And here she was, Miss Thornhill, the heiress, the fine lady.
Looking like a drowned rat!
“Papa!” she said weakly.
The Colonel seemed incapable of speech or movement. For a moment it seemed as though he might explode.
The Duke moved first, coming down to the water’s edge and reaching out a hand to her.
“Allow me,” he said.
“No thank you,” Rowena said quickly, backing towards the other bank. “I am in no danger, in fact – please go away.”
She could hear herself sounding like a mannerless schoolgirl, but she was so embarrassed and mortified that she scarcely knew what she was saying.
“My daughter does not mean what she says,” her father hastened to say.
“Oh, I think she knows her own mind very well,” the Duke said coolly. “I can see that my presence must be unwelcome to her.”
He bow
