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‘My, you are sharp tonight. Of course it is. It is perfectly acceptable for her to attend a small party given by her brother and his wife, and it is perfectly acceptable to point out to some very charming and lovely people how lovely and charming Eliza is.’

He forbore from comment and fell back to pleasantries.

‘How is your dear grandmama? I haven’t seen Lady Spencer for a while.’

Haryo leaned into him to let someone pass. ‘She spends much of her time at Althorp these days, but she does come to town occasionally. I’m hoping she might stay for at least some of the season.’

Granville nodded. They talked about Althorp for a while, the ancestral home of the Spencer family, and then she moved to ask him about his work as an ambassador. It was remarkably pleasant just talking to her. She listened, made intelligent remarks, and never once appeared fatally bored by him talking about the work he loved, that most found tedious. This of course made him recall Bess’s observation that she would make a good ambassador’s wife. He knew he should move on and circulate, but he found he really didn’t want to. However, he accepted that he must, or he would attract unwanted attention for her. He made gestures to leave and bowed over her hand.

He halted when she touched his arm. ‘I’m so pleased that we can be friends,’ she said. ‘I’ve missed listening to your stories and laughing with you.’

His smile widened. She was right. They’d laughed a lot when she was younger. ‘You always did have a rather striking sense of humour.’

She dipped a curtsey and outrageously blew him a kiss.

‘Oh my,’ Eliza breathed as Harriet came to stand by her side, making her chuckle softly. ‘Is that the gentleman your aunt thinks you should marry?’

‘The very one.’

‘Goodness, but he’s handsome.’

Harriet turned to look at his tall, now retreating form. When she turned back, Eliza was sparkling with excitement. Harriet glanced around and saw they were quite alone. ‘May I be honest?’

‘Of course.’

‘Can you keep a secret?’

‘On my life!’

Harriet believed that. Eliza would be utterly loyal to the bone. ‘He’s the first man I fell in love with. I was nine years old, and he saw me spying on the grown-ups arriving at Devonshire House for a ball. He winked at me and blew me a kiss. I blew him a kiss back and from that moment, he had my heart.’

‘What happened? Did he marry someone else?’ Eliza’s voice was a mere whisper, her eyes wide.

Harriet took a breath and continued. ‘He visited us a good deal. All us girls were madly in love with him, and we used to argue about who would marry him. I let them have their fantasies, but there was no doubt in my mind, Granville Leveson-Gower was mine.’

Eliza’s hand drifted to her mouth as though waiting for the killing blow.

‘He never married. I had this… this ridiculous notion he might wait for me, but when I was sixteen, I found out something even worse. I found who he really loved. And it wasn’t me.’

‘Oh no…’ Eliza’s pretty face crumpled and Harriet felt a lump in her throat. She swallowed it away immediately and nodded.

‘My aunt. Lady Bessborough.’ Harriet looked across the room at her aunt, who was reclining gracefully and chatting gaily with a group of matrons.

‘But…’

‘But she’s married? Married to Lord Bessborough? Apparently, that didn’t matter. They’ve been having an affair for years.’

‘Oh, Haryo, I’m so sorry. How utterly heartbreaking for you.’

‘Come,’ Harriet took her arm. ‘Let’s perambulate and look as though we are having a lovely time. I’m not sure what possessed me to reveal my darkest secrets to you in the middle of your sister’s musicale.’

‘Do… do you still love him?’

Harriet pretended to think for a little while. ‘I’m not sure how I feel, but I rather enjoyed kissing him.’

Eliza let out a choked laugh, and Harriet laughed with her. ‘Are you shocked?’

‘When did you kiss him?’ Her voice was little more than a squeak.