Clara, Lady Portland, thought Felix savagely, had no right to the title. He would grant she was attractive, in a blowsy sort of way, but her conduct left much to be desired. She had hailed him almost as soon as he had entered the Park. He rarely drove there except when expediency demanded. Consequently, her ladyship has been surprised to see his curricle, drawn by his famous match bays, advancing along the avenue. He had been forced to pull up or run the silly woman down. The considerable difficulty in conversing at any length with someone perched six feet and more above you, particularly when that someone displayed the most blatant uninterest, had not discouraged Lady Portland. She had done her best to prolong the exchange in the dim hope, Felix knew, of faking an invitation to ride beside him. She had finally admitted defeat and archly let him go, but not before issuing a thickly veiled invitation which he had had BJ compunction in declining. As she had been unwise en

   Climbing the steps to Twyford House the next evening, Felix was still in two minds over whether he was doing the right thing. He was far too wise to be overly attentive to Margaret, yet if he did not make a push to engage her interest, she would shortly be the object of the attentions of a far larger circle of gentlemen, few of whom would hesitate to attend Almack’s purely because they disliked the mooned over by very young women. He hoped, in his capacity as their guardian, to confine his attentions to the Fleming sisters and so escape the usual jostle of matchmaking mamas. They should have learned by now that he was not likely to succumb to their daughters’ vapid charms. Still, he was not looking forward to the evening.    If truth were told, he had been hearing about his wards on all sides for the past week. They had caught the fancy of the

   Margaret was surprised that Felix had remained at the Assembly Rooms for so long. She lost sight of him for a while, and worked hard at forcing herself to pay attention to her suitors, for he was only to be expected heir guardian would seek less tame entertainment elsewhere. But then his tall figure reappeared at the side of the room. He seemed to be scanning the multitude, then, over a sea of heads, his eyes met hers. Margaret fervently hopes the peculiar shock which went through her was not reflected in her countenance. After a moment, unobtrusively, he made his way to her side.    Under cover of the light flirtation she was engaged in with an ageing baronet, Margaret was conscious of the sudden acceleration of her heartbeat and the constriction that seemed to be affecting her breathing. Horrendously award if her guardian’s blue gaze, she felt her

   Maribella stifled a wistful sigh and smiled brightly at the earnest young man who was guiding her around the floor in yet another interminable waltz. It had taken only a few days of the Season proper for her to sort through her prospective suitors. And come to the unhappy conclusion that none matched her requirements. The lads were too young, the men too old. There seemed to be no one in between. Presumably many were away with Wellington’s forces, but surely there were those who could not leave the important business of keeping England running? And surely not all of them were old? She could not describe her ideal Amman, yet was sure she would instantly know when she met him. She was convinced she would feel it, like a thunderbolt from the blue. Yet no make of her acquaintance increase her heartbeat one iota.    Keeping a steady and inconsequential c

   Felix slowly passed through the throng, stopping here and there to chat with acquaintances, his intended goal his aunt, sitting in a blaze of glorious purple on a chaise by the side of the room. But before he had reached her, a hand on his arm drew him around to face the sharp features of Clara Portland.    “Your Grace! It’s been such an age since we’ve ...talked.” Her ladyship’s brown eyes quizzed him playfully.    Her arch tone irritated Felix. It was on the tip of his tongue to recommend she took lessons in flirting from Maribella before she tried her tricks on him. Instead, he took her hand from his sleeve, bowed over it and pointedly returned to her, “As you’re doubtless aware, Clara, I have other claims on my time.”