Free A Change of Fortune by Sandra Heath

course.” He drew her hand through his arm again and they walked through the press toward the steps. The Lievens had left their post there now and were nowhere to be seen, but Nadia stood at the top of the steps. She came down toward them, her glance flickering momentarily to Guy before she smiled at Imogen. “Oh dear, you surely aren’t leaving already?”
    “No, we’re going to the orangery,” replied Imogen, deliberately halting even though she knew Guy would have preferred to walk on and cut the time spent with Nadia to an absolute minimum.
    Nadia smiled again. “What a fortunate coincidence, I was just about to retreat there myself. It’s so very noisy in here, isn’t it? One cannot hear oneself think.”
    Guy strove to hide his exasperation, for he could tell by Imogen’s manner that she had decided to renew the battle. There were times, he reflected, when he simply couldn’t understand why he loved her so much.
    She was smiling at Nadia. “You were going to the orangery too? Oh, I’m so glad, for you can come with us. Can’t she, Guy?” Her eyes flashed challengingly toward him.
    His own anger stirred them. “If you and Miss Benckendorff wish to go to the orangery together, I’m sure you won’t mind if I leave you to your chatter,” he said smoothly.
    Imogen’s lips parted in astonishment, for she hadn’t been expecting this response. Her fan snapped open then and her eyes flashed. “Very well, if that’s the way you wish it,” she said coldly, slipping her arm through Nadia’s.
    He watched them walk away, but they’d hardly gone out of sight before a voice suddenly spoke behind him. “Well, Guy, my laddo, it looks as if you’ve put yourself beyond the pale again.”
    He turned with a quick smile to see his old friend Sir Henry Fitzjohn standing there. “Harry! I thought they’d dispatched you to Bengal!”
    “To all that heat and curry? Perish the thought. No, the East India Company, bless its heart, decided that I was indispensable here after all.” He took out a snuffbox and flicked it open with a slight movement of his wrist. “I never thought I could become so attached to Leadenhall Street, but I fear that of late it’s become a positive paradise as far as I’m concerned.” He was a tall, thin man with sparse brown hair which was receding prematurely. He looked older than his thirty-five years, the more so because he was shortsighted and had a habit of wrinkling up his eyes in order to see into the middle distance. He was dressed informally, and consequently looked very out of place.
    Guy glanced curiously at his clothes. “Aren’t you a little ordinary for a Lieven diversion?”
    “I’m not a guest, I’ve come to beg a favor of the countess.”
    Guy gave a quick laugh. “Good God, what a picture that conjures!”
    “Not that sort of favor!” Harry smiled. “Guy, would you mind if I made use of you?”
    “That depends.”
    “It isn’t anything very much. You are acquainted with the countess, I’m not, and I merely wish you to introduce me to her.”
    Guy looked at him. “I presume you have good reason?”
    “I do.” Harry sighed. “I only wish that I didn’t.”
    “What’s wrong, Harry? Something at the East India?”
    “In a manner of speaking. Does the name Richard Conyngham mean anything to you?”
    Guy hesitated. “As a matter of fact it does, although I don’t know him personally. Why do you ask?”
    “He’s dead, Guy, and what’s more, he died impoverished and at the center of a dreadful scandal.”
     

Chapter 10
     
    Guy stared at him. “Dear God above,” he murmured. “But he was a wealthy man, a nabob! Surely there’s some mistake.”
    “No mistake. He lost everything, and from all accounts, he had no one to blame but himself.” Harry paused. “I find it hard to believe of him, though, for I knew him and always thought him the most honest and upright of men.”
    Guy was silent. Leonie’s face seemed to hover before him. He took a deep