1813, June

The maid hesitantly approached Miss Ana Barstow as she stood speaking with Miss Smyth in Lady Willington’s drawing room. She’d just met the pretty, raven-haired young lady that afternoon. Ana had been surprised there were so many other girls close to her own age in attendance at this house party, but she supposed she shouldn’t be. If she wasn’t mistaken, the whole point of the party, after all, was for eligible young ladies and gentlemen to meet—at least, that’s what her mother had implied when she’d informed Ana that they’d be attending the party.

“Excuse me, Miss Barstow?” the maid looked from Ana to Miss Smyth and back again, clearly unsure which one of them was the person she was seeking.

“Yes, that’s me,” Ana said, giving the girl a smile.

“I was told to deliver this to you.” She curtsied and handed Ana a folded note at the same time, before practically running off.

“I would so hate to be a maid in a house like this,” Miss Smyth said, watching the girl’s retreating back.

“Too much hard work?” Ana asked.

“Well, that, yes, but also having to interact with so many strangers,” Miss Smyth said.

“Well, you have to interact with strangers as a guest here too,” Ana pointed out.

“That is true,” the girl conceded.

Ana opened the note. All it said was Meet me in the library at half-past eight. The handwriting was her mother’s. She wondered why Lady Barstow would send her a note when she was standing just on the other side of the room. And why would she want Ana to meet her in the library? Sometimes Ana simply could not understand her mother. No, she corrected that thought. She almost never understood her mother.

“Is everything well?” Miss Smyth asked, her eyes on the note.

“Oh, yes. Just…” Ana didn’t finish her sentence because the grandfather clock in the corner of the room just so happened to chime the half hour just then. It was 8:30 already! “I am sorry. Please excuse me.”

“Of course.” Miss Smyth turned around to find someone else to converse with before she’d even finished saying those two words.

With a mental shrug, Ana headed out the door.

The library was on the other side of the Great Hall from the drawing room, where all the ladies had gathered after dinner. The gentlemen were still in the dining room with their port.

It was definitely an interesting house. There were two large wings with a great hall in the center. Apparently, the original house had only been the Great Hall and a floor above it, which was now a gallery. But subsequent generations of Willingtons had added one wing and then the other, so the house was now in the shape of an H. One side was the family wing, the other for guests. The drawing room was in the guest wing, and the library in the family wing, although Lady Willington had invited them to go there whenever they wished when she had given them a brief tour of the house after they’d arrived that afternoon.

Now, Ana made her way across the gallery where there were only a few standing candelabra lit. It was a little disconcerting going from one small patch of light to the next with all the eyes of Lord Willington’s ancestors watching her. She walked a little more quickly.

The library was also not well lit when she entered. At first, she didn’t think anyone else was was there, but then she caught sight of a gentleman perusing the shelves on the far wall of the cozy room. He had a candle in one hand and was running the fingers of his other along the spines of the books. His pale-brown hair reflected the light as he squinted at the books on the shelf just above his eyeline. He wasn’t a tall man, and Ana couldn’t decide if he were very muscular or was tending toward fat.

Naturally, all the walls were covered in bookshelves, but there was also a large table in the middle of the room where one might read or do some work. And against the far wall was the fireplace with a few wingback chairs arranged in front of it.

“Oh, good evening,” Lord Dunright said, suddenly noticing her after the door clicked closed.

“Good evening,” Ana said, coming toward him. She looked about the room but thought that maybe her mother would join her in a bit.

“Are you meeting someone here?” he asked. Ana had met and even danced with Lord Dunright a few times the previous Season. She’d never found him to be very interesting, but if she got to know him better, she might change her mind.

“I received a note.” Ana held up the piece of paper in question. “It said to meet someone here at half-past eight, but it wasn’t signed. I thought the handwriting looked like my mother’s, but perhaps I was mistaken?”

“That’s odd. I, too, received a note.” He pulled his own slip of paper from the pocket of his very well-fitting trousers. “I’m afraid I didn’t recognize the handwriting.”

He came forward, and they compared notes. They were identical.

Just then, the sound of Lady Barstow’s voice came from outside the room, and it was approaching.

Ana’s eyes went wide as she turned to look at Lord Dunright. His mouth had dropped open a touch.

“I’ll jump out the window!” Ana said in a panic. “If we’re caught here alone…”

“You cannot go out the window, we’re not on the ground level,” he protested.

“Well, then you jump out the window. Or perhaps there’s a convenient vine or drain spout—” Ana couldn’t say anything more as the door was opened just at that moment. She’d also caught Lord Dunright’s expression, and it wasn’t one of a man willing to jump out of a window for her.

“I just don’t know—oh!” Lady Barstow said, coming to a stop far enough into the room so the two ladies behind her could get a good view of Ana and Lord Dunright standing slightly too close together… alone.

“Lord Dunright!” Lady Tremelling said in surprise.

“And Miss Barstow,” the Dowager Lady Willington said—a note of glee in her voice, or perhaps that was just Ana’s imagination. Her pale blue eyes were certainly alight with interest.

“This does not look good,” Lady Barstow said with a shake of her head. “And I was not even aware the two of you were so well acquainted. On the other hand, you have danced together a few times this past Season.”

“Oh, er, no. No! This is not what it looks like,” Lord Dunright protested immediately.

