Part 36 (1/2)

The children--' she dismissed Polly and Henry with a wave of the fan '--can amuse themselves for a while! There is so much for us to talk on! ” And she shut the door firmly behind them.

”Well!” Henry said, still smiling.

”It seems Lady Belling ham has found yet another way in which to scandalise the neighbour hood and Sir G.o.dfrey will be her willing dupe!”

”Their romance... It seems most unlikely...” Polly ventured.

”True...” there was a twinkle in Lord Henry's eyes 'but one must not consider romance to be the prerogative of the young! I have no doubt that those two had a most pa.s.sionate affair--' ”Lord Henry!”

”Still so proper. Lady Polly?”

”Unlike you, my lord!”

Lord Henry's grin was broad now.

”Perhaps you should hurry back to your chaste maiden bower, Lady Polly!

Unfortunately, you are unlikely to have Sir G.o.dfrey's escort, and your brother and Miss Mark- ham are exchanging sweet nothings in the garden.

So...”

Polly's lips tightened at his teasing.

”Must you always make a mock of things, my lord?”

”On the contrary!” Henry's gaze was bright on her. ”I consider love to be a very serious matter!”

”So I have heard! And seen! There are those who consider it to be your only preoccupation, my lord!”

”No, that's too unkind!” Henry's smile faded and his glance was a challenge now.

”But you. Lady Polly--your att.i.tude is a little different, is it not?

You always seem to behave as though there was something shameful about love, or at the least something shameful about honest emotion. I suppose it is the result of so sheltered and restrictive an upbringing!”

Polly stared at him speechlessly. It seemed at least five seconds before she managed to exclaim, ”Well upon my word, my lord! Your presumption is outrageous!”

Henry's look was a provocation in itself.

”Is that so? Then tell me your own view of the matter!”

”It is true that I have had a protected upbringing, being the youngest and the only daughter--' Polly was so indignant that she needed no second invitation '--but I do not believe that I have suffered as a result either materially or emotionally! I consider myself to be a woman of sense! I do not know what type of woman you admire, Lord Henry, but if it is one full of die-away airs and affected sensibility then I must agree I do not conform to that style!”

”Yet on the surface you appear so prim and conventional,” Lord Henry countered with every evidence of regret.

”One has the impression that any suggestion of strong emotion would have you recoiling with the va pours!”

”Indeed!” Polly was now more cross than indignant. ”I do not know how you have the effrontery to accuse me of a want of feeling! When we met in London you behaved like the greatest rake imaginable, and I did not hear you complaining that I was lacking in my response to you the nV She broke off and clapped her hand to her mouth, but it was too late.

The words could not be unsaid.

The expression on Henry's face would have silenced her anyway. There was amus.e.m.e.nt there and a dawning warmth, melting into a tenderness that made her catch her breath.

”You tricked me,” she said, and it came out as a whisper.