If Lord Netheravon’s prediction did not prove true, it had to be admitted that after the first week of being at a party every evening, and having made a first appearance at Almack’s, both Henrietta and Caroline had found their feet. Almack’s was definitely a ‘rite of passage’, and provided a small reminder that there were very many pretty girls making their debut. Lady Elstead was careful to stress this, rather than to say that her two charges could be accounted among the top rank of beauties. Vanity, in her books, was a swift path to failure, for it made the most beautiful of face diminished by character. Both girls were expanding their circle of friends among the other maidens, but had a tendency to stick together as a pair, which more than a few gentlemen found awkward, since they would have preferred to dally with one particular girl, and a third party was not conducive to romance. However, there were none who remarked upon any other fault with them.

Lady Elstead crossed a couple of names from the lists, having seen those gentlemen focusing upon golden-haired damsels, but was able to add several names she had not previously considered, most notably Mr Robert Newbold. Mr Newbold found Henrietta a breath of fresh air. He was rather older than most of her followers, being some six and thirty, and was known to prefer older and more ‘experienced’ ladies. Girls in their first Season were too insipid for his tastes. Henrietta Gaydon, however, was different. Perhaps it was that slightly forthright, masculine approach deplored by her aunt and discomfiting to her cousin, but she had a spark he found most entertaining, and he began to abandon the card room for the dance floor much more than previously.

Henrietta’s first thought was not that he was in any way interested in her in particular, because had it been so, then surely her aunt would have ‘warned’ her, for he possessed no title. It was only in the third week, when he had danced with her at three different balls in as many days, that Lady Elstead asked, nonchalantly, what Henrietta thought of him.

‘Oh, he is very dry, wickedly so I think, and very entertaining. He does not put me to the blush, but his animadversions upon others are almost cruel, though accurate.’

‘He seems quite taken with you, my dear Henrietta.’

‘Me? Oh, but I am sure you need not worry, ma’am.’

‘Worry? Why on earth ought I to worry, my dear. Goodness! Robert Newbold has had caps set at him these twelve years past and shown not the slightest interest. Not that I would ever suggest you did such a thing.’

‘But why, dear ma’am? He is simply “ Mr Newbold”.’