Chapter FourAs the waiters withdrew, the Earl sat back in his chair with a glass of brandy in his hand.
He thought as he looked at Thalia sitting opposite him that the dinner had been unexpectedly stimulating and interesting.
In fact he could not remember when he had last had such an intelligent conversation with a man and never with a woman.
Their conversation had ranged over a great number of subjects and he had become aware that Thalia was exceedingly well read and had an original turn of mind.
She looked very young, but he thought he might in fact have been talking to Lady Melbourne or Lady Holland, very much older women who were noted in the Beau Monde for their intelligence.
For Thalia it had been a fascinating experience to talk with a man who she realised was very unlike the e
