“Why would your father be delighted that Jack fell?” said Julia.

“Have you noticed, Miss Maitland, that when two people are quite alike in some ways, they sometimes take pleasure in each other’s misfortunes? That is how it is with my father and Jack, and I suppose it always will be. My father would have preferred to have had a daughter like you.”

“Like me? I don’t believe that he knows very much about me.”

“He already has a very good opinion of you, gained from your father. He knows how much Mr. Maitland depends on you since the loss of your brother.”

Julia was quite taken aback to find that tears came so quickly to her eyes at the mention of David’s death, and even more upset to realise that her companion had noticed.

He now spoke in quite a different tone of voice. “Please forgive me, Miss Maitland, I do apologise for mentioning a subject so painful to you. I never met your brother, but I heard an account of the battle, passed on by your father from Freddie Brandon.”

“It was not Freddie, but Dominic, the elder brother,” Julia said quietly. “I know Freddie quite well, as he is the same age as his cousin Emily, who is a great friend of mine. She has lived with their family since her parents died. We are visiting the castle next week, although I don’t know if Emily will be there.”

“So that will not be the reason for your visit?”

“No, but my mother insists that we go. She is too easily impressed by people with titles, and she is very determined that I should be.”

“We at least seem to have one thing in common then, Miss Maitland.”

“What is that?”

“That we are both getting rather tired of other people trying to take control of our lives. I would guess, from the way you put it, that you are not anxious to marry the son of an earl?”

“Freddie is good fun, but of course he is the younger brother, and not the person that my mama has in mind for me.” Then she remembered where she was, and why. “Should we not find out how your brother and Sophie are getting on down there?”

“Yes—you are quite right. If you will follow me, we can take another way from theirs, which is just as picturesque but not so likely to bring us to harm.” And he suddenly gave her a warm smile, which made her feel rather breathless.

Perhaps fortunately, at that moment they came around a bluff and then had a better view of the two riders. Riding steadily down the slope, she followed her companion until they reached the stone wall where Jack Douglas was still untangling himself from the reins and muttering under his breath.

Sophie had turned her own mount on the far side of the wall, and was riding back towards Jack Douglas as Julia asked him how he was.

“I’m all right, Miss Maitland, just a bit winded,” he said with more than a tinge of annoyance in his voice. “Your sister is a brave rider, and especially so on such a small mare.”

He remounted his horse rather painfully, and they all continued together. Julia noticed that, from then on, he did not try so hard to impress Sophie with his riding prowess.

The rest of the outing was uneventful, and after about two hours they returned to the stables where Reuben the groom awaited them with a message from their host. A light collation was ready in the dining room, where Mr. Douglas and Mr. Maitland were anxious to start their meal without delay.

“Well, Miss Sophie,” said her host, “have you enjoyed your ride, and meeting Jack and Kit?”

“Oh, yes, thank you so much, Mr. Douglas.”

“And you, Miss Maitland? Have you enjoyed your visit?”

Julia acknowledged that she had had a very pleasant afternoon.

“Your father was telling me that you have been reading books about the improvements to farming practice being introduced by Mr. Coke in Norfolk? I had been hoping that Jack would travel to Holkham Hall for the same reason.”

“I’m not interested,” Jack said. “We are doing well enough the way we are running the farm now.”

His father looked displeased. “Jack is not keen on anything new. You don’t see it that way, Miss Maitland?”

“No, sir, for the changes to the farm that our manager has made since he went there, to learn about the best crop strains and changes to the types of stock that we should use, have made quite a difference to the income from our estate land.”

“That is an unusual interest,” interjected Kit Douglas.

Julia jibbed at this. “You mean for a young lady, Mr. Douglas?”

She could see from the amused expression in his eyes that she had scored a hit.

But his father answered for her. “Lewis tells me that Miss Maitland is doing her best to help him in her brother’s place.”

Kit looked chagrined. “I do apologise, Miss Maitland—please forgive me, for a moment I had forgotten your very sad circumstances.”

“Perhaps you would not have me read books on that particular subject?” Julia said to him, with a wicked smile.

He acknowledged his error. “Touché, Miss Maitland! Are you going to confound me with my own remarks earlier this afternoon?”

“Although we shall not be able to stay on at Banford Hall after my father’s cousin inherits the estate.”

He nodded in understanding.

“You could say that I am wasting my time.”

“I doubt very much if you ever waste your time, Miss Maitland.”

Julia’s father smiled at this, but suggested that they should be on their way home soon.

“I do hope that you will both come again,” Mr. Douglas said, looking at his elder son. But Jack was too busy enjoying his plate of cakes and said nothing.

The journey back home was full of cheerful chatter between the sisters, whilst their father listened with approval. It was only when they entered the house that Julia suddenly remembered that she had left her old red shoes behind at the mansion.

Two

Only an hour had passed on the following morning, but Julia was already feeling totally exhausted after trying to explain to her mother everything that had occurred during their visit to Norton Place.

Sophie, her mother’s favourite, had already given a highly coloured account of their day, the excursion that the sisters had taken, with Jack riding with Sophie and Kit Douglas with Julia, and Sophie’s success in jumping the wall when Jack’s mount had refused.

