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Eliza put her concerns about Rose to one side. She could address them with her tomorrow, when she saw her at the ball. After a cursory wash she clambered into a dress of Corinna’s that she had yet to wear. She loved the shell pink of the silk gathered into a pink and dove grey striped bodice with ruffled bands of grey ribbon sewn at the hem and sleeves. Her appearance no longer surprised her; Eliza was getting used to the new elegance of both her looks and her life. Her elocution too felt as natural as if she had been speaking this way all her life.

Polly popped her head round the door and asked if she needed help with her lacing or her hair. Eliza said with a rueful smile, ‘I’ve made a passable attempt at a Grecian style, I think.’

‘No, miss, you haven’t.’ Polly was firm. ‘Let me help you.’ She brushed out Eliza’s hair. ‘It’s so long and there’s so much of it, like spun silk, I’m not surprised you find it difficult to manage.’

‘I used to wear it plaited which was easier but less elegant.’ Eliza smiled at Polly in the looking glass.

‘Well, miss, you could plait some of these side waves and then pin them into the main mass coiled into a bun on the top of your head.’

The maid’s deft fingers did just this and Eliza stared at her reflection. ‘That’s wonderful. Thank you, Polly, for making me look more than passable.’ She laughed. ‘I shall try that myself but I don’t know if I can replicate your confection.’

‘You can always ask me, miss.’ Polly was gratified at the praise.

‘That’s very kind, but I can’t live here for ever under the benign care of Mr and Mrs Wolfe. I shall have to learn to manage myself.’ She made an effort to keep her voice light-hearted, aware that Polly’s life was far more conscribed than hers, even at its lowest ebb. Eliza then remembered the adventure that awaited her. A tremor of excitement ran through her and she turned her head towards the girl to say, ‘Oh Polly, I’m leaving early tomorrow for a ride, so don’t worry about bringing me water until I’m back.’

The usual band of friends was due for dinner before peeling off to their clubs or other forms of entertainment. The Wolfe household, with Corinna at its heart, provided the warm embrace of family without any answering responsibility. This was particularly appealing to Ferdy Shilton and Lord Purfoy who had obstinately eschewed matrimony for the carefree pleasures of bachelorhood, but enjoyed the comforts of home, run by a competent woman who created for them all such a seductive sense of kinship.

Eliza walked into the drawing room where Mr Shilton lounged like an elegant faun, one slender pantalooned leg crossed over the other. His manners were impeccable and on sight of her, he sprang with grace to his feet, took her hand and bowed. ‘What a pleasure to see you again, Miss Gray.’

Zadoc Flynn was reading The Sporting Magazine and he too got to his feet. ‘Miss Gray, it’s not an hour since we last parted but it’s always a pleasure to see you.’ He bowed low in an amused parody of the expected mores. Eliza laughed.

Corinna joined them wearing a fine corded silk dress but her fingertips were still stained with paint. She handed a small leather-bound volume to Eliza. ‘I thought you might enjoy this. Lord Byron’s The Corsair. Alick ordered it from Hatchards to make sure he got a copy.’ In delight, Eliza stroked the gleaming green calfskin as Corinna continued, ‘It’s wonderfully adventurous and romantic, I think you’d enjoy it.’

Just as they were settling round the table, Gibbons announced Lord Purfoy.

‘Apologies, my dears,’ he drawled. He was as panther-like in his grace as ever but paler than usual and seeming low in spirit. He subsided into his chair opposite Eliza and Mr Flynn and said to the room at large, ‘The life of a nobleman is not a happy one! Oh the utter tedium of having nothing worthwhile to do, and to spend so much time doing it.’

Alick had begun to carve the beef and looked up to meet the disconsolate eyes of his friend. ‘Why not take on the management of your estates, Rav? You have such wealth in those fertile acres and the castle could do with some updating and care. Mine gives me great pleasure, second only to my family.’ He waved his carving knife in the direction of his wife.

His friend scoffed. ‘Life in the country is even more irksome than life in Town. What to do for diversion? I even find hunting and shooting a bore, certainly find the people who indulge in them so. The contemptible in pursuit of the inedible. Nothing to do in that benighted land but bet on the one-legged goose winning the race or shadow-boxing with the trees.’

Corinna was concerned. ‘Why so melancholic, Rav? What has happened to disturb your mood?’

Ferdy intervened with a laugh, ‘His lordship rose from his bed unconscionably early. I know how dangerous that can be for a man’s equilibrium.’

Mr Flynn offered his own remedy. ‘Why not breed racehorses as I intend to do? You have your own unerring eye and Taz’s experience.’

Eliza felt her heart leap at the thought and blurted out, ‘I’d really like to do that.’ Everyone looked at her in surprise and she coloured. ‘Of course, if I ever have my own family and home.’

Lord Purfoy’s eyes were on her when he asked, ‘What is family? Like you, Miss Gray, I have no family but my friends, my horses and Taz. Those alone I care for, they’re all I need.’

Eliza had been held by his intense gaze as he spoke with more feeling than she had heard in his voice before. She leaned forward and said in earnest, ‘You do have a home and security, a place in Society. Above all, you know where you’ve come from, my lord. That’s what I long for.’

‘But my home and my history merely bring further grief. You have a bare slate on which to write a new story, free of the pain of the past.’ Eliza was so caught in his gaze it felt they were speaking only to each other, both in a storm of different thoughts and desires. He had everything she longed for but was discontented, and she had nothing but was full of hope. Somehow they were connected each to the other through a force neither understood, and a recognition of the loneliness of their souls.

The moment was broken by Ferdy’s voice. ‘Miss Gray, you’re clinging to that volume as if your life depended on it?’

Eliza looked down at the book in her lap, amazed to see how white her knuckles had grown with the force of her grip. As if returning from a dream she said, ‘Ah! Lord Byron’s The Corsair, kindly lent to me by Mrs Wolfe.’ She handed it to him with a reverence that he remarked upon and she replied, ‘It is the greatest privilege for me to have a book to read when and where I choose. I was not brought up with books. In fact, they were frowned upon and I had to read in secret.’

Lord Purfoy laughed. ‘There are some who think Lord Byron should not be read by the young or virtuous. I presume you fit both of those categories?’

‘He came with some of his friends to see the performance of the Prebbles Flying Circus. There was such commotion. It was the night I almost fell off Percy while I was dancing on his back.’

‘My only regret is that I never went to see you perform myself. Clorinda the Winged Venus conjures the most delicious image.’ Lord Purfoy had returned to his teasing, sardonic manner and Eliza did not know what to make of him at all.

Alick was tucking into the food when he looked up and said, ‘Well, Ferdy’s seen Miss Gray’s performance.’

‘I have. And most affecting it was too.’