She felt again that leaden feeling that had been hers last night when she realised that she had with one blow severed all connection between them. He would no longer search for her, no longer wish to claim kinship now that he knew who the friend was whom she had sought so assiduously now that he was aware of her address.

She put her hands up to her eyes for a moment as if not only to blot out the sunshine, which seemed for a moment to dazzle her eyes in which there was a suspicion of tears, but also to shut out the memory of the expression on the Marquis’s face as she had last seen it.

It had only been a fleeting glance and yet, in that quick second, she had seen the darkening of his eyes, the tightening of his lips and she had known that his reaction to her words had been exactly what she had expected.

Maria was her friend – she was also the woman he had denounced so violently and so vehemently at Stade Hall.

She should be glad to be rid of him, she told herself, and wished that she did not feel so empty and as if something had gone from the whole joy of living.

“It is because I am tired,” she said aloud and looked in the mirror expecting to find telltale lines under her eyes and an unusual pallor.

Instead her face looked back at her fresh and young and curiously untroubled and almost petulantly she turned away from her own reflection.

It took her longer to dress than she had anticipated. The new gown which Maria had bought for her required a last minute alteration and she was obliged to stand while the maid did it on her.

But, when she was ready, there was no doubt that the gown of forget-me-not blue satin was becoming. It had a white fichu brought round over the shoulders and tied in a large bow in the front, as was the very latest mode. There was a big black hat trimmed with pale blue feathers to go with the gown, but this she would not be wearing for luncheon.

Instead the maid brushed her hair until the last traces of powder were removed from it and then dressed it in curls high on her head so that they cascaded down the back making her feel almost regal as she walked slowly down the broad staircase to the salon.

She realised that she was late as she heard a sound of voices within and felt suddenly shy of entering amongst the crowd of people who she felt would look at her critically.