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pay for everything, and your aunt will reimburse me in good time.’
    ‘You are both very good to me,’ Melia said with the shy smile which Will’s sister thought was probably what had drawn him to her. She had taken to the young girl and thought that if he did marry Melia he would most likely be very happy, for she had a sunny nature—even if she did bend the truth a little now and then.
    It was as they approached Will’s town house that they saw a man leaving it. He paused for a moment in the sunshine, looking about him in a manner that Jane could only describe as impatient, and then strode off in the opposite direction. She did not have long to wonder who it might have been for they encountered Will coming down the stairs as they entered and he exclaimed at once.
    ‘Ah, there you both are! Lord Frant called in the hope of seeing you, Melia. At first he was quite put out at finding you both out—and seemed surprised that you should be staying here in my house. I had to explain that Jane lives with me and that you were her very good friend...’
    ‘I do not see why he should be put out.’ Jane frowned at him. ‘I had his letter and intended writing to make an appointment for one morning this week. If he must call without one, he must not expect us to be sitting in waiting for him.’
    Will looked a little surprised at her tone, for she did not often speak so sharply. ‘I wasn’t aware that you knew him, Jane?’
    ‘I do not,’ she replied and laughed. ‘His letter rubbed me up the wrong way. You had gone to your club, Will—and we decided to visit the dressmaker to have some new gowns made up for Melia. Had he said he would call this afternoon I would have put it off until tomorrow—though how Melia can be expected to appear in public without some decent clothes I do not know...’
    ‘I dare say you’ve already taken care of all that,’ Will said and grinned at her. ‘Besides, Melia looks very pretty in what she’s wearing.’
    Since Melia was wearing a simple yellow gown of muslin over a thin petticoat with a charming bonnet of straw trimmed with matching ribbons, there was truth in his words, but only the silk shawl that Jane had lent her had given the ensemble a touch of town bronze. Since he saw his beloved through rose-tinted spectacles, he could not be expected to realise that—though, had his sister ever appeared in town in such a simple robe, he might have raised his eyebrows at her.
    ‘Well, I shall write to Lord Frant and explain,’ Jane said. ‘Will, please ring for some tea for us all while I see to my letter—Melia will keep you company. Unless she has something more urgent pressing?’
    Melia dimpled prettily and shook her head. She and Will walked into the front parlour, talking together animatedly. Jane thought the very ease of their manner together boded well for the future, but she was not certain that her young guest’s mind was as firmly fixed on marriage as was her brother’s.
    She went into the smaller parlour that was her own when in town and sat down to pen a polite letter, explaining that she had taken Melia out to order some of the wardrobe she would need for the season. She apologised for wasting his time; had she known of his intention to call she would have waited in but, since they had arrived only that morning, Melia had been anxious to see a little of the town.
    Feeling pleased with a letter that matched his in coolness, but was far politer, she sealed it with her own wax, mauve in colour, and pressed Harry’s ring into it. Lord Frant should see that he was dealing with the widow of Lord March and not some little nobody he could order about as he pleased! She had informed him that she would be at home any morning that week from ten-thirty until twelve and he would be welcome to call in those hours, but at other times he might find them all out.
    * * *
    Paul frowned over the letter that had been brought to his house just as he was changing for the evening. He and