As so often happened, Mama seemed to think that Julia had deliberately not ridden with Jack because she was being difficult, rather than it being the consequence of the headstrong way that Sophie had behaved.

“Mama, Jack Douglas is a really good horseman,” said Sophie, “and we had such fun together out in the park.”

Their mother was less interested in that than whether Julia had been able to have any private conversation with him.

“Mama,” said Julia, “I have already tried to explain that I didn’t ride with Jack Douglas, so I couldn’t have any private conversation with him. But he didn’t seem to be the kind of young man of whom you would approve.”

“The visit was not arranged for you to decide whether I would like the young man,” her mother said in her dismissive way. “Papa made the journey so that you could have an opportunity to meet him.”

Julia decided not to argue.

Her mother had always valued people with a title and inherited property above those who had made their own way in the world. Odd really, thought Julia, since Mama herself did not come from a long-established family.

“Harry Douglas is the kind of man who has always had to buy his own furniture.”

“Buy his own furniture? Mama, what do you mean?” asked Sophie.

“A self-made man has not had the opportunity to inherit handsome furniture, or indeed an estate, from their parents or grandparents. They would have to buy such things themselves, Sophie.”

“But what would Mr. Douglas have bought the Norton Place estate with, Mama? Did you not tell me that it is a very valuable property?”

“I’ve been told that his father was a farmer in only a small way of business. Harry Douglas bought Norton Place with money that he had made himself from trade. His late wife, whose father was a baronet, did have a handsome dowry, but Mr. Douglas himself does not come from a long-established family like the Brandons.”

“If they are not a suitable family for us to associate with, why did we go to see Jack Douglas yesterday?” said Sophie.

“I did not say that they were an unsuitable family, Sophie, only that they were not long established. In any case, Papa particularly wanted Julia to go, and it was Mr. Douglas who suggested that you should accompany them. He has been a good friend to Papa, and he did his best to help us when we had the problem with the bank’s failure.”

“Jack did not seem to be very interested in Julia,” said Sophie. “I thought that he liked me better!”

“He seemed to like animals much better than people in general,” responded her sister.

Their mother decided to change the subject.

“Julia is going next week with Papa to meet Lord Brandon, the heir to the earldom. His family is very wealthy by inheritance, and would provide handsomely for the wife of their eldest son. As you know, Julia is already very friendly with his cousin Emily.”

“I think,” said Sophie, “that Julia likes Freddie, his brother, much better than she does Dominic.”

“You,” said her elder sister, “know nothing about it, and I would be grateful if you would mind your own business!”

For once, their mother frowned at Sophie and told her to keep quiet.

“What did you think of Jack’s father, Harry Douglas?” said her mother.

“I liked him. He has a rather rough and ready way of speaking compared to many people that we know, but he seemed to be a fair-minded person, someone who could be relied upon in a difficult situation, and he was very understanding when referring to David. In fact, he was very pleasant to me in all our conversation.”

Mama did not look impressed by this description.

“And the mansion and the park at Norton Place?”

Julia was beginning to feel rebellious at all this questioning. “It is a gracious house, quite large and very well kept, although perhaps missing a woman’s touch in the furnishings. We only saw part of the park, but Sophie will have told you that there are extensive rides across the grounds.”

“It is a pity,” said her mother again, “that you did not ride with Jack Douglas rather than with his younger brother.”

“You can blame that on Sophie, for it was she who rushed off soon after we got there to get her riding boots, and went off so quickly to the stables with Jack Douglas. That left me no choice but to go with his brother Kit. We had considerable difficulty in catching up with them.”

Her mother, always unwilling to consider any fault in Sophie, frowned and was about to speak again when the housekeeper, Mrs. Andrews, came into the room.

“There is a package in the hall from Mr. Douglas for Miss Julia.”

Mrs. Andrews had obviously been impressed by the messenger, for she ventured to add, “It was delivered by a tall young gentleman, ma’am.”

“A package from Mr. Douglas, how exciting! What can it be?” said Sophie, rushing ahead of her sister towards the hall to inspect the parcel.

Julia, following more slowly with her mother, was puzzled. Why would Harry Douglas want to send her a package, and by a special messenger? She took the parcel—a neatly wrapped box—and carefully undid the ribbon and took off the paper wrapping.

Underneath, inside the silk-lined box, was a new pair of red leather shoes.

“Maybe they were sent by Jack Douglas!” exclaimed Sophie.

“I don’t think that is very likely,” said Julia, very quietly.

“How kind,” said Mama, coming up behind them to look at the contents of the box. “Perhaps your old shoes could not be found? These are such good quality, and just the right size for you, Julia. I have to admit that they are a thoughtful gift.”

Sophie looked disgruntled, for she felt that she was more than due for a new pair of shoes, and not her elder sister.

“I wish that I had lost my old shoes, then he would have sent some to me!”

Julia said nothing and, as soon as she could, put the shoes back in the box and slipped away to the privacy of her bedroom.

There, she sat on her bed and looked at the box. She lifted the lid and ran her hand around the lining of white figured silk. Then she lifted the shoes out, one by one, and put them on the bed cover. The smooth red leather was of the highest quality, and the shoes had been beautifully lined with grey silk, with a pale grey silk cord binding.