CHAPTER FOURAt last it was time for the ladies to leave the gentlemen to their port. Lady Hatton rose and they followed her out of the room.
“Thank you, my dear Arabelle, for looking after Simon Lightly,” Lady Hatton said graciously. “I noticed you deep in conversation with him at the table. I fear his talk must be way above the head of a young lady, but you are coping very well.”
“Thank you, madam,” Arabelle replied meekly.
Mrs Lightly too wanted to thank her and Arabelle became immersed in talk with the other ladies. Lady Hatton took the opportunity to draw her daughter aside and speak in a low, angry voice.
“Lord Westbridge could not have made his intentions more plain,” she said. “Such a flattering conquest and you were almost rude to him.”
“But I don’t want him as a conquest,” Lo
