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She exchanged glances with Gee and Aunt Bess.

The door opened again, and her father walked in with Lady Liz who had dressed more like a girl in her first season than a woman of advancing years. Harriet had to face the fact that this was going to be The Announcement.

Her father gestured for everyone to be seated, so she sat beside Gee, who took hold of her hand and squeezed it, much as she had done when they were children and things had been difficult. She was grateful for it now.

Her father cleared his throat, looking uncomfortable. He was not a man for announcements.

‘I called you together to tell you… to tell you, that I have asked Lady Elizabeth to be my wife, my duchess. To my eternal surprise, she has agreed that she will stoop to accept me.’

Lady Liz giggled delightedly and clung to his arm, beaming up at him in delight before turning her smile on the family.

A moment’s silence ensued, and it was Hart who broke it. ‘Congratulations, sir.’

‘I am very pleased for you,’ said Gee, and then everyone followed suit, offering their congratulations.

‘Harriet?’ her father said.

She took a breath and managed a smile. ‘I hope you will both be very happy,’ she said.

‘Oh, darling Haryo, I am sure we will be,’ Lady Liz said in her silly, babyish tones that grated on her endlessly.

Champagne arrived, and they all smiled politely and toasted the happy couple. The wedding, it seemed, would be close to Christmas, possibly at Chiswick, possibly at Chatsworth. Lady Liz was deciding which would give them the best possible wedding party. She prattled on endlessly about the arrangements, and Gee surreptitiously took Harriet’s hand and squeezed it again. She was glad of the contact, particularly when Selina Trimmer came to speak to them. Miss Trimmer was part of her childhood. Of that time when her mother was alive, when her dear mama had loved and cherished her. Had always been there for her to lean on.

‘Perhaps you might have to delay any announcements of your own, my dear,’ she said, ever hopeful that this would be the year that Harriet finally found someone to marry her.

‘And, perhaps I might not,’ she said in the airy fashion that Miss Trimmer so disliked. It earned her a frown, making Harriet feel immediately guilty. Miss Trimmer had always disapproved of Lady Liz. Her moral and strong religious principles rebelled against her very existence in the house, and she had always tried to protect Harriet and her siblings from the excesses of the duke and his lover.

‘My apologies,’ she said, and Miss Trimmer looked marginally mollified. ‘It has been a trying day.’

In that moment, Harriet missed her mother more than she could ever say.

Chapter 40

ELIZA

London

Eliza sat alone in the drawing room of the Portland Square house and read the letter from Robert for the hundredth time. He had very pragmatic handwriting, nothing flourishing or fancy. He told her of his journey, made her laugh at his observations of his fellow soldiers, and made her want to cry when he told her how very much he looked forward to hearing from her. It was a wonderful letter and sounded not in the least forced or stilted.

She had, of course, replied to him immediately, and now she sat running her fingers gently over his words as she waited for him to write again. A commotion in the hallway made her refold the letter gently and slip it into her reticule, just as the footman announced Hart and Haryo.

She greeted them both, and as Haryo kissed her on the cheek, and Hart flung himself onto a chair, she could see that they were both itching to tell her something.

‘What is it?’ she asked.

‘Brace yourself…’

Harriet pinched the bridge of her nose before opening her eyes with a loud sigh.

‘My father and Lady Liz are to be married.’

‘Oh, no.’ Eliza stared at her friends, and as Haryo looked oddly fragile, she embraced her. Haryo sighed and clung to her for long minutes.

‘I’m sorry. I know this was the last thing you all wanted,’ she said, rubbing Haryo’s back gently.

‘It was inevitable, but it still hurts,’ she muttered. ‘I miss Mama so much.’ Eliza felt her tremble, and Hart, hearing the wobble in his sister’s voice, came and put his long arms around both of them. They remained that way until Haryo took a huge breath and lifted away, wiping her cheeks as she shook herself.

‘All this, and it’s not even lunchtime,’ she said with false bravado.