Again, the angelic handclasp. "My dear daughter-in-law," she piped. "She is the most beautiful thing imaginable! Have you not met her? Oh, no, of course you have not. She has been either here or in France for much of the season. Jenny finds Tony's politics dreadfully dull, and she so adores Paris. She is such a fashion plate, and cuts such a dash when she goes to Town! Are you a lover of fine fashion, Miss Neville? Indeed, I can see you are. You really must ask Jenny all the best places to shop."

Even as Lady Nash escorted Kieran into his room, which shared a finely appointed sitting room with Xanthia's bedchamber, the prattle continued. Waistlines, it seemed, were going up-according to the knowledgeable Jenny. Sleeves, however, were getting fuller by the minute, and hats, Lady Nash warned, were shrinking to no more than befeathered teacups. Did Miss Neville like very small hats? No, of course she did not. Her hair was too long, was it not?

Nodding and smiling when necessary, Xanthia moved about the elegant suite of rooms, peeping out the windows and admiring the fine furnishings as Lady Nash kept asking and answering her own questions until at last, all the luggage was tucked away, and the servants were beginning, again unbidden, to carry hot water into their rooms. Suddenly, Lady Nash stopped dead in the middle of a recitation about how many new reticules Jenny had bought on her last Continental excursion.

"Oh, oh!" she chirped, looking about as if she'd lost one of her shoes. "What have they done with your maid?"

Xanthia felt her face grow warm. "I do not have a maid," she confessed. "I usually just s.n.a.t.c.h one of our housemaids. Should I have brought one?"

Lady Nash's eyes widened incredulously. "Oh, heavens no! We must have ten or twenty of them!"

"Ten or twenty?" But as Xanthia considered the house's size, and spotlessly clean interior, she did not doubt it.

Lady Nash smiled. "I shall ask Mrs. Garth to send up a few, and you may choose one you like," she said. "They are all named Polly-and they all have frightfully rough hands, so pray do not let them touch your stockings."

"Oh, please just send anyone," Xanthia protested. "Or no one at all. Truly, it does not matter."

"Very well then," she said. "We shall take tea in the Chinese salon, to the left of the hall. Will you join us there at your convenience?"

"Thank you, yes," said Xanthia.

She wondered if Lady Nash's smile was going to crack, but at last, the lady showed herself out and bid Xanthia to bathe and dress at her leisure. Her brother's door sprang open the moment Lady Nash shut hers.

"Lord, but I need a drink," he said, coming to stand in the middle of the opulent sitting room. "Is there any brandy in that sideboard?"

Xanthia waved him toward it. "You must find it for yourself, Kieran," she said, collapsing into the nearest chair. "Lady Nash has quite worn me out."

"My G.o.d, what a rattle!" he remarked, picking over the sideboard. "But harmless, I should imagine-and on the verge of perishing from curiosity. I suppose one must admire her for not simply demanding the scandalous details outright."

Xanthia looked at him oddly. "What scandalous details?"

Kieran glanced over his shoulder and grinned. "She is speculating about your relationship with her stepson," he answered. "I'd wager a pony you're the first female he's ever invited here. Perhaps she finds another Lady Nash a daunting prospect."

Xanthia felt her pulse leap. "Kieran, do be serious."

But her brother was warming to the topic. "No, think of it, Zee," he teased. "Why, I daresay the woman is quiet as a mouse under ordinary circ.u.mstances. You have likely terrified her."

"She has no cause for terror, or anything remotely like it," said Xanthia irritably. She toed off her shoes, and sank deeper into the armchair. She wondered if her brother had at last gone mad. Or could he be right? Dear heaven. "Will everyone be speculating about my relationship with Nash?" she muttered.

"Is there one?" her brother shot back.

Xanthia looked away. "I do not think I have to answer that," she said quietly.

Kieran looked at her a little grimly. "No, I daresay you don't-at least, not yet." He had apparently forgotten his wish for brandy and was looking out one of the vast windows. "My G.o.d, I've never seen such a house as this," he said, his gaze drifting over the view. "I count six fountains in the front gardens alone! What is that place, Zee, in India? The fancy white mausoleum?"

"The Taj Mahal?"

"Aye, that one." Kieran turned and let his eyes drift over the frescoed ceiling. "It must look a bit like this, don't you imagine?"

Xanthia laughed. "Yes, but with more minarets-and fewer cherubs," she said, gazing up. "Remind me, brother dear, to give up my pudding when we get home. I should hate to begin to resemble that plump, pink fellow wearing nothing but a white banner across his belly."

Kieran lowered his gaze to hers. "What nonsense, Zee," he said. "You are rail thin, and always have been."

Xanthia dropped her chin. "But I shall be thirty in a few months' time, Kieran," she said quietly. "And I begin to feel as if life has-" She stopped, and shook her head.

Kieran stepped nearer. "It's Nash, isn't it, Zee? You may as well admit it."

Xanthia swallowed hard. "I...yes, I guess it is," she murmured. "Kieran, I-I might be in too deep this time."

His face was worried. "Well, I'm hardly qualified to give advice, my dear," he said. "But I do know this-if you find someone you love, you must seize hold of that love with both hands. Fight for it, Zee, if you must."

