Page 8 (2/2)

"Miss Martin"

Eliza turned her attention to the man who intruded on their conversation "Sir Richard," she ed "How lovely to see you here"

Sir Richard Tolliver was an averagenor old, neither tall nor short, neither portly nor lean His hair was a soft brown and his eyes a gentle green He was quiet and unassuressive of her suitors

"You remember lance at Jasper

"Yes, of course Good to see you, Miss Tolliver" Eliza made the appropriate introductions offhandedly But when Jasper bowed over Miss Tolliver’s hand and the young lady blushed to the roots of her lovely dark hair, Eliza found herdrastically

Sir Richard offered a tight smile "I see nohy you declined my invitation to escort you to the exhibition, Miss Martin I did not understand you had a prior engagement"

Eliza realized with soh that hadn’t been her intent She’d si his offer of escort would lead to spending hours in the co in coht it best to spare them both the aardness

That was not, however, the explanation she could give Conversing in society had little to do with truth It was s as neutral as possible For many, the truth was not a neutral topic

She was considering how she could reply in an acceptable manner when Miss Tolliver batted her thick lashes at Jasper Eliza froze with her mouth partially formed around a word Suddenly she knew precisely how Tolliver felt, and how little sound reasoning had to do with it

What awas

"Will I see you tonight at the Lansing rout, Sir Richard?" she asked

"If you will be there, Miss Martin, I will certainly attend"

"If you are obliged, I should like to save the first waltz for you"

Tolliver’s sudden grin lit up the roohtened by its fervency

"What about you, Mr Bond?" Miss Tolliver asked "Will you be at the Lansing rout? Shall I save a place on my dance card for you?"

Eliza felt Jasper’s forear, she realized he didn’t kno to reply The truth he’d shared so readily with her was not one he wished to share with others

"Mr Bond was injured yesterday," she lied "His horse was ill-mannered and stepped quite harshly on his foot While he can walk, dancing is out of the question for now"

"Oh I’m so sorry to hear that" Miss Tolliver did indeed look crestfallen "I hope you recover quickly, Mr Bond"

Jasper nodded and bid the siblings farewell He led Eliza aith a briskness that belied the injury she’d invented for hilared at the painting in front of him