Was he in love? That was an interesting question, one to which she might find an answer very soon. But the question of seeing him alone was of more immediate concern. It was several weeks since his precipitate departure, and his face had gradually faded from her memory, superseded by the more agreeable features of Mr Simon Payne. Just at that moment, in the shock of his unexpected arrival, she could not bring Lord Daniel’s countenance to mind at all.
A wave of alarm roiled through her. This man, whom she scarcely knew, was waiting for her, expecting her to bind herself irrevocably to him in the next five minutes, or perhaps ten if heshould become particularly articulate, and she could not even remember what he looked like.
“Must I see him alone?” she whispered.
“It is usual,” he mother said, smiling. “A man does not like an audience at such a moment. Are you nervous?”
“I should at least like to have my sisters with me when I meet him. It would give me courage.”
“Let us all go to welcome him back to Staineybank,” the duchess said, rising and shaking out her grey skirts. “He may wonder what sort of reception he will receive, given his abrupt departure last time. We will take you to him, and you will see, no doubt, that he is just as nervous as you are.”
“Or more so,” Mama said. “Roland was such a bag of nerves when he proposed that he could scarcely string two words together. It was most affecting.”
“We shall be by your side when you meet him,” Charlotte said.
“You need not fear anything when we are with you,” Augusta said.
“Come, let us not keep the poor man waiting,” Maria said.
Arm in arm, the four sisters made their way to the Marble Hall, with the duchess and Mrs Merrington behind them. Froggett, smiling benignly upon them all, nodded to the two footmen to open the doors and preceded them into the room in a stately manner.
“Her Grace the Duchess of Brinshire, Mrs Roland Merrington, Miss Merrington, Miss Augusta Merrington, Miss Maria Merrington and Miss Sophia Merrington,” he intoned.
And there he was, memory flooding back as Sophia saw the familiar face. How could she have doubted herself? She would have known him anywhere, but his expression was not so familiar. She almost laughed out loud at the shock on Lord Daniel’s face. And then, as his gaze ranged over the four of them,the strange expression she had seen before — surely that was panic? It was true, then — he could not tell which of the four sisters was Sophia.
There was an awkward silence until the duchess remembered that she was the highest ranking lady and mistress of the house, so must speak first.
“How charming to see you again, Lord Daniel.”
“Duchess,” he murmured, executing a slightly awkward bow.
“I trust your father is better?”
“My father? Oh… yes, indeed, much restored. Very much restored.”
“That is excellent news,” she went on smoothly, more sure of herself now. “We have brought Sophia to you, as you see.”
So saying, she turned and led the others out of the room. The door shut with a soft click, and Sophia was alone with him. His face cleared a little, now that he knew he had the right sister. He still looked a shade bemused, but there was no panic there. Yet how odd it was, not to be able to recognise the woman he planned to marry! Simon had no trouble recognising her.
But then Simon loved her. The thought warmed her inside, and she smiled so widely, that Lord Daniel smiled too.
“Miss Merrington… Sophia…” There was just the hint of a question about it.
“Lord Daniel. What a surprise to see you again, after all this time.”
His smile slipped a little. “You must have wondered… why I left so precipitously last month.”
“Oh no, for you told us why. You were concerned for your father’s health, which is most commendable. I quite understood. I am glad to hear that his gout is better, for it must have been very severe to cause you such alarm.” And then, a mischievous imp wakening inside her, she went on, “I did think, for a while, that perhaps you left because you could not distinguish me frommy sisters. Mr Payne had that problem and so we wondered… but you see, we have decided to wear coloured ribbons, so that there will be no difficulty in future. Charlotte… she is the eldest, so she chose her colour first. She chose blue, which is the best colour, in my opinion, but being the youngest, I had little choice. Then Augusta — she is the next eldest, you see — she chose pink, which is also a pretty colour.”
She sighed, but he said nothing, merely gazing bemusedly at her, so she ploughed on.
“And then Maria wanted white or cream, so that she could wear a little bit of lace instead of a regular ribbon, and who could deny her that? So I was left with yellow. Well, I could have had red, but that is such an uncompromising colour, is it not? As for green… oh, no. So it had to be yellow, which does not suit me very well, but there we are. And it cannot be a pale yellow, or it might look too much like Maria’s cream. Do you like it? My yellow ribbon?”
The smile had vanished. “I did not come here to talk about ribbons,” he said tersely.
“What did you come to talk about?” she said blandly, trying to suppress her amusement. He was so easy to tease, and she really should not. “Shall we sit? I should feel more comfortable if we sit.”
She perched on a sofa, and at once realised her mistake, for he sat alongside her, his face afire, and seized her hand in his.
