Page 47 of The Secrets of Ashmore Castle

‘I was put into a basket saddle when I was two and led about by the syce. Dear Namgay! He was from Bhutan, where they’re practically born on horseback. Bhutan horses are small, but they’re very strong and intelligent, and they make wonderful companions. I suppose they must have lovely horses in Egypt, too? All those Arabians!’

The music had come to an end and the crowd on the floor was breaking up. ‘Would you like to dance?’ he asked abruptly.

For the first time she seemed uncertain. ‘Oh dear, I would like to, but I think you have to ask Lady Bayfield first.’

‘Yes, of course,’ he said. ‘I’m sorry – we haven’t been introduced—’

She smiled, a swift, ravishing smile, and said, ‘I know, I shouldn’t have spoken to you at all! But I won’t tell if you don’t. And I must go and find my friend right this minute – I’m sworn to take care of her, you see.’

He bowed and let her go, secure of finding her again. He turned, and pushed through the crowds the other way until he met Aunt Caroline, who was evidently looking for him.

‘Oh, there you are! This crush is intolerable. You’ll have no chance of inspecting anyone this evening.’

‘But I’ve met one of them. Lady Bayfield’s daughter – and I liked her.’

‘Oh, Giles, I’m so glad! The family is unexceptionable, and the fortune is very good. And I’d really prefer you to marry someone you like, if possible.’

‘I only exchanged a few sentences with her, but she seemed agreeable. And pretty.’

‘Oh, yes, she’s considered very pretty. And, thanks to her mother, very well dressed. Lady Bayfield has excellent taste. But if you liked her, you should dance with her and get her to like you. Make your move early. Because I think there may be a lot of interest in her. She’s quite an heiress. Just a shame she can’t inherit the title.’

‘I don’t need another title,’ Giles said.

‘I know, but it’s an old one, and it’s a shame when they fall into abeyance.’ The music had started up again. She tapped his arm with her fan. ‘Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go and find Lady B and you can ask for a dance. For all you know, the wolves may be circling already.’

Lady Bayfield was pleased when she saw Lord Stainton approaching. She had done her research, too, and knew it was a respectably old title, that the family’s connections were more than good, that there was a fine old castle with considerable land. She also knew that the earl was looking for a wealthy bride and, on the whole, that was a good thing. A man looking for a dowry would be more likely to overlook Catherine’s shyness.

‘Lady Bayfield, might I introduce my nephew to you?’ Lady Mannngtree said. ‘Giles Tallant, Earl of Stainton.’

‘I’m honoured to make your acquaintance,’ Giles said, and bowed.

‘Lord Stainton,’ she said. He had a good voice, warm and rich, she decided. And she was woman enough to be affected by his good looks and charming smile. She wanted grandchildren for her husband’s sake; she wanted pretty ones for her own. So she gave him half a smile. ‘How do you do? I am well acquainted with your aunt, of course.’

‘I have come to solicit the honour of a dance with your daughter.’

Lady Bayfield was pleased. It was quite correct of him to ask her first. When people abided by the social rules, you knew where you were. There were no unpleasant surprises. Casual manners could lead to all sorts of complications. There were good reasons why girls only danced with men their mothers presented to them.

‘She is dancing at the moment, with Lord Lansleigh,’ she said, dropping the name with an air of indifference that intended to impress. Caroline suppressed a snort, Lansleigh being a well-known trap, a confirmed bachelor who liked to flirt but would never be tamely noosed; but Giles had been out of England so long, he did not know his rivals. ‘But when the dance ends,’ Lady Bayfield continued, ‘you may have the next one.’

‘Thank you, ma’am.’

It was necessary to carry on some small-talk while the music lasted. ‘I believe your mother is not in Town,’ Lady Bayfield said to Giles. ‘She is in mourning, of course. A most unfortunate accident – in the field, I hear. Do you hunt?’

‘I haven’t, for some time. I’ve been out of England on and off for several years.’

‘But you are back for good, now?’

Giles hoped not, but he knew where that question tended. If he married her daughter, he was not to park her in the country and disappear. ‘I have no plans to leave England again,’ he said truthfully. No plans, only wishes.

She let him go, and the ladies exchanged commonplaces until the music stopped and the floor broke up again. ‘Ah, here they are,’ said Lady Bayfield.

Giles knew Lansleigh by sight – a tall, thin, good-looking man in his thirties. He was leading a dark-haired girl towards them. Giles was momentarily puzzled – hadn’t she said Lansleigh was dancing with her daughter? This girl was small and slight, with dark curly hair and blue eyes and an air of soft prettiness, and was dressed in delicate white chiffon over pale pink taffeta. She advanced towards Lady Bayfield with an apprehensive look. Some kind of protégée, he supposed.

Lady Bayfield took the dark girl’s hand from that of the man, and turned her to face Giles. ‘Catherine, my dear, this is the Earl of Stainton. He would like to dance with you. Lord Stainton, my daughter, Miss Bayfield.’

Giles struggled with the blankness of his surprise and stitched on a smile. What on earth … ? But Lady Bayfield could hardly not know her own daughter. Yet the girl he had spoken to had definitely said he must ask Lady Bayfield if he wanted to dance with her. Or had she? Had he misheard, in the din? Had she said some other name – Mayfield or Hayford or Baynton or—

His inner babble ceased abruptly as the girl in apricot silk appeared out of the crowd, led towards their group by a very young-looking man in military blues. Her eyes leaped straight to Giles’s face, and she blushed. Lady Bayfield turned her head to see what Giles was looking at and, with a slight air of impatience, she said, ‘Lord Stainton, my daughter’s friend, Miss Sanderton, whom I am chaperoning.’ From the sketchiness of the introduction, it was clear that Lady Bayfield did not think her of any importance.