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‘A colony no longer.’ Mr Flynn’s riposte was uncharacteristically sharp.

Alick interrupted the conversation by hailing the new arrival. ‘Ferdy! Where were you last night? You were missed at the club, you know.’

‘I went to Astley’s.’

‘Again?’ Alick raised an eyebrow.

‘Why not? I wished to see the horses. A particularly fine black one I have my eye on.’

‘With a particularly fine lady riding on his back, no doubt.’ All the men laughed.

Ferdinand Shilton was offended by their levity. ‘Actually no. The Winged Venus has flown away. She was no longer in the show.’

Lord Purfoy’s eyes were on Eliza’s face and she felt her colour rise. ‘I wonder why, and where to. It’s quite a conundrum… is it not?’ he drawled.

Zadoc Flynn responded in his friendly way, ‘But there was another fine equestrian there. A good-looking filly she was too.’

‘You were at Astley’s with Ferdy?’ Purfoy gave him a piercing look.

‘He knew I had some fine bloodstock at home and thought I’d like to see the circus horses. Pretty they are too. But I’m sorry to have missed the Winged Venus. Mr Shilton sang her praises to the skies.’

Eliza could bear the deceit no longer and knew that it was now that she would have to tell them the truth. Corinna had just re-entered the room and her presence gave her courage. She stood up, her cheeks pink, and said, ‘I have something shaming to admit to you all. I can only apologise from the bottom of my heart for not telling the truth at the time.’ The men’s eyes were rapt on her face and Eliza took a deep breath and clenched her fists to maintain her resolve. ‘When Lord Purfoy knocked me down in the street, I was running away from Prebbles Flying Circus.’

Ferdy Shilton looked thunderstruck. ‘No! You’re not Clorinda?’

Zadoc Flynn did not fully understand the social gulf between an itinerant circus performer’s life and the high society his relation and family and friends inhabited. ‘So, you’re this famous trick rider? I’m pleased to make your acquaintance. We have such skilled horsemen in America but they’re men, the best being the Sioux Indians.’

Lord Purfoy’s eyes narrowed as he responded, ‘Sioux Indians being rather thin on the ground in this country, such horsemen come mainly from Irish stock, and women are a rarity. For good reason.’ His voice was stern and uncompromising. He turned his intense gaze on Eliza. ‘You seem rather out of place in such reckless company. How did you become a circus performer, may I ask?’

The room was silent and attentive as she answered, ‘When I was seven I became separated from my nurse while we were visiting Bath. Mrs Prebble found me and took me back to the circus. She trained me as a tumbler and dancer on horseback.’

This news upset Ferdinand Shilton greatly. He did not like his settled view of the world disturbed. Here was someone who had been deprived of her natural place in society, possibly even a member of the nobility, and it made him uneasy. ‘So who are your family? Where are they?’

‘I don’t know. I ran away from the circus in the hopes of finding them and to have a more settled life.’

Corinna interrupted, her voice filled with emotion. ‘I understand this well. I longed to find out where I fitted in the world, and you friends…’ She hesitated as her voice broke and she looked from Mr Shilton and Lord Purfoy to her husband, then continued, ‘You three helped me do just that. I’ve extended the hospitality you showed me to Miss Gray until she discovers what happened to her all those years ago.’

‘Aha, no longer Miss Mysterious, but Miss Gray now. We must all be grateful your memory has returned,’ his lordship murmured while crossing his legs and leaning back in his chair.

Eliza sat down. It was done. The truth was out and no one yet had turned away. In fact, Mr Flynn said casually, ‘Where I come from, most people have lost touch with their families. There’s a freedom to it, you know.’

Raven Purfoy had not taken his eyes from Eliza’s face. Flushed and animated, her eyes gleaming with unshed tears, she reminded him poignantly of someone he had tried not to think of in years. He shut out this unwelcome thought and turned instead to the near present, saying in a quiet voice, ‘We found Corinna’s father through a gift she had, with a coronet engraved in the silver. Do you have anything that could provide a clue to your origins?’

Eliza shook her head. ‘Only a blue glass ring I gave to Rose, my friend at the circus, as a keepsake when I left.’

‘Well, you do have unusual looks.’ Purfoy’s eyes were amused. ‘Not many people have such flaxen hair and piebald eyes.’

Eliza was taken aback. ‘My lord, my eyes are just different colours, that’s all.’

He laughed. ‘Whatever they are, they’re a warning of trouble. I had a horse once with one gold and one brown eye. She was the most beautiful mare but the friskiest minx who only did what she chose.’

Zadoc Flynn said, ‘In my experience, obstinate animals need to know who’s master.’

Lord Purfoy’s glance slid over Mr Flynn’s genial face and the icy blast of his disapproval froze the smile on the American’s lips. ‘I do not treat my horses thus,’ he said with the utmost disdain.

Gibbons knocked on the door and entered in search of his mistress. ‘The dancing teacher is here, madam,’ he said. Corinna smiled her thanks then indicated that Eliza should follow her.

‘Mr Flynn,’ Corinna called to her visitor, ‘if you would like to learn the English dances, Mistress Wilson has arrived.’