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dear. I am forever telling my
friends what a very pretty girl you are.”
                “Yes,
but—” Sophy broke off as the door opened and the butler bowed, recognizing the
visitors immediately.
    “Lady Glencairn,
Lady Sophia, welcome,” he said with a bow, ushering them into the cavernous
hall. “Lady Exencour expects you. If you will follow me.”
    He led them up
the elegantly carved staircase that dominated the entry hall and to the door of
a sitting room, which he flung open. Harriet and Sophy entered as Isobel, who
was seated at a little desk writing a note, sprang up to greet them.
    “My dears!” she
said. “I am so sorry to keep you waiting. We have a visitor, and I had some
small housekeeping matters to attend to. I shall not be a moment longer!”
    “Do not be
concerned about us,” said Harriet, perching on the settee. “A visitor! How
delightful. Who might it be?”
    “Don’t you
remember, Mama?” asked Sophy. “I told you that Isobel had written me a note
saying Colonel Stirling was to come to stay with them.”
    “Oh, did you? It’s
very likely, I have so many others things to think about that Isobel’s guest
doubtless slipped my mind.” Harriet gestured vaguely. “Colonel Stirling. That
name sounds familiar. Do I know him from somewhere?”
    “You may have
met him years ago, before he went to the Peninsula,” said Isobel. “Or perhaps
Sophy mentioned that we met him in the Park two days ago.”
    “Oh yes, indeed
she did,” agreed Harriet. “At dinner she asked her papa if he knew him.”
    Isobel looked
amused. “Did she?”
    “I do not—”
began Sophy, but Harriet blithely continued.
    “Glencairn has
met his father, of course, but knew little of the son. Douglas, on the other
hand, appears to have made quite a study of his life. I gathered from his
worshipful babblings that the colonel is quite a ‘top of the trees Corinthian’.”
    Isobel chuckled.
“I suppose he is. Not that he’d thank you for saying that.”
    “If the
opportunity arises, perhaps you’d be so kind as to introduce poor Douglas to
Colonel Stirling. The lad seems to have be somewhat overwhelmed by stories of
his doings, and meeting him might serve to bring him back to earth a bit.”
    Sophy frowned. “Colonel
Stirling struck me as a proud, disagreeable fellow,” she said coldly. “I can’t
imagine how you could wish Douglas to model himself after him.”
    “Proud and
disagreeable?” Harriet looked at Isobel. “Why would you invite such a man to
stay with you?”
    Isobel’s amused
gaze swept over Sophy, who looked away resolutely. “In this matter I fear Sophy
and I disagree. I find Colonel Stirling delightful. He is less merry than when
I danced with him at Almack’s many years ago, but I still find him charming,
well-spoken, and not proud at all. He is a very good friend of Francis’, you
know, and he is an excellent judge of character.”
    Harriet looked
from one woman to the other. “The pair of you so seldom disagree about
anything. I wonder what it is about Colonel Stirling that makes you perceive
him so differently?”
    Sophy made a
moue of distaste. “Apparently Colonel Stirling dislikes young women. It seems
he prefers ladies to be, er, sophisticated.”
    Harriet gaped at
her. “Sophy!”
    Isobel laughed. “No
such thing. I told Sophy that Colonel Stirling is likely unused to the company
of young ladies after spending so much time on the Peninsula and in India. But
I think you may have the opportunity to judge for yourself.”
    She nodded at
the open door and Sophy and Harriet heard footsteps approaching. Francis and
Ranulf appeared in the doorway, dressed immaculately in dark, well-cut riding
coats, fawn colored breeches, and perfectly polished boots. They stepped into
the room, Francis to the fore.
    “I thought I
would find only Isobel here. How pleasant to you see you as well, Harriet.” He
raised her hand to his lips with an elegant gesture. “And Sophy as well.