LITMIR.BIZ

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lifting as he drove his team towards Chantreys. The house had always been the favourite of his childhood and now, as he regarded the east front, bathed in the bright spring sunshine, he was struck anew by its beauty. Completed soon after the Restoration, the walls were of dressed chalk enhanced with decorative Bath stone at the corners and around the windows. It was small but perfectly proportioned, topped with a steep-pitched roof surmounted by a balustraded platform above which rose the elegant tall chimneys. It was a work of art in its own right and would make an excellent setting for the paintings and sculptures he had acquired over the past few years. It was also perfect for the kind of intimate parties he intended to hold here for his close friends.

      * * *

      It was nearing midday by the time Alex pulled up at the door. He left his groom to take the equipage to the stables and walked to the open door, where the butler was waiting to greet him.

      ‘Miss Grensham and the children are on the west lawn.’ Fingle took Alex’s hat and gloves and carefully placed them upon a side table. ‘Would you like me to announce you, my lord?’

      ‘No, no, I will find them.’

      Alex strode across the entrance hall and made his way through the drawing room from where the long windows gave direct access to the gardens. There was no sign of anyone on the terrace or parterre, but the sound of childish voices and laughter led him through a gate in the high hedge between the formal gardens and the extensive lawns that led down to a large ornamental lake with the park and woods beyond.

      A lively game of battledore and shuttlecock was in progress with Meggie and Florence ranged against Diana. They were all so engrossed in their game that at first they did not see him and he was able to watch them at their sport. The little girls dashed back and forth, laughing and shouting with delight as they patted the shuttlecock back to Diana, who rarely missed a shot. Alex kept his eyes fixed on Diana and it took him a moment to realise what was different about her. As she ran and turned, covering the ground, there was no sign of that ugly dragging step he had noted the previous day. Meggie sent the shuttlecock sailing high into the air and Diana leapt up to reach it.

      ‘Bravo, Miss Grensham!’ he called out appreciatively. ‘A fine return.’

      ‘Uncle Alex!’

      The girls raced towards him. Diana, he noted, lowered her racquet and watched him, her manner reserved. Unsurprising, he thought, considering their encounter yesterday, but there was nothing to be gained by recalling that, so he greeted her cheerfully.

      ‘Taking advantage of the good weather, Miss Grensham?’

      She relaxed slightly and warily returned his smile.

      ‘It is a reward to Meggie and Florence for their hard work in the schoolroom this morning.’

      ‘Must we go in now?’ asked Florence, clearly reluctant.

      Alex shook his head.

      ‘You need stand on no ceremony with me. I have interrupted your game.’

      ‘We are not doing very well,’ Meggie confided. ‘Diana is so much better than us.’

      ‘Well, let us see if we can even things up a little,’ said Alex, spying a fourth racquet lying on a nearby rug. ‘What do you say, Miss Grensham, you and Florence against Meggie and myself?’

      The girls squealed with delight but Diana shook her head at him. ‘You did not come here today to play games with us, my lord.’

      A few unruly red locks had escaped from their pins and he wanted to reach out and tuck a stray curl behind her ear. He would very much like to play games with her, if they were alone... The thought seared him, sending the hot blood pulsing through his body and he had to struggle to concentrate. They had been talking of battledore, not flirtation.

      ‘The honour of the Arrandales is at stake,’ he declared, fighting down his baser instincts.

      He stripped off his coat, revealing an exquisitely embroidered waistcoat, more suited to Bond Street than a country garden, but he did not care for that. ‘Fetch me a racquet, Meggie!’

      A fast and furious thirty minutes ensued. Diana, Alex noted, was at first a little shy of having a gentleman present. She was favouring her left leg and limping badly but Alex ignored it, giving no quarter in his returns. To his satisfaction her competitive spirit soon won through and as she lost herself in the game, running and straining to reach every shot he sent her way he saw no signs of the ungainly limp that affected her walk. The game only ended when Fingle appeared with a tray of refreshments for them all and a gentle reminder that Cook was even now preparing nuncheon for the schoolroom party.

      ‘Then tell Cook to set another place for me,’ declared Alex. ‘That is, if Miss Grensham has no objections?’

      The girls immediately voiced their approval of the idea and Diana spread her hands.

      ‘It will be nursery fare,’ she warned him.

      ‘Then Fingle shall look out a decent claret to sustain me,’ declared Alex, nodding at the butler.

      Fingle bowed and went off to inform Cook of the change. Alex took the tankard of ale from the tray and sat down upon the blanket while Diana poured lemonade for Meggie and Florence. He watched the rise and fall of her breast beneath the low-cut neckline of her gown and again felt that stir of attraction. He dragged his eyes away. This was no part of his plan.

      ‘Is this how you spend every day?’ he asked her.

      ‘Whenever the weather permits. Fresh air and exercise are very beneficial to growing bodies.’

      * * *

      And those already full grown.

      Diana was unable to stop her eyes travelling over the earl’s muscular form as he lounged on the rug, his long legs, encased in their pantaloons and Hessians, stretched out before him. She knew he was considered a Corinthian, a man of fashion but also a sportsman, and it was not difficult to believe it when one observed those powerful thighs, or the broad shoulders, deep chest and flat stomach, accentuated by his close-fitting waistcoat.

      Having served the girls, she picked up her own glass of lemonade and made her way to the only free space upon the rug, acutely aware of the awkward, dragging step caused by her shortened left leg. It was not very pronounced and had never prevented her from excelling at the more energetic games she had played as a child with her sister and cousins, but she could never forget it when she was in company. She could never walk with that smooth gliding elegance that was required of young ladies. Her mother had developed a habit of averting her eyes whenever Diana limped into a room.

      When her sister had suggested that Diana should become governess to little Lady Margaret and Miss Florence, Diana had accepted readily. All talk of a court presentation and a London Season ended and Diana saw the relief in her mother’s face when she knew she would be spared the embarrassment of introducing her crippled daughter to society.

      ‘You look very serious, Miss Grensham.’ The earl’s voice jerked her out of her reverie. ‘Have I said anything amiss?’

      ‘No, not at all.’ She pushed away the unwelcome memories. ‘You asked how we spend our days here. We are always up by seven-thirty and after breakfast we work at our lessons. Then, in the afternoon, there are more lessons or if the weather is fine we might walk, or play games out of doors. Our days are very full, the girls are learning to play the harpsichord, plus all the accomplishments necessary for young ladies, such as sewing, singing and dancing, but at eight years old I think there is time enough for that.’

      ‘I am not questioning your skill as a governess, Miss Grensham.’

      Diana noted that Meggie and Florence had grown tired of sitting down and were playing battledore again, there was no one to overhear them.

      ‘No?’ she challenged him. ‘Yesterday you suggested I might have been given the post because I was a poor relation.’

       And a cripple.

      Diana

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