As she spoke, she realised that she was not shy of the Marchioness, but only of her grandson.
This was the first coherent sentence that she had uttered and she thought that his grey eyes were looking at her critically and felt herself blush.
“I think Mina is charming,” the Marchioness said, “so we will call you ‘Mina’. I shall be very interested to hear if you enjoy being here and find it easy to comply with the – educational plans my grandson has for you.”
There had been a distinct pause before the word ‘educational’ and again there was that mischievous little twinkle in the Marchioness’s eyes.
“Don’t frighten Mina, Grandmama,” the Marquis said, “or she may fly away from us like your white doves. Wicks tells me that there are two missing this morning.”
“Two more?” the Marchioness sai
