Free An Unconventional Miss by DOROTHY ELBURY Page B

that it might have been, in the circumstances. Moreover, the longer she thought about it, despite all arguments to the contrary, it became increasingly obvious to her that the reason she had behaved so badly at the time was that Wyvern had managed to discompose her in a way that few men of her acquaintance had ever succeeded in doing.
    Throughout the whole of that miserable journey back to town, she could have sworn that she had felt his eyes burning into the back of her head. Added to which, that high-handed, matter-of-fact tone of voice he had insisted on employing had merely served to increase her annoyance and, at the same time, helped foster her conviction that he was, in reality, enjoying some sort of private joke at her expense! Not forgetting the fact that he had virtually accused her of being responsible for the entire fiasco! It was small wonder that she had allowed herself to become slightly riled, she thought resentfully.
    But then, when she recalled the childish way in which she had flounced off into the house that evening, her cheeks grew quite hot and she found herself admitting that, in the light of that shocking display of bad manners, Wyvern’s subsequent indifference was hardly surprising.
    Nevertheless, she was at a loss to understand why his lordship’s lack of interest should have put her into such a state of restlessness for, no matter how much she tried to avoid thinking about it, the vexing subject would persist in returning to disturb her peace. She had already lost a good many hours’ sleep pondering over the problem, causing Imogen to remark about the dark shadows under her eyes.
    â€˜You are beginning to look quite peaky,’ her cousin commented, anxiously studying Jessica’s wan expression. ‘Too many late nights, I fear! Perhaps we had better start turning down a few of these,’ she added, motioning to the pile of invitations at her elbow.
    Summoning up a smile, Jessica replied, ‘No, please don’t, Imo. I have a slight headache, that is all. A little walk in the garden will soon have me back to rights!’
    Since her brother and cousin had gone to so much trouble in order to provide her with this Season in London, Jessica could not bring herself to confess to having discovered that her former excitement at the constant round of morning visits, musical evenings, assemblies, and the like, was beginning to pall.
    In order to appease her cousin, she took a few turns around the garden, wondering what she could do to prevent her thoughts from wandering back to that relentlessly invasive dilemma. What she really needed, she thought despondently, was some sort of distraction—but what?
    Â 
    As it happened, Nicholas was soon to provide his sister with such a diversion when, shortly after breakfast, he announced his intention of visiting the British Museum, in order to view the recently installed pieces of marble that Lord Elgin had recovered from the Greek Parthenon.
    Not that Jessica was especially fascinated by the sort of erudite topic that held her bookish brother spellbound but, having heard a good deal of gossip concerning these particular ancient relics, she had to own to a certain curiosity about them. She therefore informed her astonished brother that, provided that he had no objections, she would be glad to accompany him on his outing.
    Since Matt found that, due to a prior engagement, he himself would be unable to escort the pair to their chosen destination, a note was sent round to Stevenage’s quarters to enquire whether Harry and Olivia would care to join the proposed expedition.
    Sadly, as it turned out, the young lieutenant’s duties at the barracks prevented him from accompanying the youngsters. And, since Matt was reluctant to agree to them going off on their own, it was beginning to look as though their proposed jaunt was in danger of being axed. Nicholas, however, having reminded his brother that there were only a few more days left