Dinner had long since been cleared and the ladies had moved into the drawing room to find their own amusements, which were not particularly amusing at all. Just as Mama had predicted, the Earl of Highland had been at dinner, but they’d been seated quite far from one another. All of Mama’s ill-mannered attempts to engage the earl in conversation from across the table had resulted in little success. For her part, however, Amelia had seen enough. Although nearly sixty, the earl seemed as healthy and robust as a man half his age. His death did not appear imminent in the slightest. The Earl of Highland went immediately to the bottom of the list. Still, she smiled and nodded demurely at the earl, who greeted her enthusiastically and asked after her health and how she found the weather. No sense in being uncivil to the man. Highland might not look sickly, but one never knew when one’s health might take an unexpected turn for the worse. Amelia quickly took the note from the footman’s gloved hand and glanced about the drawing room.
