Free Wolf, Joan by Highland Sunset Page B

and mine have the same principles," Van said meaningfully.
    The viscount's slightly chubby face was puzzled. "Have our fathers met?"
    "No," Van replied patiently, "but I understand Lord Altop supported a venture my father was very much involved in. I refer," she continued, as he still continued to look blank, "to the Jacobite rising of 1715."
    "Oh, that!" The young man's brow cleared. "Yes, my father was all for the king over the water at one time."
    "At one time," Van repeated. She frowned. "He does not then retain those sentiments?"
    "Well, he ain't fond of the Hanovers, if that's what you mean. The thing is, you see, they serve a purpose. And it's Parliament that counts, when all's said and done." He looked at her, evidently keen to impress. "I've a seat in the House, you know."
    "Then I take it the Standons of Altop are no longer interested in seeing a Stuart restoration?" Van said in an expressionless tone.
    "Good God, no," the young man replied hastily. "The Stuarts would bring in the Catholics. And the French." Then, in an alarmed fashion, "I say, you aren't Catholic by any chance, are you, Lady Vanessa?"
    Van's profile was aloof and still. "No. We are Episcopalians in Morar."
    "That's all right, then," he replied cheerfully. He gave her an admiring glance. Van was looking extremely elegant in a pearl-gray driving outfit that emphasized the beauty of her dark coloring. "Are you still Jacobites up in Scotland?" he asked.
    Van thought of a number of replies she would like to make to this vapid apostate, but she really did not wish to make things awkward for Lady Linton. So she forced herself to breathe slowly and to say only, very calmly, "Yes. We are still Jacobites in Scotland."
    There was a moment of silence. Then he said heartily, "What did you think of the ball last night?"
    Van replied pleasantly and by the time he drove her home Lord Standish was rambling away, as comfortable as he could be. Van, however, was not comfortable. And her mood of depression had not been helped by the sight of the Earl of Linton driving Miss Caroline Ridley behind his team of beautifully matched grays.

    That evening they went to the opera. "Did you have a pleasant afternoon with Standish?" Edward asked Van as he settled a long velvet cloak around her shoulders.
    Van's mouth set. "No. I did not."
    His blue eyes glinted down at her, but as Lady Linton chose that moment to join them, he did not reply.
    The opera that evening was to be Samson by Handel. "It's really an oratorio although it is performed at Covent Garden," Edward told Van as they took their seats in the Linton box. "It's based on Milton's Samson Agonistes. Do you know Milton?"
    Van shook her head. "Is it the story of Samson and Delilah?"
    He was looking around the half-empty house. "Not really. When the opera opens, Samson has already been betrayed by Delilah, and blinded and imprisoned by the Philistines. It's more of a character study, the revelation to Samson that he, despite his guilt and his suffering, is an instrument of God."
    Van nodded slowly and then also looked around her. "Where is everyone?" she asked in surprise.
    "Samson is rather serious for most people's tastes," Edward answered. He sounded perfectly affable. "There is no spectacle, not much action at all, really. The boxes will fill up, all right, but most of the people will come in later."
    Van was horrified. "And miss half the opera?"
    Lady Linton chuckled at her expression. "I assure you, Vanessa, Edward and I are always on time."
    Indeed, Covent Garden was still half-empty when the orchestra sounded its first note. Van, however, did not notice. Nor did she notice the rustling and whispering as people slowly came in and took their seats. She was aware only of the stage, of the agonized suffering of the man who sang so magnificently, and of the man beside her whose concentration on the music was as intense as her own.
    At the intermission a chattering collection of people filled their box. Van was