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I’m not sure I like the name Collins. It’s not aristocratic enough. Perhaps I should have chosen something that hinted at ducal connections.’
    ‘Perhaps you should have been content with your own name,’ Jane almost snapped.
    ‘It’s too well known, after all that fuss when Uncle Peter died. There was so much speculation about how many fabulous jewels and other treasures he’d brought home from India, everyone must have heard about Nabob Trahearne, and those country yokels in Harrogate certainly knew I’d inherited his fortune. But I kept as close to Bella as I could.’
    Jane sighed. ‘I think I was mad to agree to this masquerade.’
    ‘No, darling Jane, you were kind and sympathetic, you want me to marry someone who appreciates me for myself, not for my fortune.’
    ‘Heaven help the poor man, whoever he might be!’
    * * * *
    Bates had hired this house in Henrietta Street, saying severely that it was better to be in a quieter part, away from the hurly burly of the town centre.
    ‘But it’s rather far from the Pump Room,’ Jane commented. She had visited Bath once before, with an elderly aunt.
    ‘Ye’ll have to take a chair, then, and not try walking,’ Bates replied uncompromisingly. ‘Better for you than being kept awake with people walking past all night long.’
    Jane knew better than to argue. They were country girls, used to walking, and Bates was departing on the stage early the following day, much against his will. He would be unable to complain.
    ‘I’ve arranged for the butler, cook, maid and groom to be here this afternoon for you to approve,’ he said now. ‘Though why you couldn’t bring your own servants instead of leaving ‘em eating their heads off at home I don’t know.’
    ‘They can be occupied with a thorough spring cleaning, much easier with me out of the way,’ Jane said briskly. ‘Besides, I’m here for only a few weeks before going to London.’
    ‘He’ll have told them your real name,’ Jane said worriedly later as they waited for the new servants to arrive for inspection. ‘I’ve only just thought of that.’
    ‘Then we say your cousin was unable to come, so your husband’s cousin came instead.’
    Jane laughed. ‘I think, despite everything, I’m beginning to enjoy this. I feel utterly irresponsible. Now how much a year are you supposed to have?’
    ‘Don’t say a precise amount. Do you think if we hint at about a thousand it will be enough, but not too much to attract the sharks?’
    ‘That’s about right, I suppose,’ Jane agreed.
    ‘Good, Now tomorrow morning I want to go shopping. I feel dowdy, and I suddenly don’t like the clothes I took to Harrogate. They remind me of things I intend to forget!’
    Bates, as Jane had known he would, had chosen eminently suitable servants. Mrs Dawes was a rotund, motherly cook with a round face, bright eyes and clear complexion. She looked capable of endless chatter, but replied only to the questions asked. The butler was her husband, tall and thin, quiet but obviously experienced and reliable. The maid, Lizy, was older than Jane would have liked, but was a friend who had worked in the same house with them before. Jackson, a small man who had once been a jockey, would look after the horses and drive the coach she intended to hire.
    ‘We usually work each year for old Lady Sommerton,’ Mrs Dawes explained. ‘But she died last month, poor lady, and her daughter decided not to come this year, so we had to look for another place rather sudden.’
    The next morning, wearing a walking dress she’d acquired in Harrogate, Bella sallied forth with Jane. Mary followed to carry the parcels. The dress was of a delicate primrose shade, with deeper gold ribbons at the high waist and gold Spanish embroidery round the hem and the edges of the short puffed sleeves. With it she wore a poke bonnet of the same colour, again trimmed with gold ribbons, brown sandals and elbow length gloves in a supple leather. Jane was still