That initial impression had begun to change with her growing appreciation for his energy and intelligence, and it had been affected even further by her pleasure at being treated as an equal and taken seriously on her own terms for almost the first time in her life. Then came their sharing of the difficulties posed by their respective parents, and now a mutual appreciation of the same political ideas. After being introduced to so many self-absorbed, heedless young men who spared little, if any, thought for the responsibilities of their aristocratic heritages, Althea had never expected to discover a kindred spirit in the worldly Marquess of Harwood, whose reputation for gaming and women of ill repute hardly suggested that he would give a second thought to country concerns, much less the plight of the rural poor. Althea climbed into bed that night looking forward to the next day with more pleasure than she had since leaving Lincolnshire for London. It seemed that she had a friend at last.
