The children--' she dismissed Polly and Henry with a wave of the fan '--can amuse themselves for a while! There is so much for us to talk on! " And she shut the door firmly behind them.

"Well!" Henry said, still smiling.

"It seems Lady Belling ham has found yet another way in which to scandalise the neighbour hood and Sir G.o.dfrey will be her willing dupe!"

"Their romance... It seems most unlikely..." Polly ventured.

"True..." there was a twinkle in Lord Henry's eyes 'but one must not consider romance to be the prerogative of the young! I have no doubt that those two had a most pa.s.sionate affair--' "Lord Henry!"

"Still so proper. Lady Polly?"

"Unlike you, my lord!"

Lord Henry's grin was broad now.

"Perhaps you should hurry back to your chaste maiden bower, Lady Polly!

Unfortunately, you are unlikely to have Sir G.o.dfrey's escort, and your brother and Miss Mark- ham are exchanging sweet nothings in the garden.

So..."

Polly's lips tightened at his teasing.

"Must you always make a mock of things, my lord?"

"On the contrary!" Henry's gaze was bright on her. "I consider love to be a very serious matter!"

"So I have heard! And seen! There are those who consider it to be your only preoccupation, my lord!"

"No, that's too unkind!" Henry's smile faded and his glance was a challenge now.

"But you. Lady Polly--your att.i.tude is a little different, is it not?

You always seem to behave as though there was something shameful about love, or at the least something shameful about honest emotion. I suppose it is the result of so sheltered and restrictive an upbringing!"

Polly stared at him speechlessly. It seemed at least five seconds before she managed to exclaim, "Well upon my word, my lord! Your presumption is outrageous!"

Henry's look was a provocation in itself.

"Is that so? Then tell me your own view of the matter!"

"It is true that I have had a protected upbringing, being the youngest and the only daughter--' Polly was so indignant that she needed no second invitation '--but I do not believe that I have suffered as a result either materially or emotionally! I consider myself to be a woman of sense! I do not know what type of woman you admire, Lord Henry, but if it is one full of die-away airs and affected sensibility then I must agree I do not conform to that style!"

"Yet on the surface you appear so prim and conventional," Lord Henry countered with every evidence of regret.

"One has the impression that any suggestion of strong emotion would have you recoiling with the va pours!"

"Indeed!" Polly was now more cross than indignant. "I do not know how you have the effrontery to accuse me of a want of feeling! When we met in London you behaved like the greatest rake imaginable, and I did not hear you complaining that I was lacking in my response to you the nV She broke off and clapped her hand to her mouth, but it was too late.

The words could not be unsaid.

The expression on Henry's face would have silenced her anyway. There was amus.e.m.e.nt there and a dawning warmth, melting into a tenderness that made her catch her breath.

"You tricked me," she said, and it came out as a whisper.

"I should never have said that..."

"Yes," Henry also spoke softly, "I'll admit I gave in to a perverse impulse to provoke you, for you sometimes seem so prim and yet I know you to be different..."

The hot colour flooded Polly's face. She took an instinctive step towards him, knowing that in a moment she would be in his arms.

There was a blast of fresh, salty air, then the main door banged in the breeze and Gaston came forward, clucking with disapproval.

"Morning, Polly! Morning, March night!" Peter, smiling with genial cheer, ushered Hetty into the hall, where Gaston fussed about taking her scarf and coat. Peter was chatting easily to the butler and seemed completely oblivious to the scene before him. Hetty, her face flushed pink from the cold air, looked from Polly to Henry and raised her brows very slightly.

Polly tore her gaze away from Henry's with an effort of will.

"I was just waiting for Sir G.o.dfrey," she said, slightly at random and to no one in particular.

"He has come to escort us back to Dilling ham, but it seems he is already acquainted with Lady Belling- ham..." She gestured vaguely towards the drawing- room door.

Henry was laughing openly at her obvious confusion and she was both charmed and annoyed by his teasing. He seemed suddenly so sure of his power to disturb her and with masculine arrogance was enjoying it.

Despite Peter and Hetty's arrival, Polly still felt deliriously fl.u.s.tered and excited. She knew that Henry would have kissed her if the others had not come in and she felt out-of-proportion disappointed to have been denied the experience.

"Are you quite well. Lady Polly? You are looking rather flushed.

Perhaps your experiences last night have overset you?" Henry had taken her hand, a wicked smile on his face, eyes dancing.

"I hope you are quite well, for it is the De ben yacht race tomorrow morning and I quite count on your support to help me wrest the cup from Marcus Fitzgerald!"

"Oh, a race!" Hetty clapped her hands, eyes shining. "We shall all be there to cheer you on. Lord Henry!"

"There is a luncheon afterwards at the Queen's Head," Henry continued, 'and, of course, in the evening there is your mother's impromptu ball.

A day of uninterrupted pleasure, which is what I like best! " Polly gave him a repressive look which he met with one of limpid innocence.

"Shall we see you at the ball then, my lord?" she asked demurely, trying to withdraw her hand from his.

Henry did not release her. Instead he raised her hand to his lips and pressed a lingering kiss on it. "Certainly you shall. I hope you will save a dance for me, Lady Polly!"

"I should be delighted, sir." Polly cast him a look under her lashes.

He was still smiling in that slightly challenging way, and for a moment her heart skipped a beat through sheer antic.i.p.ation.

"Until tomorrow then, my lady," Henry murmured, letting her go at last.

"I.

should be on my way to Fen- church, I suppose. Your servant, ma'am.

Miss Mark- ham . Peter. " "Oh." Hetty sighed soulfully, as they watched his tall figure stroll away towards the stables.

"Oh, Polly, he really is so very charming..."

The drawing-room door opened and Lady Belling- ham came out, deep in conversation with Sir G.o.dfrey.