Janna moistened her lips desperately, aware of the curious glances from the older women, but her throat muscles seemed paralysed and would not obey her. And then, as if in answer to an unspoken prayer, the sound of men's voices was heard and the drawing-room door opened to admit the remainder of the party.Pouring fresh coffee, adding cream, and enduring some rather heavy-handed compliments from the men, Janna was reprieved.When the coffee was finished, someone suggested bridge. Janna was secretly appalled. She had mastered no more than the rudiments of the game, but all her protests were firmly overruled, and she found herself making an unwilling fourth with Colin and the Becketts.Sir Robert and Rian did not play. After walking round the tables and bending a benevolently expert eye on everyone's hands, Sir Robert suggested to Rian that they should withdraw to his study, and after a pause Rian quietly assented. As he passed Janna's table, she sent him a long, pleading look. His brows rose and his mouth twisted slightly as he followed in Sir Robert's wake, and she could read nothing from his enigmatic look.