Xanthia looked at him, and smiled faintly. Then she bounced out of her chair. "Come on, old thing. Let's get this over with, shall we? I shall be ready to go down in fifteen minutes."

"I can think of little worse than tea in a roomful of prattling females," Kieran said, tacitly agreeing to drop the subject. "But coming here was my idea, was it not? And so I must bear my punishment with grace, I daresay."

Unfortunately, the arrival of a Polly-whose name was actually Rose-delayed rather than expedited Xanthia's departure. Rose was a pleasant girl with hands no rougher than Xanthia's own, and a great help unpacking Xanthia's bags but inexperienced with ladies' hair. Xanthia had to wait until the girl was gone before redoing it herself. By the time she arrived in the Chinese salon, with a bright smile plastered on her face and wearing her best blue day dress, she found that Kieran had already found a way to avoid his prattling females. She could see him through the long French windows strolling about in the gardens as one of Brierwood's retainers pointed instructively at first one plant, then another.

Lady Nash met her at the threshold. "Your brother professed such a fondness for roses," she twittered. "I could see that he was keen to go outside and have a closer look."

"Yes, Kieran loves nothing better than a rose garden," Xanthia lied. "How kind you are to indulge his eccentricities."

Together, they strolled deeper into the room. Two young ladies awaited by a low, elegantly carved table, which held a silver tea service of epic proportions. They made very pretty curtsies when Xanthia was introduced.

Lady Phaedra Northampton was thin and dark, and wore a pair of gold spectacles on her nose. She appeared to be in her early twenties, but perhaps it was just her serious demeanor. Phaedra's sister, Lady Phoebe, was perhaps fifteen or sixteen, with a vivaciousness which belied her age.

"It is a pleasure to meet you both, I am sure," said Xanthia.

They exchanged pleasantries about the trip down from London for a time, but that topic was soon dispensed with. Lady Nash was clearly more interested in the festivities to come. She began at once to rattle on about the guests who would be expected, what day they would arrive, and what gossip they might be expected to bring from Town. Then she began to describe her last half dozen birthday dinners; who had attended, and what they had worn. In the midst of it all, she began serving tea, saying that she did not expect Kieran to leave his beloved roses anytime soon.

"So we may as well go ahead, do you not think?" She did not pause for breath as she tipped the impossibly large pot. "I find that men do not really like tea all that well. What do you think, Miss Neville? My late husband-Stefan's father, of course-was fond of saying that tea was for ladies and that men only pre-"

"Goodness, isn't the weather lovely today?" interjected Lady Phaedra. "Do you think it shall rain tomorrow, Miss Neville?"

Xanthia's head jerked up. "Why, I daresay it might."

"Jenny says it will," chimed Lady Phoebe. "She says the roads will be nothing but mud by tomorrow afternoon. That is why she must leave for Southampton today."

"Well, at the very least, she might come down and say h.e.l.lo to Miss Neville before she goes," said Phaedra.

"Yes, I am very sorry not to have met your sister-inlaw," said Xanthia. "I gather she is delightful."

Phoebe laughed. "Mamma thinks everyone is delightful so long as they will listen to her talk."

Lady Nash pounced at the opportunity to speak. "Jenny is delightful, you little minx," she said. "And she will be here very shortly. She promised me." Lady Nash then began to describe how her son had met his wife, how long they had courted, and every minute detail of her wedding dress.

She was calculating aloud the inches of Alencon lace on the gown's hem when Phaedra interrupted again. "I think the weather will be fair tomorrow, Miss Neville," she said. "If it does, would you care to go riding?"

"I should love to," said Xanthia. "What about you, Phoebe? Do you ride?"

The girl's lower lip came out. "Not so well as Phae," she said. "Everyone likes to point that out."

Phaedra drew herself up an inch. "Complimenting me is not the same, Phoebe, as insulting you," she said. "May I not be allowed to do at least one thing well?"

"You do everything perfectly," retorted her sister. "And everyone loves to say so."

Lady Nash frowned. "This is a tea for adults, Phoebe, so if you cannot behave as one, you must go back up to the schoolroom." It was the first sensible thing she had said. "Miss Neville cannot possibly wish to hear you quarrel."

Phoebe fell back into her chair. "I wasn't quarreling," she said. "But I shan't say a thing if that's what you wish, Mamma."

"I wish nothing of the sort," she began.

But at that very instant, the butler threw open the salon's doors. A beautiful young woman with brilliant red hair strode into the room. She wore a carriage dress striped in shades of deep green and carried a dark green cloak over her arm and a pair of matching gloves in her right hand.

"That's Jenny," whispered Lady Phoebe.

The butler followed as if to take the cloak, but she shooed him away. "Thank you, Fedders, no," she said. "I'll be but a moment." Then she turned, and beamed a brilliant smile upon Lady Nash. "Mamma-in-law!"

"Jenny, dear, do join us."

The woman came at once to kiss Lady Nash's cheek. "And h.e.l.lo!" she said breathlessly. "This must be Miss Neville. How pleased I am to meet you."

Swiftly, Lady Nash made the introductions.

