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Angelica’s emotions were so raw she felt her outrage flare. ‘I beg to differ. It’s not just about you, Mr Asprey. What about your daughter who has no mother and only you in the world?’

‘I don’t need you to remind me of my duty to Elinor!’ His anger had turned from cold to hot. ‘I love her more than life itself.’

‘But not more than your honour, sir.’ Angelica’s voice was dismissive.

‘This is not something I would expect you to understand.’ He grasped her shoulders and turned her to face him. She was surprised to see such a wild light in his eyes.

‘Well, no, Mr Asprey, I don’t understand. Was it not me who Lord Rackham dishonoured, not you?’

‘In dishonouring you so, he dishonoured me.’ There were pinpoints of colour on his cheekbones.

‘How so? Am I your sister? Your wife? No, sir, you have no claims of blood or loyalty to me.’

In one athletic movement he jumped from the platform of his curricle to the grass and paced, raking his hand thorough his hair, growing wilder in his looks as he walked restlessly away, then back. ‘You have made your business my business from the moment I first met you. You have ruined my peace of mind, risked my reputation. For you I have risked everything!’ He held his head in his hands.

Angelica could not listen any longer to this litany of the woes she had brought to his door. She scrambled down from the seat, catching her bonnet ribbon in the wheel which tore it from her head. She knew her hair was coming undone and she probably looked a sight but she could not care less as she faced a far more distressing state of affairs. The accusation that she had brought such ruination to his life was almost too much to bear, for she knew it was in large part true.

She turned on him with indignation. ‘It was you who burst uninvited into my life, on a mission to bribe me to give up the presumption that I, a déclassé woman, an actress, could ever consider marrying into your high-crested family. It is you who ruined my life!’ She was looking so tempestuous, her eyes flashing, her glorious hair in disarray that he felt his anger give way to surprise, admiration and then to an overwhelming desire to take her in his arms.

‘Miss Leigh, such a fighting wench! Take care or we’ll frighten the horses.’ He caught her arm. ‘Come here.’ In one deft movement he folded her against his chest and planted a passionate kiss on her lips. For a moment she succumbed to the thrilling insistence of his body, then recalled the ambivalence in their relationship. Was his interest in her no more permanent than Lord Rackham’s, who wanted her as a mistress under his control? In which case she was damned if she would be lulled into acquiescence. She struggled free and pushed him away.

‘Have a care, sir! While I asked you to kiss me once, that does not mean you can kiss me whenever the impulse takes you!’

He bowed. ‘We have both behaved badly and I apologise.’ His words were contrite but there was amusement in his eyes.

She felt she should show an equal grace but struggled to contain her ire. ‘Mr Asprey. I accept I have compromised you on more than one occasion, and I apologise. But I repeat, it was not I who first sought you out.’

‘No, I blame my managing sister. Devilish interfering woman!’

‘So the disasters of your life are due to two interfering women, and you have no part in the debacle? That is not very noble, sir, let alone honourable. Where is your precious honour now?’

‘Madam, you more truly belong in the Courts of Law and are wasted on the stage,’ he drawled, his cold demeanour once more in ascendance.

Ever-present was the spectre of Lord Rackham and Angelica needed to know how she stood. ‘Pray tell me the current condition with Lord Rackham?’

Ivor Asprey’s brow darkened. ‘He will not hold you to your bargain. I extracted that promise from him. One good that came from your unconscionable interference is that Rackham was eager to keep his name from the constables’ despatches, or worse still, the ribald lampooners in the press. So I paid off the Runners to stop their mouths – and to silence Lord Rackham’s too.’

Angelica felt relief flood her body. She said in a faint voice, ‘So I don’t have to accede to Lord Rackham’s demands?’

Mr Asprey was at her side in an instant, grasping her by the arms to shake her. ‘No, you provoking miss! You should never have agreed to such a wicked plan. My reputation is for me to mind; how many times do I have to tell you, it’s not your business.’ His voice rose with exasperation.

‘And how many times do I have to tell you that your daughter, your friends and your concern for working children matter too? How can it be just about you and your honour!’

He spun away from her and paced to the edge of the copse and back, his face dark with conflicting emotions. ‘I don’t like what I’ve become. These last years I determined to gain equilibrium and control over my heart, my life. But meeting you has broken my bounds. Now I’m unmoored and at sea. You are a danger to me and I to myself.’

Angelica realised this was what she feared most, that no amount of love could outweigh the detriment of an ill-starred union. Somehow all had become unstable and fraught with peril. Her voice was quiet and forlorn when she answered, ‘I too don’t like what I’ve become. Before, I was blithe-spirited, now anxiety and fear of loss stalk my days. I don’t wish to feel so bereft again.’ Ivor Asprey could not know the scars of her childhood; for her, insecurity recalled a time when every hope seemed beyond reach, and uncertainty and suffering were familiar companions. ‘Mr Asprey, please could you take me home?’

In a subdued mood, he handed Angelica up into the curricle and walked round to spring up into the driving seat beside her. He turned his horses and they proceeded towards Grosvenor Gate in silence. The horses trotted through the grand Square where the Duchess of Arlington’s mansion sat in imposing splendour. Soon they reached Angelica’s home. Neither of them moved. ‘Why so quiet, Miss Leigh?’

Angelica turned to meet his quizzical gaze. ‘You say I have ruined your life, Mr Asprey. Perhaps marriage to a suitable woman will begin to restore the equilibrium you miss?’

His face, no longer amused, had turned guarded and cold. ‘Can it be, Miss Leigh, that you know me better than I know myself? I hardly need your opinion on whether or whom I should marry. I get enough unwarranted advice already from my sister and daughter.’ He sprang to the ground to offer his hand to her.

Angelica had managed to cram her bonnet back on her unruly hair but had not bothered with the ribbons. Ivor Asprey helped her to the ground and they stood facing each other, seeming as if strangers. He looked at her beautiful face, the sparkle gone, and in a distracted manner picked up her bonnet ribbons and tied them in a bow to one side of her chin. His fingers inadvertently brushed her cheek and she trembled at his touch. In a quiet voice he said, ‘I’m sorry it has come to this. But how can I trust you again?’ He turned away, anguish etched on his face.

Stifling a sob, Angelica dashed up the front steps and into the house. Martin watched her run up the stairs to her room and shook his head. He knew at first sighting of Mr Asprey this morning that he was no bringer of light. He watched the curricle disappear around the Square, a solitary figure holding the reins of a magnificent pair of high-stepping matched bays, then he shut the door.

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