Ana just narrowed her eyes at her mother who was looking entirely too happy with this little situation. Could she…? Would she…?

“I can attest that nothing out of the ordinary has gone on here,” another voice said. A young lady was standing next to one of the chairs in front of the fire. “I have been here this entire time,” she added.

Ana let out a breath of relief. “Yes, you see. It is the three of us here,” she said, putting a little emphasis on the word “three.” Inside Ana was jumping with glee, sighing with relief, and getting a very bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. It was this last one that caught her attention as her mother’s expression turned cold, and her lips pressed together in displeasure.

“Of course,” Lady Barstow said slowly.

“How very fortunate that you were here,” Lady Tremelling said. “It would have looked curious otherwise.” She turned to look at Lady Barstow with a slight cock of her head.

“Perhaps we should look for the book another time, Lady Barstow,” the Dowager Lady Willington said, sounding disappointed.

“Yes, I suppose you are right, my lady,” Ana’s mother said.

“And if the gentlemen have retired to the drawing room, we can simply ask Lord Lonsdale. He’s been to India, from what I understand, and knows the answer to our query in all likelihood.” Lady Tremelling was the first to turn to leave the room.

She was followed by the dowager and finally Lady Barstow, who shot the young lady at the far end of the room a venomous look.

Lord Dunright let out a rather loud sigh of relief as soon as the door was closed once more. He turned toward the girl. “I cannot thank you enough.”

“Yes,” Ana said, heading toward her even as she began to come toward them.

“If I’m not mistaken, I believe you both were tricked into something that could have turned disastrous,” the girl said.

“And I bet I know who our trickster was,” Ana said, trying to keep the anger from her voice.

“I don’t know, and I don’t want to. If you will excuse me, I am going to, uh…” Lord Dunright said. He never finished his sentence; he merely bowed to the two girls and fled from the room.

“Well, I can’t blame him for that,” the other girl said.

“Nor I.” Ana turned back to the girl. “Thank you, once again.”

She shrugged, her dark red hair glinting in the firelight. “I’m glad I was here.”

“I’m Ana Barstow,” Ana said. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

“Maryann Lonsdale. And no, I’m afraid I’ve been hiding in here ever since my father and I arrived. I’m certain I’m going to hear a word or two from him tomorrow. He brought me to this party, hoping I might have an easier time finding a husband in a smaller, less formal setting than any we found during the Season.”

Ana smiled. “My parents have brought me for the same reason.”

“Either that or to get you compromised into marriage?” Miss Lonsdale asked with a little smile growing on her face.

Ana huffed a laugh. “Yes, or that.”

“What surprises me is that your mother did this on the very first evening. It would have made more sense if she’d done it closer to the end of the party—if you hadn’t come to an understanding with a gentleman before that.”

“Oh, I’m not surprised. Once my mother gets an idea in her head, it’s hard to shake it lose, and clearly, she has decided I will be engaged by the end of this party if not sooner.”

“Even if she has to orchestrate that herself?”

Ana nodded. “Perhaps I can convince my father to get her to give up this idea before she gets any bolder. If you will excuse me, I’m going to go and find him.”

“Of course. Good luck!”

“And to you too,” Ana said.

Ana first looked for her father in the dining room. She’d hoped the men would still be there, but there were only two footmen and a maid cleaning up from dinner.

“May I help you, miss?” one of the footmen asked when she poked her head into the room.

“I’m looking for my father, Lord Barstow?”

“I believe he’s gone into the card room with some of the other gentlemen,” the other footman answered.

“Thank you.” Ana was about to back out of the door but then stopped. “I’m sorry. Where is the card room?”

“I’ll show you,” the first footman said. He passed the tray in his hands to the other footman and led Ana out into the Great Hall. She followed him through a door on the guest side of the house that turned out to be a hallway and, from there, to the first door on the left.

He stopped, gave a brief knock, and then opened the door for her.

Ana stepped into the smoke-filled room. There were three green baize-covered card tables. Only one was occupied with four men, two of whom were smoking malodorous cigars. One of them was her father.

Waving her hand in front of her face to dispel the nasty smoke, she went over to him. “Father, may I have a word?”

He glanced up from his cards, his thick graying eyebrows pulled low. “Later, sweeting. I’m busy.”

“But Papa—”

He lowered his cards for a moment to look at her more fully. “Is it an emergency? Are you or your mother violently ill?”

“No, but—”

“Then it can wait until tomorrow.” He returned his attention to his cards.

“But—”

“Anastasia, why don’t you go and speak with your mother about it?”

“But she is the problem!”

Her father sighed. “We will speak tomorrow. Good night.”

“But—”

“Good night,” he said again, this time with finality.

Ana sighed. He wasn’t going to budge. She turned and walked out of the room. There was a staircase at the end of the hall which Ana assumed went up to the guest rooms. She was in the correct wing anyway.

She found her way to her room and let the door slam behind her.

#

July 27^th, 1811

Our very first night here and my mother is trying to see me compromised! I cannot believe she would do this to me. It was too embarrassing. And with Lord Dunright, no less. He truly is a stick in the mud, just as I’d suspected from the few dances we had during the Season. Thank goodness, a very nice young lady was also in the room. Her name is Maryann Lonsdale, and from the fact that she’s been hiding in the library since she got here, I can see we’re going to become good friends. I wonder if Lord Willington has a good selection of books on natural philosophy.