Free The Reckoning by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles

attention to the man standing silently beside him. 'Might I have the signal honour of presenting him to you?' Hawker went on; and seeing Miss Rosedale's quick, slight frown, he added, 'I would not, of course, have the impertinence to request it, except that he is a distant relative of Lady Rosamund's – and blood, they say, is thicker than water. Lady Rosamund, may I present to you my good friend Jesmond Farraline? He's quite respect able, you know – his brother is the Earl of Batchworth.’
    Rosamund did not consult Miss Rosedale's face, afraid that she might find herself in the position of being obliged to refuse the acquaintance. She didn't want to do that. For one thing, she was growing just a little bored with Scarborough and nothing but female companionship; and for another, Farraline was the most staggeringly handsome man she had ever seen.
    ‘ Mr Farraline,' she said, extending her hand. The tall, graceful man swept off his hat, stooped, placed his own elegant hand under hers, and brushed the air just above her glove with his lips. His hair was so fair that it glittered almost silver in the sunlight; as he straightened he looked down into her eyes with a gaze so direct and so intensely blue that she felt almost faint. 'In what way,' she heard herself asking, 'are we related?'
    ‘ My mother was a Manvers before she married,' he said. His voice was light and pleasant, caressive like a warm breeze on the skin. 'In fact, I believe my grandfather and your uncle were brothers, which must make us cousins.'
    ‘ My uncle Manvers is in fact my great-uncle. But still, cousins of a sort,' Rosamund conceded. 'But if you are related to me, you must also be distantly related to my cousin Sophie.'
    ‘Indeed, ma'am. How do you do, Miss Morland?’
    Sophie merely acknowledged the introduction with a nod, overcome by so much beauty. Rosamund, a little defiantly, completed the job by presenting him to Miss Rosedale.
    ‘ You are staying up at St Nicholas Cliff, aren't you?' Farra line said.
    ‘ Where else?' Hawker murmured. It was the most expen sive and exclusive part of Scarborough. 'These are ladies of fashion, Jes.'
    ‘ I'm sure I've seen you coming out of Wood's Lodgings. I'm staying almost next-door, at Hampton House, with my mother. I often see you walking along the flagway past our windows.'
    ‘With your mother?' Miss Rosedale said, surprise, relief and approval vying in her tone. The presence of the Dowager Countess changed everything. She would be answerable to Lady Theakston if Rosamund got into bad company, but this immediately made it more respectable.
    Farraline bowed his head. 'Yes, we've rented Lady Culvey's house for two months. I should be honoured if you would allow me to bring Mama to call on you, ma'am. I think she finds it rather lonely here, having no acquaintance in Scarborough, you understand.'
    ‘Is your mother here to take the waters?'
    ‘Oh no, ma'am – it's I who am the invalid.’
    Hawker broke in. 'He's so modest, ladies, that he'll never tell you himself, but he is not recovering from measles or influenza or any other undignified civilian ailment. The fact is that Jes was most honourably wounded in the final defeat of Boney's forces outside Paris. The wound didn't heal properly, and he has had to undergo a further operation, the details of which, of course, I wouldn't mention before ladies.'
    ‘ Dear me,' Rosamund said, her eyes dancing with amusement at Hawker's style. The pronouncement had had an im mediate effect on both Sophie and Miss Rosedale, she could see: Farraline was now a Soldier Hero, and Hawker a Soldier Hero's Friend. 'I hope the operation was a success, Mr Farra line?’
    He bowed to her, his eyes responding to the amusement in hers. 'Thank you, Lady Rosamund, I am almost completely recovered.'
    ‘ But the sands are growing disagreeably crowded,' Hawker broke in. 'Shall we move on? Were you walking to the Spa? Will you permit us to escort you a little way? Miss Rosedale, do me