Free A Change of Fortune by Sandra Heath Page B

you are. I was beginning to think you had deserted poor Lady Imogen.”
    Imogen gave him another haughty glance and then looked stiffly away.
    He smiled a little. “Desert her?” he said to Dorothea. “How could I possibly bring myself to do that when I have only just succeeded in persuading her to accept me?”
    Dorothea smiled and then glanced questioningly at Harry.
    Guy quickly introduced him. “May I present Sir Henry Fitzjohn? Harry, this is Countess Lieven, and her cousin, Miss Benckendorff. Imogen you know already, of course.”
    Dorothea extended a gracious hand. “Sir Henry.”
    “Madam.”
    She glanced shrewdly at him. “I detect a conspiracy of some sort, sir. Why have you been so particularly introduced to me?”
    He seized gladly upon the opening. “You are too perceptive, Countess. I see that nothing of importance slips past you.”
    “Nothing at all, sir. Am I to believe then that you wish to speak to me on a matter of importance?”
    “It is my earnest hope that you will be able to grant us a favor, my lady.”
    “Us?”
    “The East India Company.”
    “Indeed? How very flattering. What is this favor?”
    He glanced at Guy and then launched into his explanation. Dorothea’s smile faltered a little, her black eyes widening with astonishment, and Imogen stared in open amazement. Nadia, however, reacted in an entirely different way. Her breath caught on a gasp of ill-concealed delight, and a gloating smile curved her lovely lips. At one divine stroke, her hated rival was destroyed! From being a dazzling heiress, Leonie Conyngham was become a pauper.
    Guy watched her with distaste. He knew of her pursuit of Rupert Allingham, having overheard that gentleman at White’s when he related to Edward Longhurst all that had happened that afternoon at the seminary. Guy found Rupert, Duke of Thornbury, thoroughly despicable, and Nadia he found to be the equal in every way to the man she was pursuing so determinedly.
    Dorothea recovered a little from her initial surprise, and her eyes were a little guarded. “Sir Henry, you mentioned a scandal, but you did not elaborate. Before I agree to do anything for you, I must be in full possession of the facts, since it would hardly be in my interest to involve myself in anything…er, untoward.”
    “Oh, I quite understand, madam,” he said quickly, “and of course I will explain in more detail. It seems that Mr. Conyngham decided to risk all on a gold-mining venture with a partner by the name of Bourne, Mr. Philip Bourne. Both gentlemen agreed to put their fortunes into the mine, which became very successful indeed, inordinately successful, in fact. Then Conyngham fell fatally ill with a fever, and at almost the same time it was discovered that far from putting his own money into the business, he had embezzled his share from the East India Company, having previously squandered all his own at the gaming tables. On his death, his partner, Mr. Bourne, promptly recompensed the company for the vast sum it had lost, but by the terms of the legal agreement he and Conyngham had had drawn up at the beginning of their partnership, the default of one partner meant that everything went to the other. Mr. Bourne, therefore, now has everything, and everything in this case means a great deal. A great deal. However, as far as Richard Conyngham’s daughter is concerned, the whole venture might as well have failed, for she receives nothing at all. She’s completely destitute, there is no other family to take her in, and on top of that, she will have to endure the notoriety which the whole case is bound to achieve when news gets out.”
    Dorothea nodded. ‘The young woman is indeed in a most unenviable position. Sir Henry.”
    “She is, which is why we are so anxious that a lady of sensitivity and understanding should be the one to tell her of the terrible tragedy which has befallen her.”
    Guy had to look away. Sensitivity and understanding? Dorothea Lieven? God help Leonie