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of despair. 'He has been here almost every day, and I had hoped that, given a little more time, he would come to the point!'
    Isabella laughed.
    'Georgiana, please do not be nonsensical. The man is well over forty.'
    'But he is a widower and has those three little girls. Don't you feel sorry for them, Isabella, without a mother?'
    'Not sorry enough to marry their father, were he to be so foolish as to offer for me,' Isabella declared firmly.
    'I think it is a foolish notion on your part to reject him simply because he has been married before,' Georgiana stated.
    'Since he has not offered I cannot be said to have rejected him! Pray let us forget him.'
    'I cannot! I have been thinking, ever since the spring, when he was so attentive while he was in Sussex, that he would suit you very well. He is not precisely rich, but neither is he poor. He may be a trifle old for you, but–'
    'But I am not in my first blush, and having no fortune can expect nothing better,' Isabella finished for her. 'Thank you, my dear, but I really would prefer to remain a spinster. I do not like him!'
    Georgiana sighed. 'He came round the minute he heard we had come to town. He told Papa so. And I do not see that his daughters would be a barrier. After all, if you had a son he would come first!'
    Isabella laughed. 'You are more designing than I thought,' she commented. 'In the past you have always declared that love is the most important consideration.'
    'I still believe it,' Georgiana said hastily, 'but you say you have never been in love, and so I thought it would not matter. Would you not like to be established? It cannot be pleasant having to depend on earning your living instead of having a home of your own.'
    Isabella suppressed a sigh and contrived to laugh.
    'I am not so desperate yet that I am reduced to taking Sir Frederick and his no doubt spoilt brats of children!'
    'I shall apologise to Papa and beg him to permit us to remain for a few more days in London, as we had planned,' Georgiana resolved.
    'It would be better if you apologised because you repented of your idiocy!' Isabella pointed out. 'In any event your father must be down at Woodings soon, for Lord Fordington is planning to visit him and may buy that land next to his own.'
    * * * *
    Georgiana permitted the subject to drop, but later in the day, having been permitted by Sir Roderick to join him and Isabella for a quiet dinner, she apologised prettily and did her utmost to cajole her father into relenting. He, however, was adamant and only the fact that several of the gowns being made for his wife were still not ready persuaded him to put off their departure the following morning.
    Sir Roderick took himself out after spending a couple of hours fussing over the enforced delay, saying he might as well pay final visits to some of his friends. He charged Isabella with strict instructions that Georgiana, while permitted to leave her room, was under no circumstances to be allowed to see any visitors. Mr Reece had been to the house on the previous day to offer his somewhat inarticulate explanations and apologies, and Sir Roderick was convinced the young man would attempt to see Georgiana. Georgiana, having no more desire to see Mr Reece than Sir Roderick, retreated to her room, saying huffily that there were no visitors she had any wish to see. When Sir Frederick Hill arrived, therefore, he found Isabella, to his obvious gratification, alone in the drawing room where she was checking lists of the considerable number of items she had purchased for her cousin Fanny during the past few days.
    She suppressed her annoyance when Baxter announced the visitor and greeted him composedly.
    'Sir Roderick is out, I am afraid, Sir Frederick, and I cannot be certain when he will return,' Isabella informed him.
    'As it happens, Miss Clinton, I did hope I might find you alone,' Sir Frederick said, moving towards her, an ingratiating smile on his face.
    Isabella turned away and hastily seated herself on a