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sister’s life afterward that Patience could make a fairly accurate presumption about the young woman’s character. “Naturally, he would mention you, since we will be spending much time together. I would have thought it odd if he had not.”
    “You do not seem wholly surprised by my disfigurement. He must have warned you not to react to my scars,” she said bitterly, her hand involuntarily rising to conceal her cheek.
    Patience knew she had to tread carefully. Lady Meredith was hurt and troubled, but she was nobody’s fool. If Patience pretended not to see what the young woman viewed as hideous scars, she would never earn Lady Meredith’s trust. “Lord Ramscar
told me that there had been a fire and that your twin sister perished. It was a miracle you survived.”
    Lady Meredith blinked, apparently not expecting the response she had received.
    “A miracle,” she mused, as if tasting the word. “I have never considered it as such. My death would have spared my brother the burden of hiring me a nursemaid.”
    Patience wrinkled her nose in disapproval. “You have two functioning arms, two legs, and some wits about you.” She noted the lady’s lips twitched. Perhaps they were making progress after all. “Why not pretend we are friends, and figure out the rest as we get to know one another?”
    The defiance was back in Lady Meredith’s pale face. “I do not want to go to London.”
    I am anxious, too.
    Patience got up from her chair and knelt at Lady Meredith’s side. “When your brother spoke of you, his love was so apparent. Such a gentleman would challenge anyone who dared to hurt you.”
    The young woman shook her head, wanting to deny her companion’s words. “My scars—”
    “Are inconsequential,” Patience declared flatly. “I have some expertise in changing my appearance. There are things we can do to not call attention to your scars.”

    There was that glimmer of curiosity again. “How so?”
    Patience grinned up at her. “Have you thought of cutting your hair? We can arrange your hair in a style that would conceal some of them. Perhaps a touch of powder also?”
    Lady Meredith placed her hand over Patience’s. Instead of anger or fear, she saw wary hope. “You could do that?”
    “Not alone,” she cautioned, needing the woman’s cooperation if they were to succeed in this endeavor. “However, if we pool our intellect, I promise you that your brother will not even recognize you when you enter a ballroom.”
    “I do not believe you,” Lady Meredith said flatly.
    “Well, if I fail at my task, then you will have the pleasure of gloating about my spectacular blundering to your brother. Most likely, I will be unceremoniously sacked without references,” Patience said pragmatically.
    The notion of ordering her brother to sack Patience apparently appealed to the angry young lady. “So you are an actress?” Lady Meredith repeated her earlier question, though this time the mockery had lessened in her inflection.
    Patience braced her hands on the arms of the chair and stood. “No. As of today, I am a lady’s companion and your friend if you will have me.” She held
out her hand, half-expecting the other woman to refuse it.
    Lady Meredith grasped Patience’s hand. “We shall see, Miss Winlow. You know, I have never met an actress. I suppose you have all kinds of interesting tales of adventure.”
    If she only knew …
    While Miss Winlow began regaling her companion with an amusing tale about a vicar and a goat, Ramscar quietly closed the door.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    “You handled my sister with a level of compassion one does not normally expect in a stranger.”
    Begrudgingly, he had to admit that the little actress had dealt with Meredith’s fit of temper much better than he had ever managed. The scene he had witnessed and Miss Winlow had dwelled in his thoughts for most of the evening. After he had departed the sitting room unnoticed by either lady, he had dedicated the rest of the afternoon