married Mr. Jocelyn. And now you are a widow, too!
"
crowed Lady Diana triumphantly.
Annabelle regarded her companion in perplexed silence. Finally she offered, "Your esteem for Lord Dalmar is quite out of the ordinary. I wonder why?
"
If possible, those celestial blue eyes widened even further. "David is very clever,
"
she said.
"I
'
ll give you that,
"
returned Annabelle dryly.
"And he knows how to take care of a lady.
"
"How so?
"
The beauty seemed to flounder for a moment or two before framing her reply. "He knows how to speak to servants and so on.
"
She gave the matter more thought. "And he understands everything there is to know about a lady
'
s apparel. And if the roof leaks or the carriage breaks down or the chimney goes on fire, oh yes, and if a horse goes lame, he knows how to get things fixed.
"
Annabelle blinked rapidly. "Doesn
'
t everyone?
"
she asked cautiously.
Lady Diana gave one elegant shrug of her beautiful white shoulders. "I never trouble myself about such things. Why should I? There
'
s always some gentleman at hand to take care of these bothersome details.
"
Annabelle looked at her companion with new respect. "How clever you are, to be sure!
"
she exclaimed, her admiration genuine.
A quick frown momentarily puckered Lady Diana
'
s smooth brow. "Oh, don
'
t say so!
"
she implored. "Gentlemen don
'
t care for clever women.
"
Her brow cleared. "Besides, it isn
'
t so, or David would have told me.
"
"Oh?
"
was all that Annabelle could think to say.
"David says, it
'
s on account of my mind never having been spoiled by an education.
"
Observing Annabelle
'
s blank look, she patiently explained, "He says that I
'
m an original and that learning would only be wasted on me.
"
Staring at that flawlessly vacant face, Annabelle could only murmur some polite commonplace. She
'
d never expected to feel sorry for her rival. But so it was. The girl was as thick as a door and proud of it.
Frowning, she asked, "Does Lord Dalmar pay you many such compliments?
"
She thought it shameless that he would so abuse an ingenuous creature.
"Oh, David admires me to distraction,
"
was the artless rejoinder.
"How, precisely?
"
"Oh, you know, the usual,
"
replied Lady Diana vaguely.
"No. What, for instance?
"
"I know he finds me more amusing than any other lady of his acquaintance. He told me so.
"
"Cad!
"
said Annabelle under her breath.
"I beg your pardon?
"
Quickly rallying, Annabelle interposed, "A girl like you needs a husband. Some women just aren
'
t cut out to look after themselves.
"
Her mind busily began to review a list of suitable candidates for the position. Lord Dalmar
'
s name was the first to be eliminated.