proof, she was not certain.
‘And how will you be entertaining yourself in this lovely part of the world, Miss Newnham?’ he asked when they were settled in the parlour and tea had been sent for. ‘You paint a little, I think I recall. There must be delightful landscapes to tempt your brush.’
‘I paint a great deal, mainly portraits. Surely you remember, Lord Kendall? We discussed the subject at some length.’
‘It had slipped my mind, I’m afraid. I am not at all artistic myself. And have you visited Bath yet?’
‘No.’
Violet raised her eyebrows, clearly confused at Jane’s abruptness. ‘We will do so presently. Bath is not what it was, of course, but I am sure my cousin will enjoy browsing among the shops. I take little interest in them myself, but most of the ladies of my acquaintance find them satisfactory. I imagine you will not be wanting to sample the waters, will you, dear?’
‘No, indeed.’ Jane repressed a shudder at the thought. ‘I confess that I would enjoy visiting the city. Perhaps you can spare a maid to accompany me, Cousin—then I will not need to trouble you, given that you do not find window shopping entertaining.’
‘Bath is certainly very respectable,’ Violet said thoughtfully. ‘I am sure you would be quite safe with Charity. She knows the city well.’
‘Perhaps I might offer my escort if Miss Lowry will entrust you to my care?’ Ivo said as he got to his feet to shift a side table for the maid carrying the tea tray. ‘It would be a pleasure to rediscover Bath.’
‘You know it well?’ Jane could not fathom Ivo’s motive for making such an offer. He was surely not intending to help her find suitable premises?
‘I did once.’ He was smiling blandly back at her, his expression quite unreadable. ‘The family home is not so very far.’
Whatever Cousin Violet saw there, she was clearly disposed to trust him. ‘So kind, Lord Kendall. I am certain dear Jane would enjoy exploring with you far more than she would with me or a maid.’
‘Cousin—’
‘I find the hills exhausting and I have the greatest sympathy for the poor chairmen when I am forced to use their services,’ Violet said with a rich chuckle. ‘We will go to the Assemblies and concerts, of course.’ She favoured Ivo with her warm smile and Jane could almost see him hit by the force of it. Her cousin was a lovely woman.
If the gentlemen could only stop thinking that willowy females in fashionable gowns were the sole image of perfection, Violet would have an abundance of suitors, she thought.
Ivo put down his cup, refused more tea and turned to Jane as he stood. ‘Would tomorrow afternoon be convenient? You have no objection to a phaeton with a groom in attendance, Miss Lowry?’
‘That would be perfect,’ Violet replied before Jane could say anything. ‘About two o’clock? Delightful. Do allow me to show you out, Lord Kendall.’
She swept back in a few moments later. ‘Well!’
‘Well indeed! Whatever were you thinking of, Violet?’
‘Thinking of? Why, your parents will be in ecstasies if you can attach Lord Kendall—you will be quite forgiven.’
‘The man is an earl. He is the heir to a marquess. Whatever the reason for his call, it is certainly not to court me. Besides, I have no desire to find a husband, even if Ivo Merton were not quite impossible anyway.’
‘Ivo, is it?’ Violet, normally the most sensible of women, produced something perilously close to a simper. ‘And I cannot believe you do not want a husband.’
‘You seem to do excellently well without one,’ Jane said, goaded into frankness.
‘I have money,’ Violet said simply. ‘An independence.’ When Jane did not respond, she added, ‘Even if he has no intentions of that sort, it can only do your standing good to be seen escorted by Lord Kendall. It will mean you have more partners at the Assemblies and we will receive more invitations if you are seen about Bath in his company.’
‘I am sure you are right, Cousin, but please—no matchmaking. We are the merest acquaintances.’
I just happen to have seen him with his shirt off and he has kissed me...
‘Besides, I find him annoyingly self-assured.’
Violet’s response was a most unladylike snort.
* * *
Ivo returned to Merton Tower and sought out his grandfather whom he found still in the study, surrounded by piles of paperwork.