with herself for blushing, also laughed, and then Mrs. Rufforth moved away and he sat down beside her, setting her heart beating so that she thought he must hear it.
"Tell me, this is your first season, is it not, Miss Anna? I am sure I would have met you otherwise, for although I have been much abroad, I was in London last spring. How do you like London life?"
"I like it a great deal, there are so many interesting parties to go to and things to see and do. I don't know how I ever filled the day before, but now every hour is crammed with some scheme or pleasure."
He laughed at that. "Are you a reader? My sister is always pleased to be in London where she can borrow so many books from circulating libraries."
Anna said, "I love novels, but not serious books such as everyone here is talking about."
"Ah, Mrs. Rufforth always gathers high-minded people about her, she is famous for it."
Anna noticed that a tall, dark man standing by the fireplace, a little aloof from the company, was watching them, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Why does that gentleman stare at us so? I did not catch his name, who may he be?"
"I will introduce you if you like, that is Mr. Vere. A rising man in government circles, he is destined for a distinguished career. I do not believe he stares, he is just wondering how I come to be so fortunate as to be seated by the prettiest girl in the room."
Anna was enchanted by the compliment, but said, "Oh, no, pray do not do any such thing. I merely wondered who he was, with that intense look. He seems extremely clever and I'm sure I would have nothing to say to him."
From the other side of the room, Vere watched Mr. Standish with sardonic amusement. He had asked Standish to bring him to this gathering, not because he particularly wished to join in the conversation, but because he knew that a certain man he wanted to meet, the Comte de Saint-Valèry,
was likely to be there. At this kind of gathering it would occasion no comment if he spoke to the man, whereas in other circumstances to meet him or engage in conversation with him might attract unwelcome attention.
The Comte was an émigré who had escaped from France and the guillotine by the skin of his teeth. He was fiercely opposed to Napoleon, and had managed since his arrival in England to keep in contact with many people in France , so that Vere's chief, Mr. Darcy, now head of the Alien Office and in charge of Intelligence, considered he was a man worth cultivating.
"He will do nothing to betray his country, but anything he can to bring down Bonaparte," he told Vere. "I do not need to warn you to take care of how and where you speak, you know that Napoleon has eyes and ears everywhere in London . Even, I fear, among those of who work in this department." He sighed, but said no more about it, merely telling Vere to report back as soon as he could.
Vere and the comte had met, exchanged words, and then moved apart, each of them with a professional air of disengagement is as though there had been nothing important or serious in what they were saying. But Vere had gained some interesting and valuable information about the situation in Paris .
"There are rumours," Saint-Valery said before he drew away, "that the First Consul, the odious Bonaparte, intends some new mischief at the point where war is declared again. I do not know just what he plans, but it will some devilish scheme you may be sure."
Vere turned this over in his mind and wondered if he might slip away. No, it was too soon, he must make some effort with other people so that his meeting with the comte was not in any way conspicuous. He looked over to the sofa, where Standish was sitting, still flirting with that young woman. Trust him to have picked out the prettiest girl in the room; my word, she was making eyes at him, charming eyes too, big and dark and full of life. It was time that Standish found himself a bride, but not a Miss like this, for all her fetching ways. He needed a
"Tell me, this is your first season, is it not, Miss Anna? I am sure I would have met you otherwise, for although I have been much abroad, I was in London last spring. How do you like London life?"
"I like it a great deal, there are so many interesting parties to go to and things to see and do. I don't know how I ever filled the day before, but now every hour is crammed with some scheme or pleasure."
He laughed at that. "Are you a reader? My sister is always pleased to be in London where she can borrow so many books from circulating libraries."
Anna said, "I love novels, but not serious books such as everyone here is talking about."
"Ah, Mrs. Rufforth always gathers high-minded people about her, she is famous for it."
Anna noticed that a tall, dark man standing by the fireplace, a little aloof from the company, was watching them, a thoughtful expression on his face.
"Why does that gentleman stare at us so? I did not catch his name, who may he be?"
"I will introduce you if you like, that is Mr. Vere. A rising man in government circles, he is destined for a distinguished career. I do not believe he stares, he is just wondering how I come to be so fortunate as to be seated by the prettiest girl in the room."
Anna was enchanted by the compliment, but said, "Oh, no, pray do not do any such thing. I merely wondered who he was, with that intense look. He seems extremely clever and I'm sure I would have nothing to say to him."
From the other side of the room, Vere watched Mr. Standish with sardonic amusement. He had asked Standish to bring him to this gathering, not because he particularly wished to join in the conversation, but because he knew that a certain man he wanted to meet, the Comte de Saint-Valèry,
was likely to be there. At this kind of gathering it would occasion no comment if he spoke to the man, whereas in other circumstances to meet him or engage in conversation with him might attract unwelcome attention.
The Comte was an émigré who had escaped from France and the guillotine by the skin of his teeth. He was fiercely opposed to Napoleon, and had managed since his arrival in England to keep in contact with many people in France , so that Vere's chief, Mr. Darcy, now head of the Alien Office and in charge of Intelligence, considered he was a man worth cultivating.
"He will do nothing to betray his country, but anything he can to bring down Bonaparte," he told Vere. "I do not need to warn you to take care of how and where you speak, you know that Napoleon has eyes and ears everywhere in London . Even, I fear, among those of who work in this department." He sighed, but said no more about it, merely telling Vere to report back as soon as he could.
Vere and the comte had met, exchanged words, and then moved apart, each of them with a professional air of disengagement is as though there had been nothing important or serious in what they were saying. But Vere had gained some interesting and valuable information about the situation in Paris .
"There are rumours," Saint-Valery said before he drew away, "that the First Consul, the odious Bonaparte, intends some new mischief at the point where war is declared again. I do not know just what he plans, but it will some devilish scheme you may be sure."
Vere turned this over in his mind and wondered if he might slip away. No, it was too soon, he must make some effort with other people so that his meeting with the comte was not in any way conspicuous. He looked over to the sofa, where Standish was sitting, still flirting with that young woman. Trust him to have picked out the prettiest girl in the room; my word, she was making eyes at him, charming eyes too, big and dark and full of life. It was time that Standish found himself a bride, but not a Miss like this, for all her fetching ways. He needed a
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