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Charlotte looked at him, surprised he was so perturbed. Her heart leapt; could it be that he did harbour affections for Leonora after all? That her love would be returned? The conversation was cut short by their arrival at Lady Bucklebury’s mansion in Brook Street.

The Earl handed Charlotte out of the chaise and said, ‘I know that Miss Appleby has been careful not to alert my grandmother to your escapade, but you’ve been away for too long. I’ll come in with you. Our story is close to the truth, that Ormonde tricked you into accompanying him out of Town and I and Mr Lockwood brought you back.’ It was late in the afternoon and they were ushered into the drawing room, both looking travel-worn.

Lady Bucklebury was in her favourite chair by the fire, still working on her tapestry frame, and had reached the eagle’s talon. Leonora was reading and Mrs Priddy’s knitting needles were flashing. Leonora leapt up as Charlotte entered first. She dashed to her side and embraced her in a fierce hug, then released her, remembering Lady Bucklebury did not know how close she had been to being embroiled in scandal.

Lord Rokeby took charge of the situation and walked forward, tiredness making his limp more pronounced; he gave a quick bow to his grandmother and then kissed her cheek. ‘Alistair,’ she greeted him with a piercing look, ‘where have you and Charlotte been? You both look shockingly disreputable!’

Charlotte stepped forward, feeling this delicate situation needed some word from her. She took Lady Bucklebury’s thin arthritic hand and kissed it. ‘Grandmama, it’s entirely my fault. I was tricked by Captain Ormonde into travelling out of Town with him, but luckily my lord and Mr Lockwood followed and brought me home.’

‘Silly gal! You have to learn that Town bucks cannot be trusted!’ She seemed to be unbothered by this potential scandal and was distracted by pain. ‘Could you help me to my feet, my dear. I feel in need of rest.’ Charlotte and Mrs Priddy came forward to attend to her; Alistair Rokeby offered his hand to Leonora and walked her to a distant window overlooking the Square.

She looked into his tired face. His scar was all the more noticeable against the pallor of his skin and she had a sudden longing to trace it with her finger and kiss the slight pucker where it reached his lip. How outrageous this was! she remonstrated to herself.

A frown drew his black brows together. ‘Miss Appleby, as you are Charlotte’s closest friend, I wanted to tell you that I have made her aware that I am her father. I cannot bear to have you think any worse of me than you already do.’

‘You have brought Charlotte back, avoiding scandal and the ruination of her name. For this, anyone who loves her will be eternally grateful.’

The shock of the revelation the previous morning had faded, and Leonora instead was overwhelmed with sympathy for both the brothers and poor Flora, all so young and faced with such censure and fear. ‘How did she take the news?’

‘She seemed rather pleased to have a live father rather than a dead one.’ He managed a smile. ‘It quite surprised me. But then the eruption of my fatherly feeling for her has surprised me too.’

Leonora realised that everyone else had left the room and they were alone. ‘Perhaps we should go?’ She looked up into his face, beloved to her in its damaged asymmetry.

His scar and eye patch were in shadow and his good eye, so dark and full of life, glittered as he met her gaze. ‘Miss Appleby, I return to Rokeby Abbey tomorrow.’ The strain drained from his expression as he said with some amusement, ‘Hasterleigh is not the same without you, you know. My piano-forte is declining into anarchy and its master is more in disarray than usual.’ In a spontaneous movement, he grasped her hand and held it to his cheek.

Leonora shivered, her pulse quickening. How different he was from any man she had known; how different from her boyish William Worth whose death had taken her youth with him. Now Alistair Rokeby had reunited her with that hopeful self, and she felt it flare up again like a flame that had survived the storm. She took a deep breath and smiled. ‘I have been longing to go home. I very much need to swim and restore the rhythm of my life.’

He looked down at her with his crooked smile. ‘It’s still too cold to swim. My lake won’t have begun to warm up yet.’

‘I think I must be a Viking; I can bear the cold quite well.’

He let out a bark of laughter. ‘Even if that is true, dear Miss Appleby, you are not to go swimming alone. You promised me that. And I doubt your fabled forebears ever chose to swim; their skill was to navigate and travel at speed across the mighty North Sea rather than to plunge into its unforgiving depths.’ Lord Rokeby was laughing as he offered his arm and escorted her out of the room. ‘Farewell then, my intrepid mermaid. I shall look forward to your return.’ He crossed the landing to his grandmother’s rooms to take his leave, and after a few minutes bounded down the stairs with unexpected grace, collected his hat and coat, climbed back into his chaise and was gone, leaving Leonora’s world strangely bereft.

Charlotte and Mrs Priddy had been sitting talking in the small room beside the kitchen, warmed by the big kitchen range. At the sound of the front door closing, Charlotte called, ‘Leonora! Come quickly.’ When Leonora entered the room, she was confronted by a radiant Charlotte, her cheeks flushed, her brown eyes sparkling, and although her clothes looked the worse for two days’ wear, she showed no sign of the adventures, assaults and revelations of the previous two days.

Charlotte pulled her into the room and closed the door. ‘I am in love with George Lockwood, and he is with me! He rescued me from Captain Ormonde by boxing him hard on the nose. I’ve never seen him so angry, and on my behalf!’ Her voice sounded quite thrilled by being the focus of a man’s protective violence.

‘Well, you couldn’t choose a better man to fall in love with, Lottie.’

‘That’s just what Nanny P said.’

Leonora looked across at her old nanny who was nodding with a knowing smile on her face. ‘Charlotte, tell Nanny P your other piece of news.’

‘Yes! Almost as exciting is the fact that my papa is not a dead hero but a live one! He is in fact Lord Rokeby, not his brother, and I am so happy to have a father I can know. Such a heroic one too. You should have seen how brave he and Mr Lockwood were with Captain Ormonde who had brought his own pistol!’

Leonora took her hand and said, ‘I’m very glad you feel so blessed. Lord Rokeby is indeed a fine father to have.’

Mrs Priddy had picked up her knitting again and said quietly, ‘I’d always thought your father was more likely to be Master Alistair. You have his impetuous nature too, my dear. Charles at heart was quite a sobersides.’

Leonora wondered if the time was right to impart to her friend the next astonishing fact about her parentage. She could not justify keeping it from her any longer. She took Charlotte’s hand and drew her to the seat between Mrs Priddy and herself. ‘My dear, I have another piece of information for you which I hope will please you equally. You know Flora Lacey?’ She paused.

Charlotte’s eyes widened. ‘Flora is my mother, isn’t she?’ When Leonora nodded, Charlotte dropped her eyes, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. She didn’t speak, although Leonora could see her cheeks grow pink with emotion. Leonora looked with concern at Nanny P who just smiled and nodded.

After what seemed an age, Leonora laid her hand on Charlotte’s. ‘Is this a great shock to you?’ she asked in a quiet voice.

Charlotte looked up, tears in her eyes. ‘No. It is consoling. I felt such a connection with Flora. When she was brushing my hair with tenderness, and when she dressed me, it was with such care.’ She sobbed and leant across to embrace Leonora and with her voice muffled, she said, ‘Then when she met my eyes in the looking glass there was a recognition of something, I knew not what.’ She straightened up and looked from Mrs Priddy to Leonora.

Leonora said, ‘When she found your bed empty two mornings ago she was so distraught I immediately thought, she is Charlotte’s mother, and she confirmed it but asked me to be the one to tell you. I think she was afraid of your reaction.’