Page 50 (1/2)

One

“The Earl of Riverdale,” the butler announced after opening wide the double doors of the drawing roo to one side so that the gentleman named could stride past him

The announcement was not strictly necessary Wren had heard the arrival of his vehicle, and guessed it was a curricle rather than a traveling carriage, although she had not got to her feet to look And he was alentlemen who had come before him had been late, one by all of half an hour Those two had been sent on their way as soon as was decently possible, though not only because of their tardiness Mr Sweeney, who had co his ly frequent intervals even when he was not actually so, had had no discernible personality, a fact that had been quite as disconcerting as Mr Sweeney’s teeth Now here came the third

He strode forward a few paces before co to an abrupt halt as the butler closed the doors behind him He looked about the room with apparent surprise at the discovery that it was occupied only by tomen, one of whom—Maude, Wren’s maid—was seated off in a corner, her head bent over some needlework, in the role of chaperon His eyes came to rest upon Wren and he bowed

“Miss Heyden?” It was a question

Her first reaction after her initial approval of his punctuality was acute dislance told her he was not at all what she wanted

He was tall, well forantly tailored, dark haired, and i—in his late twenties or early thirties, at a guess If she were to dream up the perfect hero for the perfect romantic fairy tale, she could not do better than the very realfor her to confirm that she was indeed the lady who had invited hiton House

But this was no fairy tale, and the sheer perfection of him alarmed her and caused her to lean back farther in her chair and deeper into the shade provided by the curtains drawn across theon her side of the fireplace She had not wanted a handso man She had hoped for so a bit of a paunch, pleasant-looking but basically … well, ordinary With decent teeth and at least so of a personality But she could hardly deny her identity and dismiss him without further ado

“Yes,” she said “How do you do, Lord Riverdale? Do have a seat” She gestured to the chair across the hearth froht, of course, to have risen to greet hiood reason to keep to the shadows, at least for now

He eyed the chair as he approached it and sat with obvious reluctance “I do beg your pardon,” he said “I appear to be early Punctuality is one ofsins, I a that when I am invited somewhere for half past two, I am expected to arrive at half past two I hope so a few ladies”

She was further alarmed when he smiled If it was possible to lookit He had perfect teeth, and his eyes crinkled attractively at the corners when he smiled And his eyes were very blue Oh, this retched Who was number four on her list?