“My lady,” Annabelle exclaimed, as Lady Olivia came to welcome them. “How kind of you to invite us! London was positively stifling—the refreshing climate of Hampshire is precisely what we needed.”

Lady Olivia smiled. Although she was a small and rather unassuming girl with average features, she seemed extraordinarily pretty on this occasion, her face glowing with happiness. According to Lillian and Daisy, Lady Olivia was betrothed to an American millionaire. “Is it a love match?” Annabelle had asked in her last letter to them, and Lillian had written back that it reportedly was. “However,” Lillian had added wryly, “my father says that the alliance between the two families will certainly be to Lord Westcliff’s financial advantage, which is why he gave his approval.” To the earl, romance was not nearly as important as practical considerations.

Bringing her mind back to the present, Annabelle smiled as Lady Olivia took her hands in a welcoming clasp. “And you are precisely what we needed,” Lady Olivia exclaimed with a laugh. “The place is overrun with males in search of sport—I informed the earl that we simply had to invite some women to keep the atmosphere reasonably civilized. Come, let me accompany you to your rooms.”

Picking up the skirts of the new salmon pink muslin from Lillian, Annabelle followed Lady Olivia up the front steps into the entrance hall. “How is Lord Westcliff?” Annabelle asked as they ascended one side of the grand double staircase. “In good health, I hope?”

“My brother is quite well, thank you. Although I fear he is driving himself to distraction with plans for my wedding. He insists on overseeing every detail.”

“A reflection of his great affection for you, I’m certain,” Philippa said.

Lady Olivia laughed wryly. “It is more a reflection of his great need to control everything within his reach. I’m afraid that it won’t be easy to find a bride who will be strong-willed enough to manage him.”

Catching her mother’s meaningful sideways glance, Annabelle shook her head slightly. It would do no good to encourage Philippa’s hopes in that direction. However…“I happen to know of a strong-willed and quite charming young woman who is yet unmarried,” she commented. “An American, as a matter of fact.”

“Are you referring to one of the Bowman sisters?” Lady Olivia asked. “I have not yet made their acquaintance, though their father has stayed at Stony Cross before.”

“Both sisters are delightful in every regard,” Annabelle said.

“Excellent,” Lady Olivia exclaimed. “We may yet find a match for my brother.”

Reaching the second floor, they paused to glance at the people milling about the entrance hall below. “I’m afraid there are not as many unmarried men here as one could wish for,” Lady Olivia commented. “But there are a few…Lord Kendall comes to mind. If you like, I will introduce you to him when the opportunity presents itself.”

“Thank you, I would enjoy that very much.”

“I’m afraid he is somewhat reticent, though,” Lady Olivia added “He may not appeal to someone as high-spirited as you, Annabelle.”

“On the contrary,” Annabelle said quickly, “I find reticence to be a most attractive quality in a man. Gentlemen with dignified reserve are so much more pleasant than those who are forever swaggering and boasting about themselves.” Like Simon Hunt, she thought darkly, whose high self-opinion couldn’t be more obvious.

Before Lady Olivia could reply, her gaze was caught from afar by that of a tall golden-haired gentleman who had come to stand in the entrance hall below. He stood in a cultivated slouch, resting his shoulder against a column, his hands thrust into his coat pockets. Annabelle knew instantly that he was an American. His irreverent grin and blue eyes, and the relaxed way he wore his elegant clothes, gave him away. Moreover, Lady Olivia blushed and seemed to require an extra breath or two, from the way he was looking at her. “Do pardon me,” she said absently. “I…my fiance…he seems to require me for something…” And she drifted away with a dreamy over-the-shoulder comment about their room being the fifth on the right. Instantly, a housemaid appeared to show them the rest of the way, and Annabelle heaved a sigh.

“There will be vicious competition for Lord Kendall,” she fretted aloud. “I hope he hasn’t already been taken.”

“He can’t be the only unmarried gentlemen here,” Philippa remarked hopefully. “One must not forget Lord Westcliff himself.”

“Don’t entertain any hope in that direction,” Annabelle told her wryly. “The earl was distinctly underwhelmed by me when we met.”

“That was a great lapse in judgment on his part,” came her mother’s indignant reply.

Smiling, Annabelle reached down and squeezed Philippa’s gloved hand. “Thank you, Mama. But I had better set my sights on a far more attainable target.”

As guests continued to arrive, some went immediately to their rooms to refresh themselves with a midday nap, in anticipation of the supper and welcome dance that would be held later. Gossip-minded ladies congregated in the parlor and cardroom, while the gentlemen played billiards or smoked in the library. After their maid finished unpacking their clothes, Philippa decided to doze in their room. It was a small but lovely bedchamber, with flowered French paper on the walls and windows swathed in pale blue silk.

Too impatient and excited to sleep, Annabelle reflected that Evie and the Bowman sisters had probably arrived. Even so, they would want some time to restore themselves after traveling. Rather than endure hours of enforced inactivity, Annabelle decided to explore the grounds outside the manor. It was a warm, sunlit day, and she craved exercise after the long carriage ride. Changing into a blue muslin day dress shaped with rows of tiny box pleats, she left her room.