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‘She must know who I am without asking, even though we have never been introduced. I find most people do even though I have never exchanged two words with them,’ Amelia said with a touch of asperity.

‘Well, you are in the same case as my poor friend Marcus, then. But why are you here? That’s the question she’ll want answered.’

‘Miss Thornfalcon is a friend of mine,’ she told him repressively.

‘I presume a young lady is allowed to have friends, if her guardians find them unexceptionable, without first seeking her sister-in-law’s approval.

It seems to me that such loosely connected persons as she might with advantage mind their business. ’

‘You presume altogether too much,’ he said, shaking his head comically.

‘And as for minding one’s business, it must be clear enough what her business is.

You are not at all the sort of person Lavinia wishes to be spending time in the Thornfalcon household, I assure you.

But here he comes to speak to you and earn his juicy bone. Bow-wow, little doggie!’

She was struggling to suppress giggles as Lady Thornfalcon said, ‘Lady Amelia, may I present Mr Wilkinson to you? He is a distant connection of our family by marriage.’ Not nearly distant enough just now , her expression said.

‘Lady Amelia is a new friend of mine,’ Helena said, as Amelia dropped a correct curtsey and Mr Wilkinson bowed, goggling at her all the while as if he had been tasked with memorising every detail of her appearance and manner and found the task arduous.

‘And what is so particularly pleasing is that Lady Keswick, her aunt, whom I see you know, is a friend of Mama’s of many years’ standing, so that we may all be comfortable together.

Is that not a pleasant coincidence, sir? ’

‘Oh, quite, quite,’ replied Mr Wilkinson rather fatuously. ‘Here’s to friendship, what? Auld lang syne, and all that. Should auld acquaintance be forgot? I should dashed well think not.’

It seemed from the contortions of his face that he might be inspired to burst into song in illustration of his point, in case they had failed to understand his literary reference.

To forestall that unwanted eventuality, Mr Gastrell said, not unkindly but most firmly, ‘I think I hear the orchestra tuning up in anticipation of resuming. We shall not trespass on Lady Thornfalcon’s hospitality any longer, shall we, Wilkinson?

’ And he bowed himself, and his reluctant companion, out of the box, with another sly wink at Amelia as he left.

‘I see my old friend Jeremy has been charming you, Lady Amelia,’ a deep voice said near her ear, making her start.

‘I might have imagined from the way you had your heads together that you had known him since you were a child in short petticoats, and confided all your schoolroom secrets to him, had I not long experience of his ability to make one feel rapidly at ease in his company. It is an extraordinary skill, and one few people share. Certainly, I do not, as our first meeting must have made you all too aware.’

Amelia could not doubt that Lavinia would be observing them closely from the other side of the theatre as they spoke, and if the woman had been jealous at her own mere presence, she would not care at all to see her conversing with Lord Thornfalcon in such a civil manner.

But had he not the right, even the duty, to be ordinarily polite to one who was his guest?

Who was this woman who thought to control the actions of a man to whom she could have no real claim?

Unless, of course, there was some intimate connection between them of which Amelia knew nothing.

She should not be so na?ve as to ignore that possibility, since Lord Thornfalcon had, unsurprisingly, not shared any secrets with her, except for saying that he did not mean to marry.

And if that were still entangled in some fashion, how would Lavinia react when it became clear that her wild suspicions of Amelia were not, in fact, without foundation?

‘I liked Mr Gastrell very much,’ she said with a fair assumption of ease. ‘He knows my older brother quite well too, he was telling me. That’s quite a rare thing, for Rafe had not been used to mix in society at all until he inherited the title.’

‘And who can blame him for wishing to stay at home in peace?’ he said with emphasis.

She could not be comfortable, she found, conversing with him under such close observation.

Their situation was more awkward already than she could have imagined.

‘It is time we took our seats,’ she warned him.

‘This has been enough, surely, for a first attempt, sir. It is too soon for your attentions to grow any more particular.’ Indeed, she feared very much that others than Lavinia were watching them now, and taking note.

She could almost feel the first faint stirrings of interest from the people around her.

Lord Thornfalcon moved away in obedience to her words, but as he went, he said, for her ears alone, ‘Come, Lady Amelia, you will find yourself obliged to be braver than that before we are done, and endure a great deal more. And,’ he added barely above a whisper, so that she almost thought she might be mistaken in what she heard, ‘so shall I!’