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course, Lady Bradleigh has been more than kind
to me. Why, she hardly treats me as an employee at all. She has a
wide circle of friends here in Bath, and she is always considerate
enough to include me in all their various gatherings. Thanks to
Lady Bradleigh I have met many interesting and amusing people."
Emily bit back a smile as she recalled some of the more eccentric
visitors to the Laura Place town house.
    "I imagine you have indeed!" Robert said, flashing a
crooked grin. "Captain Driscoll, for example?"
    "Oh, yes. And his parrot Danny Boy. They have
frequently entertained us with rather colorful seafaring ditties,"
Emily said, unable any longer to suppress a smile.
    The earl threw back his head and laughed, the abrupt
movement slightly loosening his hair from its severe style.
"Colorful! Miss Townsend, you have a gift for understatement. As I
recall, Driscoll and Danny Boy can be downright obscene! I
sincerely hope my grandmother's cronies have not completely
assaulted your sense of decency."
    "Oh, no, my lord, I am not so missish as that,"
Emily said, smiling broadly as she became caught up in his mirth.
"I find your grandmother's friends thoroughly entertaining. I
particularly like Sir Percy Whittaker, who will be joining us
tonight for dinner."
    "Sir Percy? Is he still hanging around Bath? I
suspect you must know of his alter ego?"
    "Penelope Manning? Oh, yes. In fact, I must admit to
having read a few of Miss Manning's novels in the past. I was quite
shocked to discover that the romantic Miss Manning was in truth the
rather gruff Sir Percy."
    "I must say, you don't strike me as the gothic
romance type, Miss Townsend," he said. "All those dungeons and
abductions and the like. You appear to be quite a sensible young
woman, with feet planted firmly on the ground," the earl said with
a slight raising of his brows.
    "Oh, I am indeed quite sensible, my lord," Emily
said with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes. "But we all have our
moments of weakness." Their eyes locked for a brief moment, and
then both laughed aloud.
    The dowager entered the drawing room at that moment,
resplendent in lavender and silver, with Charlemagne trailing close
behind. At the sound of laughter, Charlemagne felt obliged to join
in with raucous barking.
    " Cela suffit! Tais-toi, chien ," the dowager scolded. The pug immediately
ceased barking and returned obediently to her side. "Well," she
said, smiling, "I am glad to see you two young people enjoying
yourselves. Is not Emily a dear, Robert? I don't know how I ever
got on without her."
    Robert smiled and raised his glass to Emily in
salute.
     
    * * *
     
    They were soon joined by Major and Mrs. Chenowith,
an elderly couple who were each every bit as gregarious as the
dowager. Like the dowager, the Chenowiths were year-long residents
of Bath and therefore frequent visitors to Laura Place.
    Mrs. Chenowith and Lady Bradleigh immediately put
their turbaned heads together in discussion of some local on-dit , while the major lost no time in engaging Robert in
close conversation. He was particularly anxious for news from
London regarding last week's assassination of the Prime Minister.
As Robert took his responsibilities in the House of Lords quite
seriously, despite his rather roguish reputation, he was able to
enlighten the major regarding the latest concerns as to what the
Regent might do about appointing a new Prime Minister. As a
dedicated Tory, the major was encouraged to learn that the Regent
appeared to be turning his back on his Whig cronies and leaning
toward maintaining a proper Tory government.
    Although the major expressed no particular surprise,
Robert was quite astonished to hear Miss Townsend join in the
conversation with some obvious knowledge of the political
situation. Most young women he knew read no further than the social
pages of the newspapers. In fact, many were not allowed to
read any further, as a protection against feminine sensibilities.
Yet here was a young woman who