Chapter 36：YOUR MANNERS ARE NOT POLISHED

And the Countess did make a very compelling picture, Annie acknowledged. Coolly elegant and always serene, she was exactly the kind of well-read and intelligent woman who would appeal to Ian Sinclair. Just as she had obviously appealed to his brother.

How did she think she might compete with women like this for Ian Sinclair's interest? Annie wondered.

"Of course," Elizabeth said, seeming surprised by the question. "And now I really must insist, Annie."

She stepped into the room, clearing the passageway for Annie and giving her no choice but to go through it. As she crossed the hall outside, Annie could hear the Countess's voice from the library behind her.

"I thank you for your recommendation of the Voltaire, my dear," she was saying to her brother-in-law. "If you have time, I should love to discuss some of his views with you."

"I have nothing but time, Lizzie, as you well know, and there is nothing I should enjoy more than a matching of wits with my erudite sister."

"You make me sound like a bluestocking," Elizabeth said, laughing.

By that time, Dare's butler was holding the front door open for Annie. Heartily regretting that she was not allowed to at least sit and listen as the two of them talked about something far more substantial and interesting than boot-blacking recipes and blood stock, Annie Darlington stepped outside as reluctantly as if the fate that awaited her was far more dire than Mr Travener and an Italian soprano. At that moment she truly couldn't imagine any fate that might be worse.

*~*~*~*

"Annie, I should like to introduce you to my brother, the Earl of Dare," Ian said.

Apparently he was becoming proficent at lying because there was nothing about this introduction he liked. He had been dreading it since his brother had made known his feelings about 'Darlington's chit'. It was not that Ian didn't share Dare's disdain for George Darlington, but in the weeks he had known Annie he had found nothing of the father reflected in his daughter.

"Val, may I present my ward, Annie Darlington?"

He held Dare's eyes as he said it, warning him to guard his tongue.

Surprisly, the Earl seemed amused as he returned that brotherly look. When his gaze finally focused on the woman standing before him, Dare made a rather pointed assessment of her before he even acknowledged the introduction.

"Miss Darlington," he said. Dare's voice, thankfully, betrayed none of the contempt he had previously expressed.

"My Lord Dare," Annie said, dropping a graceful curtsy and holding out her hand.

"Bravo," Elizabeth said.

Dare's gaze lifted to his wife's face. "A test, I presume. Should I be honoured or insulted to be it's subject?"

"I was complimenting Annie on handling the introduction so beautifully," Elizabeth said. "It's a shame, my dear, that your manners are not so polished."

"Indeed," Dare said, with a small bow in her direction before he turned back to Annie. "I'm charmed, Miss Darlington," he said with an obvious vein of sarcasm.

"The pleasure is all mine, my Lord," Annie said, her dark eyes as mocking the Earl's. And then she added, "I am sure from your demeanour that it must be."

There was a small silence.

"Be glad you aren't a highwayman," Ian said.

Silently he applauded Annie's refusal to be intimidated by the Earl. And if there was anything designed to win Dare's approval, it was a quick wit and someone brave enough to challenge him at his own game.

"You almost make me wish I had been there that night," the Earl responded.

"No, I assure you, you do not," Annie said. "I've never spent a more terrifying few minutes."

"I understand from my brother that you saved his life."

"Your understanding is flawed, my Lord. Quite the reverse, as a matter of fact. Mr. Sinclair saved mine."

"Since you have been thrust together by the terms of your father's will, I suppose it's only to the good that the two of you are so mutually admiring. But it does make it difficult for an outsider to ascertain the truth of what happened."

"The truth is that your brother came to my rescue at a cost to himself of which you are very well aware," she said softly.

"Indeed I am aware of it. I wasn't sure that you were."

"Believe me, my Lord, I am very cognizant of the debt I owe my guardian. My understanding is not flawed."

"Are you always so forthright, Miss Darlington?"

"I hope so, my Lord," Annie said pleasantly. The glint in her eyes left no doubt that she knew she was being goaded and was determined to give as good as she got.

"Then I'm afraid I have come on a fool's errand," Dare said.

"I am sorry for it if you have," she replied, sounding almost sincere. "With the recent rains, the roads must be a nightmare. What was the errand that brought you to London, lord Dare? Simply to remind me of what I owe my guardian?"