‘Poor James,’ said Lydia, kissing his cheek. ‘I think these celebrations are going to be anything but peaceful! But I must confess a desire to see this Emperor of Russia. Will he be at Lady Stinchcombe’s ball tomorrow night, do you think?’

‘He has certainly been invited; we must see if Rosthorne can bring him up to scratch!’

Felicity looked up to find Lydia giving her a rueful glance.

‘Then I regret I must ask you to come out with me again tomorrow, Fee—I cannot wait for James to finish his interminable meetings before going to the ball.’

Felicity nodded. Inside, she was aching to see for herself that Nathan was unhurt. Tomorrow night could not come soon enough.

The carriage turned into a cobbled street off Piccadilly and pulled up outside a pretty red-brick house set back in its own grounds. Lady Stinchcombe greeted them warmly.

‘There is no ceremony here tonight,’ she said gaily. ‘The Emperor sent Lord Rosthorne to make his apologies, but we shall do our best to enjoy ourselves without him. Wander where you will, although the garden illuminations will not be at their best until it is properly dark.’

‘I suppose we should wait until the last of the daylight has gone before we look at the gardens,’ said Lydia. She led the way towards the card room. ‘Have a care, Fee,’ she murmured, pausing in the doorway. ‘Rosthorne is here.’

Grateful for the warning, Felicity stayed in Lydia’s shadow as she followed her into the room. She spotted the earl almost immediately. He was playing picquet with another gentleman while a crowd of admiring ladies stood at his shoulder, vying for his attention.

‘Poor man, how very distracting for him.’

Hearing Felicity’s comment, a gentleman standing near them gave a laugh.

‘There’s no distracting Rosthorne! Even being shot at don’t make him turn a hair. Some dashed fool nearly blew his head off yesterday.’

‘Aye, I heard about that.’A bewigged man in a faded frockcoat nodded. ‘Pretty wild shot if it missed the Tsar and hit Rosthorne. Who did it, some drunken lunatic?’

‘They didn’t catch him,’ replied the first man. ‘He got away in the crowd. Made no odds to Rosthorne, he merely followed on after the Tsar.’

‘He is very brave,’ murmured Lydia.

The bewigged man shrugged. ‘Rosthorne’s a soldier. He thought nothing of it. Ruined a perfectly good hat, though.’

Pride flickered through Felicity. Of course Nathan would think nothing of the danger. He did not know the meaning of fear. Lydia took her arm.

‘Even so, we shall not add to the distraction,’ she murmured. ‘Let us move on to the music room.’ She patted Felicity’s hand. ‘My dear, what is this? You are shaking.’

‘I am a little shocked to hear of such violence,’ whispered Felicity. ‘Pray do not mind me, Lydia; let us go on.’

She was being irrational, she told herself. Nathan had been in danger any number of times when he was a soldier, so why should the news of this incident affect her so? She chewed her lip. Because it was here, in London, where one did not expect such things. She glanced back at Nathan, sitting at the card table.

And because she still cared for him.

They wandered into the next room where Miss Stinchcombe was performing upon the harp. As the final notes died away and they applauded her performance, Felicity saw Gerald Appleby approaching them.

‘Lady Souden, how do you do! And Miss Brown. A delightful evening, is it not? Mama is sitting over there by the window, may I take you over? I know she will want to talk to you…’

He led them across the room, chatting all the time until they came up to Lady Charlotte, who greeted Lydia with a regal smile. Felicity she acknowledged with no more than a flicker of her cold eyes before engaging Lady Souden in conversation. Felicity gave an inward shrug and would have moved away, but Mr Appleby stopped her.

‘How are you enjoying the music, Miss Brown?’

‘Very well, sir, thank you.’

‘I think the harp very over-rated and much prefer the pianoforte,’ he continued, smiling at her. ‘Do you play at all, Miss Brown?’

‘The pianoforte, a little.’

‘Ah, all young ladies say they only play a little and then they perform the most complicated pieces for us. Shall we have the pleasure of hearing you this evening, ma’am?’

‘No, Mr Appleby, I do not play in public.’

‘What, never? But why? This must be remedied immediately,’ he cried gaily.

Felicity tried to step away but found the wall at her back. ‘No, I assure you, sir—’

He took her hand and leaned toward her, smiling. ‘This is no time for bashful modesty, madam. Let me take you to the piano—’

‘Gerald!’ Lady Charlotte’s strident tones interrupted him. ‘Gerald, leave the gel alone. It is beneath you to flirt with the hirelings.’

‘I beg your pardon, Lady Charlotte, but Miss Brown’s birth is equal to my own,’ said Lydia, bristling in defence of her friend.

‘So I should hope,’ returned Lady Charlotte, unperturbed. ‘I would expect nothing less in any companion of yours.’

Felicity observed the angry flush on Lydia’s cheek and slipped away from Gerald to take her arm.

‘You wished to look at the lamps in the garden, my lady…’

‘Insufferable woman,’ muttered Lydia as they walked away. ‘She is so set up in her own importance!’

‘I was quite thankful for her intervention,’ returned Felicity. ‘Mr Appleby is far too mischievous.’

‘Perhaps he is trying to fix his interest with you.’

‘Oh, Lydia, surely not!’

‘You may look surprised, Fee, but he is quite taken with you.’

‘But I have done nothing—’

‘No, nothing more than look adorably shy.’ Lydia gave a soft laugh. ‘There is no need to colour up, my love; you have an air of fragility that makes men want to protect you.’

Felicity put up her chin. ‘But I do not want to be protected! Oh dear. I had hoped, by dressing plainly and not putting myself forward, that I would not be noticed.’

‘And in general that is the case,’ Lydia reassured her. ‘Mr Appleby is perhaps trying to make amends for his mother’s ignoring you.’

‘Yes, that is very possible,’ mused Felicity. She looked up, a smile lurking in her eyes. ‘And it is a very lowering thought!’

Her companion laughed. ‘Yes, it is! But it is quite your own fault, Fee. If you were to put on a fashionable gown and stop dressing your hair in that dowdy style I have no doubt that we would have dozens of gentlemen clamouring to make your acquaintance!’

Still chuckling, they wandered out on to the terrace where a familiar voice cut through the darkness.

‘So there you are! Now what in heaven’s name are you two laughing at?’

Sir James’s bemused enquiry brought his lady flying to his arms.

‘Oh, my dear, you are here already! How wonderful! No, no, you must not ask about our silly jokes. I did not expect to see you here for another hour yet!’

‘Well, having delivered his Highness to our hostess I have left him being toad-eaten by any number of the guests! What a crush. Scarcely room to move in the ballroom!’

‘I know, that is why we came out here to look at the lamps. They are very pretty, are they not?’ Lydia took her husband’s arm. ‘Shall we take a stroll through the gardens? Come with us, Fee.’

‘If you do not object, I think I might stay here for a little while.’ Felicity had spotted the earl slipping out of the house on the far side of the terrace. She nodded at Lydia. ‘Please, go on without me. I shall be perfectly safe here.’

As soon as Lydia and Sir James had disappeared into the gardens, Felicity ran across the terrace and down the steps in the direction that Nathan had gone. This was her opportunity to reveal herself to him. It was much darker on this side of the house, for the path led away from the main gardens, where myriad coloured lights were strung between the trees. As she hurried through the gloom her step faltered. Nathan might have an assignation—how would she feel if she came upon him with his arms around another woman? She put up her chin. If that was the case then she would rather know of it. Then she could put him out of her mind and end this growing obsession.