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    “He does not appear angry or displeased. He presents himself in the most amiable manner. And yet one can tell that he is not a man to trifle with,” Daphne said quietly.
    “I have not trifled with him.”
    “That goes without saying. You have no experience at trifling. He, on the other hand, is a master of it.”
    “Do you know him?”
    “I know of him, and we met once, long ago. He condescended to remember that. It is said he is much changed these last few years. I wonder if that is true.” Her considerations over for now, Daphne escorted Audrianna to their visitor.
    Lord Sebastian stood as they approached. Daphne introduced Audrianna, then eased away. “I must finish the bulbs while there is still good light,” she said.
    Audrianna waited until Daphne disappeared. She would not be far away, however. She would be able to hear everything except the quietest conversation.
    Audrianna pointed to the wooden box on the table. “Is that it?”
    Lord Sebastian picked up on her low tone of voice and her circumspection. “Yes.”
    “Thank you for returning it. It belongs to Daphne and she noticed it missing. I expect I will now have to explain that I borrowed it, but it will be easier to do so if I have it back.”
    He rested his fingertips on the top of the box. “She does not know about your adventure?”
    “I hoped to spare her the details.”
    “Better that the details are yours and not someone else’s.”
    “Yes, I should tell her everything. I think that she already guesses part of it.”
    “Which part?”
    “The part about you.”
    He glanced in the direction where Daphne invisibly worked on the bulbs. “There appears to be an attractive garden outside. It looks to be sheltered from the wind, and the sun is warm. Will you show it to me, Miss Kelmsleigh?”
     
     
     
     
    S ebastian fell into step beside Miss Kelmsleigh as they strolled into the garden.
    “Did you go to my mother’s house first?” she asked.
    “I sent a messenger with a letter. I doubt that your mother knows the letter came from me, and it never left the messenger’s hand in any case.”
    It appeared to please her that her mother did not know Lord Sebastian Summerhays had been looking for her. Of course it would. Not only had he been one of her father’s enemies, but his reputation with women was not one that any mother would like.
    “Have you lived here long, Miss Kelmsleigh?”
    “Only six months. Daphne is my cousin. She wrote to me after my father died, offering me a place to live. She guessed I might want to leave London. It was very kind of her. Much kinder than we had been when she found herself in need of a home when she was younger.”
    “It is a handsome property. Do you help growing flowers?”
    “We all help when we can, but mostly Daphne and Lizzie tend the flowers. I give music lessons to contribute to my keep. That is where I was when you arrived. Up the road, teaching a young girl the pianoforte.”
    They strolled an informal garden, now fallow except for boxwood hedges and ivy that obscured most of the surrounding brick wall. The paths meandered through beds and around barren fruit trees. He pictured pastels in spring and a riot of color in late summer, and Miss Kelmsleigh and Mrs. Joyes sitting in the little arbor now covered by a naked rose vine.
    Miss Kelmsleigh trod on with grace, her low boots crunching the twigs and dead leaves. She politely allowed him to tour the garden, but she made no effort to converse. A slight purse played at her lips, reminding him of his mother’s mouth when unwelcome calls had to be tolerated owing to the caller’s consequence.
    In this raking light her maturity was more obvious than in firelight or dawn’s soft glow. Middle twenties, he was sure now. Late to be unmarried. Perhaps she had lost her intended in the war, like too many women her age.
    “I brought the pistol personally for a reason,” he said, feeling obligated to excuse his intrusion. “I