“My lady?” Jenkins stood in the doorway of the nursery.

“Yes?”

“Lord Greyley would like to see you in the library.”

Selena looked up from a pile of purple ribbons and pulled her finger out of her mouth. “Lord Greyley wants to see Miss Thraxton all of the time.”

Though his lips never moved an inch, Anna had the feeling the butler smiled. “Indeed,” he said pleasantly.

Anna sniffed. “Please inform Lord Greyley that I’m not available at the present time.” She was due at Charlotte’s house at ten.

“His Lordship seemed most insistent.”

“I daresay he was also most rude.”

Jenkins’s mouth twitched. “He was a bit…commanding.”

“However much I wish to answer such a delightful summons, I cannot.” She had better things to do than pander to His Lordship’s overinflated sense of grandeur. Besides, she had no wish to be alone with Greyley, especially not in a room with a lockable door. Her feelings still threatened to bubble up and scorch her every time she thought about him.

The butler bowed, then left. His footsteps had barely receded when Anna heard Grandpapa limping down the hallway, his cane thumping along with each step. He entered the room and smiled brightly at the children, who immediately clamored to show him their costumes. Even Desford, who looked dashing in a hat festooned with a large feather, managed a glimmer of a smile.

After admiring the children’s costumes, Grandpapa took the seat beside Anna. His glance lingered on her clothing. “Going riding yet again?”

Since she was to leave shortly, she’d already donned her habit. “Yes. I’m meeting Mr. Elliot at ten. He’s escorting me.”

“Hm.”

Something about that “hm” didn’t sit well with Anna. She sent a black look at Grandpapa, which did no good at all, for he merely returned her look with a bland one of his own.

“Well?” she asked.

“Well what?” He picked up two spare feathers from a pile on the table and sat twiddling with them.

“You have something to say, so you might as well go ahead and say it.”

“Oh, I don’t have anything to say.” He took the tip of the feather and leaned over the table so that he could tickle one of Marian’s ears. “Nothing of interest, anyway.”

“Out with it. You’ll burst your spleen if you keep it all inside.”

He smiled at Marian, who giggled and slapped at his feather. “No, no. I couldn’t possibly intrude on your life in such a manner.”

Anna snorted.

Grandpapa sent her a shrewd look. “You tense up like a statue every time I mention Greyley’s name. Makes me a bit shy to bring up the topic.”

“That’s because I find the man impossibly overbearing.”

“Oh? And what about this Rupert Elliot? He seems to be hanging about quite a bit this last week.”

“I find him charming.” And necessary. It was only a matter of time before Greyley suggested that he accompany her on one of her morning jaunts, something she could not allow to happen. To avoid that possible event, she’d invited Rupert to join her. She was certain she could win his silence, for she had the impression that he was more than willing to thwart Greyley.