Nicola Cornick Read Free

brother-in-law, Lord Wallace? And a great friend of mine, Sir William Weston…’
    Annabella, who had been admiring the elegant ton nishness of Lady Kilgaren’s dress, looked up, a little startled, as a shadow fell across her. Sir William Weston was bowing to her with formality. The name had meant nothing to her and she had not really been attending. Now, belatedly bestowing her attention on him, Annabella initially considered the gentleman to be nothing out of the ordinary. He was of more than average height, it was true, with a broadness of shoulder which somehow suggested strength and durability. But that was hardly a romantic attribute. Annabella, who had had little experience of true romance in her life, had always fondly imagined that her heroes would be dark and handsome, like the characters in the Minerva Press Gothics. Sir William was not particularly dark. His face was unremarkable except for a healthy tan which suggested that he had spent a long time in far hotter climes, and his thick, brown hair was bleached fair at the ends. Apart from that…
    Annabella paused in her assessment as he looked directly into her eyes. Her heart skipped a beat and she caught her breath, uncertain quite what had disturbed her. Sir William’s eyes, she discovered, were a rather fascinating blue, the colour of summer seas, at once sleepy and alert as they held hers for a long moment. Almost unconsciously, she started her appraisal again. Now that she was giving due consideration, she suddenly observed that Sir William Weston moved with a fluid grace that was oddly attractivewhen taken with his powerful physique. His face had integrity and character, and his smile was like his eyes, sleepy and disordering to the senses, hinting at all kinds of possibilities beneath the surface…Annabella felt herself blush to the roots of her hair as those very eyes scanned her face and appeared to read her mind.
    ‘Mrs St Auby…’ Sir William was smiling slightly, taking her hand in his. ‘I have heard much about you. It has long been my wish to make your acquaintance.’
    Lady St Auby cleared her throat noisily, bustling forward between them before Annabella could respond to this. ‘A friend of Viscount Mundell!’ she gushed. ‘An honour, dear sir, an honour! And are you a landowner, like his lordship?’ She might as well have asked his income, Annabella thought, closing her eyes in momentary despair. Her motives could not have been more transparent.
    Sir William appeared unperturbed by this ill-concealed curiosity. ‘Alas, no, ma’am! My estate is small. I am only a humble sailor.’
    Lady St Auby’s nose turned up as though the idea had reminded her of the smell of rotting fish. Unlike Annabella, she did not see the look of faintly ironic amusement which crossed Viscount Mundell’s face at his friend’s words. The music was starting up, but not quickly enough to cover Mrs Eddington-Buck’s comments about parvenus who hung on the coat-tails of the nobility. Sir William’s amiable smile did not waver, but his blue gaze moved from one to the other with thoughtful consideration. Annabella’s blush deepened. He had said that he had heard of her, and she could easily imagine what had been said. ‘Themercenary daughter of a jumped-up Cit’ had been one of the more complimentary descriptions she had heard applied to herself, and here was Lady St Auby confirming just such an impression with her own behaviour!
    ‘I am promised for this dance,’ Sir William said easily, interrupting Annabella’s thoughts, ‘but may I hope to see you again later, Mrs St Auby? Please excuse me—’
    And he was gone, leaving Annabella once again feeling oddly disturbed. She shook her head slightly to dispel the fanciful illusion. She had not been in society much, but she had met some personable men, many of them a great deal more conventionally handsome than Sir William Weston. But somehow none of them had his air of authority leavened with such good