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ear.”
    “No. Worse. Lord Northrup,” she replied and promptly burst into tears.
    “But, Ana, surely you are mistaken,” he soothed. “Lord Northrup is practically a child.”
    “Yes . . I am quite aware!” she cried.
    “I am beyond astonished that you have accepted this without presenting an argument or two.You must have told Father that Lord Northrup just won’t do!”
    Analisa swallowed her sobs and heaved a shuddering sigh. “How could I not?”
    “And what was his response?”
    “He said that I haven’t the years or maturity to know what is best for me, that is what.”
    “One needn’t be older than you to know that Lord Northrup is the worst choice of husband!”
    “That is precisely the argument I posited,” she said with a sniff. “And that is when he told me that I had best mind my words or my reputation shall be torn to shreds, just as has Ginny Delacourt’s.”
    “Who is Ginny Delacourt?”
    “Some nobody vicar’s daughter. She has caused some undue amount of scandal over her unwillingness to hold her tongue,” Analisa replied, tears welling again in her eyes.
    Colin put his arm around his sister’s shoulder. “There, there, now, he’ll come about.” In truth, Colin was rather alarmed and wondered at his father’s judgment. The young Lord Northrup was not an answer to Analisa’s spirited ways. An older man was called for, to be sure, though not one as far gone as Lord Eggleston. He considered soothing her by pointing out that the infamous Lord Trevelin might have been the man to whom she found herself promised, but decided it was a jest in poor taste. “In the meantime, I was just about to go in search of dear Papa over a personal matter. Should you like me to speak to him as to your betrothal?”
    “Yes,” she cried, seizing his hand. “Oh yes, Colin! Would you?”
    “I would be delighted. However, you must be prepared to be patient. I am persuaded he shall change his mind, but it might take some time. Do you know if the matter is settled? Is an announcement to be placed in the papers so soon?”
    She shook her head. “He was kind enough to suggest I become accustomed to the notion before it is made public.”
    “Well, then, matters are not as far progressed as I had feared. Did you take a hackney cab orwere you allowed use of your mother’s carriage?”
    “Neither. I walked.” She looked up at him, her eyes sparkling with tears. “I required time to gain command of myself.”
    “In that case, I shall be most pleased to convey you home.” He rang for the butler and gave the order that the horses should be put to his curricle and brought round. “I expect I shall be asked to dine
en famille
, Evans, so let Cook know that I will not be in need of the usual tray.”
    He kept Analisa occupied with benign chatter until it was time to depart and welcomed her head on his shoulder when she nodded off during the journey home. That she was, perhaps, attending too many parties and not getting enough sleep was a matter of concern. He determined to speak to his father on that score, as well.
    Upon their arrival at Lloyd-Jones House, they were met nearly as might have been long-lost prodigals. It seemed that Analisa had informed none of her departure and the household had been in an uproar since she was discovered to be missing. Colin’s step-mother was particularly distressed and his father had just rung for the butler to request the physician to call when Colin and his sister descended upon them in the first floor salon.
    “Oh, my dearest child!” Mrs. Lloyd-Jones cried from her place sprawled across the divan. Her struggles to rise were hampered by the disagreeable pair of small dogs that could always be found somewhere about her person. For the first time in Colin’s presence, she ignored their vociferous barking and turned them from her lap in favor of clasping her daughter in her arms. “I have been positively wild with worry! What can have been so imperative that you must