Anthony pushed the stack of letters away and leaned back in his chair, staring at the ceiling. If he had one regret, it was that his stepfather hadn’t lived to see his successes. The Elliot fortune was reestablished and the family was no longer the social pariahs they had been. All Anthony needed to do now was to set his own household more firmly in the realms of respectability. And he was about to do that with his marriage.

For some reason, instead of Charlotte’s gentle mien, Anthony saw Anna Thraxton’s saucy smile. What was it about Thraxton that irritated him so? He didn’t know if she was the best governess in London, but she was certainly the most disrespectful. She had no concern for her conduct, other than to win her own stubborn way in every argument. It was maddening, to say the least. But Anthony was not about to let a slip of a governess disrupt his carefully ordered household.

Suddenly too restless to sit still, he rang for Jenkins and ordered a fresh mount brought up from the stables. He’d go and visit his intended. He hadn’t seen Charlotte or her parents since last week, when they’d left for a brief visit to London. That would take his mind off the intractable Miss Thraxton.

Within ten minutes, Anthony was riding down the lane. He told himself he was glad that he didn’t see his incorrigible governess or the children, though he caught himself looking for them even after he turned onto the main road where they would not have gone.

Twenty minutes passed before he reached his destination—a pleasant stone manor house that sat behind a line of trees. He dismounted and handed his reins to a waiting footman, then approached the front door. The air was just cooling with the approach of evening, and he admired the tasteful arrangement of the flowers that lined the front step. The door was opened by a round-faced butler, who immediately bowed him into a sitting room and left to announce his arrival.

He didn’t have to wait long. Moments later, he was joined by a slender, older woman dressed in the height of fashion in an elegant gray dress. Though her brown hair was shot through with silver, her smooth face seemed to belie this one sign of age. She smiled pleasantly at Anthony and held out her hand. “Lord Greyley. What a pleasant surprise.”

He took her hand and bowed. “Lady Melton. How do you do?”

“I’m a bit tired from our journey to London. We just returned last night. I’m afraid you just missed Sir Melton. He’s gone to visit the colonel.”

“I’m sorry I missed him. I hope you don’t mind my coming unannounced, but I was impatient to see how you progressed.”

She gave a quizzical lift of her brows. “More correctly, you were impatient to see Charlotte.”

He bowed again and she laughed. “I never thought to see you so impetuous. Charlotte will be down shortly. Will you have a seat?”