Free Sally James by Lord Fordingtons Offer

you and pay my respects now.'
    'Oh, we have been invited for the whole day,' Isabella said hastily. 'I believe Lady Fordington has made some arrangements for us that you might not enjoy. I am sure she would prefer to be able to devote more time to you some other day!'
    'So like you, my dear Isabella, to be considerate,' he responded smoothly. 'But pray do not fear, I will not inconvenience her ladyship, and I am sure I can accommodate myself to any arrangements made for the rest of your party.'
    So saying he proceeded to turn the curricle, and there was nothing they could do but endure his company for the remainder of the journey to Priory Dene.
    Lady Fordington accepted his inclusion in her party with apparent pleasure, but Lord Fordington eyed him rather sardonically and then, glancing at Isabella, lifted an eyebrow enquiringly. She coloured, then stared defiantly back at him, telling herself it was of no account what he thought of her and she did not mind in the least if he imagined she was encouraging Sir Frederick.
    Wine and delectable small cakes were awaiting them in the drawing room, and they were introduced to Lord Fordington's Great-Aunt Selina, an ancient, formidable old lady who was very deaf but who had the disconcerting habit of hearing an occasional word of the conversation and interpreting it in her own way. She gazed at Georgiana intently while they sipped wine.
    'So this is the gel that's caught your fancy, Fordington?' she suddenly enquired in a loud voice.
    He laughed, no whit abashed, while Georgiana flushed in embarrassment.
    'Isn't she lovely enough to have caught anyone's fancy, dear Aunt Selina?' he asked lightly.
    'Thought it was a gel took you over to Woodings so often, whatever Augusta said!'
    'I am buying two of Sir Roderick's farms,' he reminded her, but she cackled derisively.
    'Augusta don't want you filling your nursery and cutting her boy out!' she declared, a malicious smile on her thin lips. 'Looks a chancy breeder, though, too narrow in the beam.'
    Georgiana's blush deepened, Lady Fordington protested, horrified, while Lydia and Diana giggled nervously. Lord Fordington merely looked amused, while Great-Aunt Selina, having thrown the entire company into confusion, leaned back in her chair and appeared to go to sleep, her mouth slightly open and a gentle snore escaping from her.
    Smoothly Lord Fordington turned to Sir Frederick with a remark about Brighthelmstone and Mark distracted the annoyed Lady Fordington's attention away from the scarlet-faced Georgiana, who turned to Isabella in relief when the latter drew her aside to look at a portrait by Van Dyke over the mantelpiece. Soon afterwards, prompted by his brother, Ninian led the younger members of the party off towards the ruins.
    These consisted mainly of grassy overgrown humps where there had once been walls, but to one side there was a collection of better-preserved walls showing where several rooms had led off a passageway.
    'This used to be part of the cloister,' Ninian explained. 'See these stumps? They are the pillars, and over here is a complete archway. Take care walking across the centre, there is an old well. Justin had it boarded up, but it is a very deep shaft!'
    Lydia shivered and drew closer to Ninian.
    'I don't mind these old places out in the open, in sunshine, but I would dislike it intensely at night, in the darkness!' she exclaimed.
    'Then you do not wish to see the cellars?' Ninian queried teasingly. 'I assure you they are perfectly safe, for someone, possibly my grandfather, had them repaired not so long ago. I have some lamps to drive away the darkness. When I came here as a child I always expected to find some buried treasure left by the monks, hidden from Henry the Eighth's men, but all I ever found was a small cask of brandy. That is why I think they have at some time been used by the smugglers. It is safer to have a hiding place a little distance inland, the Preventives do not look so closely there.'
    'What are