“I do not need to ask how you are after the distressing events of yesterday,” he said, pressing the flowers into her hands. “I can see that you are in the very bloom of health.”
Winnie blushed, despite herself. Such a fulsome compliment, combined with the glow of pleasure on his face, quite undid her.
Aunt Sofia jumped in to rescue her from her confusion. “Winnie, this is Mr Rupert Lomax. Mr Lomax, my niece, Miss Winifred Strong, her uncle, Mr Alfred Strong, and this is Mr Walter Atherton.”
Mr Lomax made Winnie a low bow, as she curtsied. She did not quite know what to do with the flowers — no one had ever brought her flowers before! Still clutching them, she sat down, he sat beside her, his expression animated, and began to plyher with questions. Had she quite recovered from her ordeal? Had she managed to snatch a moment of sleep? Was she not too disturbed by unpleasant memories? Interspersed with such enquiries were expressions of his own fears on her behalf and his wishes for a speedy return to what he was sure was her normal equanimity.
“I believe you make too much of what was a relatively minor occurrence, Mr Lomax,” she said. “Thanks to your timely intervention, there was no harm done. Let us talk of other matters. Do you live in town?”
“My home is in Oxfordshire, near Abingdon. I would not normally be in town at this time of year, except that I had some business to attend to. Normally I account such visits a chore and cannot wait to return home, but… not on this occasion.”
Such open compliments were delightful to Winnie. She basked in his attention, and they were soon on the easiest terms. She found herself telling him much about herself and her family, and discovered that he lived alone with his mother since his father’s death three years earlier, and that he had two married sisters. At some point, Aunt Sofia gently removed the posy from Winnie’s hands, and someone — perhaps Walter — pressed a glass of wine on Mr Lomax — but the conversation flowed on, uninterrupted. It was only when the clock on the mantel struck the hour that Mr Lomax leapt to his feet.
“My goodness, look at the time! What must you think of me, Mrs Blackwood, to be so lost to all good manners? More than half an hour!”
“It is not of the least consequence, sir. We do not stand on ceremony, not with Winnie’s chivalrous knight errant.”
“You are too kind, ma’am. But I shall not stay a moment longer, although perhaps… would it be presumptuous of me to invite you and Miss Strong to take a drive with me tomorrow inthe landau? Perhaps to Hyde Park? There would be room for one of the gentlemen also. If you have no other engagement.”
With a quick glance at Winnie, Aunt Sofia agreed to it at once, and rang the bell for Percival to show Mr Lomax out.
“Well, Winnie,” she said, as soon as the door had closed behind him. “A fine young man, your rescuer.”
Walter burst out laughing. “Oh, very fine, Mrs Blackwood. He will poke his own eyes out with those shirt points, if he is not careful. And did you notice how he walked… like this.” And he minced across the room in an exaggerated swaying motion.
“I did not notice anything odd about his manner of walking,” Winnie said crossly, “and his style of dressing is very much in the height of fashion, I believe.”
“He is a coxcomb,” Walter said.
“I have no idea what that means,” she cried, “butIthought him a most agreeable man.”
“And so did I,” Aunt Sofia said. “He clearly admires Winnie, and I am disposed to like him solely on that account, even without his very gallant intervention yesterday.”
“Pft,” Walter said. “He is a strutting coxcomb, and we know nothing about him, except what he has told us himself. Blackwood, do you know him or the family?”
“No, not at all,” Uncle Edmund said, “but he is close to my age, I should judge, so we may have acquaintances in common. I am not sure that I would describe him as a coxcomb, precisely, for his clothing is not out of the way for a young man with pretensions to fashion, but you are right in one thing, Atherton — if he is going to pay court to Winnie and take her out for drives, we need to know more about him.”
“I do not care about his clothes, except that I thought he looked very well in them,” Aunt Sofia said, “but I agree we should be cautious. However, I confess that a drive in Hyde Parkin a landau will be very pleasant indeed in this warm weather. Edmund, will you join us?”
“I will. I should like to know more of this Mr Lomax.”
And on that point Winnie could agree with him wholeheartedly.
***
Michael read the letter with a smile on his face. “What a remarkable woman Miss Strong is.”
“Miss Strong?” Luce said, looking up from sorting the rest of the day’s letters. “Is she writing to you now? Oh! Sandy, this one is franked by your cousin. What news?”
He ripped the letter open eagerly. “The best — another son. Mother and baby both thriving.”
“That it is indeed the very best news. Such a blessing! How happy they must be! Are you never tempted to find yourself a pretty young lady and settle down, Sandy?” Luce said.
“Not unless I can find another you, Mrs Edgerton, who will follow me about uncomplainingly as I risk life and limb on Michael’s reckless adventures. Although I have tae say that the greatest risk on our present venture is dying of boredom. We’re not doing sae well, are we?”
Luce sighed. “I was so hopeful of the mysterious Lord Farramont, who appeared and then vanished in a single night, but it turns out not to be the right night after all.”
“So he says,” Sandy said darkly.