"I met your husband, Mr. Hayden-Worth, some weeks past," said Xanthia. "He seems a brilliant man."

Jenny's eyes appeared to glaze over. "Oh, to be sure," she murmured. "Quite brilliant." She took the seat next to Phoebe but remained on the very edge of the chair.

"Here is your tea, Jenny." Lady Nash offered the cup at her daughter-in-law. "I have already put your extra sugar in."

"Oh, thank you," said Jenny vaguely.

Xanthia set her own cup down. "Lady Nash was just telling us about your wedding dress," she said leadingly. "You are newly wed, I collect?"

"What?" Mrs. Hayden-Worth looked up from the plate of biscuits she was picking over. "Oh, Lord no. We've been married an age."

"Five years in July," said Lady Nash. Then her face fell slightly. "Jenny is leaving for France this afternoon. A prior commitment."

Mrs. Hayden-Worth looked sheepish. "A prior commitment which I forgot," she explained, selecting a biscuit from the platter. "Something I simply cannot miss. Isn't it perfectly dreadful? Mamma-in-law must never forgive me."

Xanthia hid her surprise. "Will you be back in time for the party?"

"I shall try very hard," she said, glancing down the tea table at Lady Nash. But even Xanthia could see she had no intention of doing so-indeed, it would hardly be possible unless she sprouted wings and flew.

Lady Nash cleared her throat abruptly. "Jenny has a great many friends abroad," she said. "It is such a quick trip to France from here, you know. And no, I shan't fuss, Jenny. I have had the pleasure of your company for some weeks now."

"Thank you, Mamma-in-law," said Jenny fervently. "You are always so very understanding."

Across the table, Xanthia saw Phaedra roll her eyes.

They made casual conversation over tea and biscuits for the better part of half an hour. But each time Lady Nash went off on a tear, Lady Phaedra would make some innocuous but sharp remark about the weather. Her mother would instantly fall silent. It did not take long for Xanthia to comprehend precisely who kept Brierwood organized-and it wasn't Lady Nash.

For his part, Kieran strode in just long enough to make a civil bow to Mrs. Hayden-Worth, then begged the ladies' indulgence. "Xanthia, I am studying the most fascinating gallica rose out by the terrace," he said in a voice most unlike his own. "Do have a look later. It is a-a-well, dash it, I forget the name. But it's a beauty."

"La belle sultane," murmured Lady Phaedra, lifting her gaze to Kieran's. "The head gardener's latest conquest. But I prefer the rosa damascena bifera, myself. Which is your favorite of the damasks, my lord?"

Kieran faltered. "The-the damasks?" he said. "I am by no means an expert on damasks, but I prefer the-ah, the red one, I suppose." Here, he paused to glance out at the garden. "I'm afraid I forgot its name, too."

Lady Phaedra elevated a pair of dark, finely etched eyebrows. "The celsiana, perhaps?"

"Yes, by Jove!" Kieran agreed. "The celsiana."

"Well!" said Mrs. Hayden-Worth. "This has all been perfectly fascinating. But I daresay I ought to be going."

"Oh, Jenny! So soon?" Lady Nash looked crushed.

Kieran seized the opportunity to vanish again. Jenny was already tugging on her gloves. "Fedders, has the carriage been brought round?"

"Yes, ma'am," said the butler. "Your things have been loaded."

Jenny brightened and bent to kiss Lady Nash again. "Have a lovely party, Mamma-in-law," she said. "If I miss it, I shall never forgive myself."

"Nor shall I," said Lady Nash, only half in jest.

"Why must you rush away this minute, Jenny?" said Lady Phaedra flatly. "You cannot get a ferry 'til morning, you know."

Jenny laughed. "I must think of my coachman, Phaedra," she said. "He is not as young as he once was. And the rain is coming. There might be ruts. I really think I ought to go."

"You had best wait for Nash," said Lady Phoebe, poking out her lip. "Mamma says it is his house, and we must show due deference. I cannot think it very deferential for you to leave before he even arrives home-not to mention Tony."

Lady Nash smiled nervously. "Hush, Phoebe," she said. "Nash will be sorry to have missed Jenny, and that is all."

"He will not notice I am gone," Jenny a.s.sured her.

"Perhaps not," said Lady Nash. "Now, have you a hot brick for your feet, Jenny?"

"Mamma-in-law, it is May," said Jenny, bending to kiss her again. "Now I am off. Miss Neville, it was a pleasure, I am sure."

They watched Mrs. Hayden-Worth cross the room with neat, quick steps. "How lovely she is," said Xanthia, when Jenny had vanished. "And her voice-she is American, is she not?"

"Yes, indeed," said her ladyship. "Did Nash not mention it?"

"The subject never came up."

Lady Nash laughed. "No, Nash would not bother," she said, almost to herself. "Jenny's father is a wealthy industrialist. He brought her to London to marry a t.i.tle."

Phoebe leaned forward conspiratorially. "Yes, and she had a monstrous dowry," said the girl. "But then she met Tony, didn't she, Mamma?"

"What can I say?" Lady Nash lifted her shoulders. "My son is a politician, Miss Neville. He could charm the birds from the trees if he set his mind to it."