She looked over the banisters and saw a cloaked man enter."Good day, John. My cousin at home?""Yes, sir. In the library."The visitor shed his cloak and other outer clothing. "A fire in the hall? What's the world coming to?""Changes, sir," John said, but to the visitor's back. He was striding without hesitation to the library door. He opened it without a knock. "Ben, changes? Tell me all!"Lily retreated, but not to the drawing room.Cousin? She hadn't inquired about Ben's family tree. Perhaps she should have. The visitor was in riding clothes, but everything about his voice and manner was familiar to her -- it spoke of court and Town, of the glittering sphere she'd once known, if only from the edges.She wished she could hide, but Ben would be bound to summon her down to meet his relative.She hurried to the bedchamber and looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't know that man, so they might never have met. On the other hand, Tom had moved in fashionable circles and sometimes brought cronies home.Then there was the trial.
