taking poor artists into his home and providing them with pleasant conditions in which to work; writing articles that the more die-hard newspaper proprietors refused to publish, so they found their way into the more radical publications, which were frequently being shut down by the government on the grounds that they were seditious and encouraged unrest. He risked imprisonment himself every time he fired a broadside at those who ought to have been helping and did nothing. He had come to the conclusion that it would be better to work within the establishment. Hence his visit to the Commons.
The old lady tapped his arm with her fan. ‘Well? Will you do this for me?’
He had always found it difficult to deny her anything, but on this occasion he was adamant. ‘No, ma’am, I will not. It is an infringement of the young lady’s privacy unless you have reason to believe she is up to no good.’ He paused to study her lined face. ‘Do you?’
‘That’s what I want to find out. If you will not oblige me, I must find other ways of discovering what I want to know.’
‘And what happens if you find out she is not all she seems—what then? Will you expose her?’
‘I do not know; it depends on what turns up.’
He knew her well enough to realise she was up to something and it was more than a desire to protect Stephen. Did she already know more than she was telling about Miss Diana Bywater? It intrigued him, but not enough to comply with her request.
They turned into Grosvenor Square and drew up at the door of Harecroft House and he jumped down to lift her out of the carriage and help her into the house and up to her room. He had a feeling he had not heard the last of Miss Diana Bywater.
Diana was still at work at eight o’clock, when Mr Hare-croft came into the little cubby hole where she worked. ‘Still here, Miss Bywater?’
‘I have been trying to catch up on lost time.’
He smiled. ‘Grandmother can be a little disruptive. But stop now. I have my tilbury outside. I will drive you home.’
‘Thank you, but that will not be necessary. I can easily walk.’
‘It is the least I can do. It was not your fault you were behind with your work.’
She smiled suddenly. ‘Would you offer to drive one of the men clerks home?’
‘No, certainly not.’
‘I do not wish to be treated any differently. It was part of our bargain when you took me on.’
‘So it may have been, but circumstances have changed. I am wholly converted to lady clerks.’ He smiled as he spoke. ‘At least to one of them. You have proved yourself more than capable and I take back any reservations I might have had.’ He picked up the ledger she had been working on, made sure the ink was dry, and shut it firmly. ‘Now come along, I will accept no argument. I would have asked Stephen to take you, but he has already gone home.’ He bent and put his hand under her elbow to raise her to her feet.
They were standing close together, his head bent towards her, his hand still under her arm, when Richard came in. He had changed into a black evening suit, which, even more than the clothes he had worn earlier in the day, emphasised his strong lean figure. He stopped on the threshold, his blue eyes taking in the scene.
Thoroughly embarrassed, she drew her arm from his father’s hand and he, following the line of her startled gaze, turned to look at his son, watching them from the doorway.
‘Richard, what are you doing here?’ His voice sounded pleasant enough, but Diana thought she detected an undertone of annoyance.
‘Looking for you. You were not in your office…’
‘Well, now you have found me. I suppose there is a reason for you to set foot on the premises for the second time in one day.’
Diana sank back into her chair, feeling awkward. She wished she could leave the tiny room and find fresh air.
‘Great-Grandmother is a little truculent. She says she expected you home hours ago, she wants to talk to you. If I had not promised to come and winkle you out, she would have commanded Soames to get out the carriage and come looking for you herself.’
‘I had business to do and it was her fault, taking up so much of our time this afternoon.’
‘Are you ready to leave now?’
‘I must take Miss Bywater home first. She has been kept late on company business and I cannot allow her to go home alone at this time of night.’
‘Oh, please do not trouble yourself,’ Diana said. ‘I can walk and Lady Harecroft is waiting for you…’
‘Yes,’ Richard put in, looking down at Diana, unable to make up his mind about her. His great-grandmother had triggered his own curiosity, heightened by the sight of his father’s apparent intimacy with Diana. Was she up to no good, worming her way into the company in order to take advantage of an old lady? But his great-grandmother, though old, was not vulnerable or simple; she was as astute as they come, so what was it all about? ‘She will wait up until you get home, Father, you know she will, and she has had a tiring day. Besides, Mother is expecting you and she is not very good at coping with the old lady in one of her moods. I will take Miss Bywater home.’ He realised, as he said it, that he was doing exactly what his great-grandmother wanted, that she had probably guessed if she sent him back to fetch his father something of the sort might happen. He almost laughed aloud.
His father sighed. ‘If Miss Bywater agrees, then it might be best.’
‘But…’ Diana began again. She did not want either of them seeing how she and her father lived.
‘No buts,’ Richard said firmly. ‘It will be my pleasure.’
‘How did you arrive?’ his father asked him.
‘In a cab. I have kept it waiting. Great-Grandmama’s instructions were to make sure you came home.’
‘I will take the cab. You take Miss Bywater in the tilbury.’
‘Please do not trouble yourselves, either of you,’ Diana begged, reaching for her bonnet and light cape from the hook behind the door and following the two men from the room. ‘I am quite used to walking home alone.’
Neither listened. They seemed to be having the conversation with each other over her head; it was almost as if she were not there.
‘Are you staying at Harecroft House tonight?’ father asked son.
‘Yes, but I will probably be late back, so do not wait up for me.’
‘I gave up waiting for you years ago, Richard. Do not wake the household, that’s all.’
They reached the ground floor and left the building, while Mr Harecroft senior locked the premises, Diana tried once again to say she could manage on her own.
‘You are very stubborn, Miss Bywater,’ Richard said. ‘But rest assured I can be equally obdurate. You are not to be allowed to walk home alone and that is an end of it.’ He led the way to the tilbury and helped her into it, then unhitched the pony and jumped up beside her, the reins in his hand.
