She was sitting at the round table in the window and, putting down her knife and fork, she rose when he entered and dropped him a small curtsey.
She was dressed in a pretty but simple gown, which at first glance seemed to fit, but the Marquis’s experienced eye realised a second or so later that it was too large round the waist and was therefore confined with a sash.
“As you have been out riding, I wish that you had let me come with you,” she began somewhat reproachfully.
“Good morning, Cara,” the Marquis said loftily, as if he reminded her of her manners. “If I had thought of it, which I did not, I would hardly have expected you to have the requisite clothes for riding in your pocket.”
Cara gave a little chuckle as she sat down again at the table.
“I suppose you would not have conside
