Penny-Miss Penelope, Daisy corrected herself- was roasting, whilst she was freezing. At this rate she was not going to be upstairs in time to have anything unpacked by the time Miss Penelope got to her room, desperate for a change of clothing and a cup of tea. On top of that, hairpins were sticking into her scalp, her head ached from the severity of her braided hairstyle, and she was as badly in need of that tea as her mistress. But it would surely be her turn next; the other women were vanishing upstairs, dressing cases in hand, without a backward glance at their humble colleague.

There was a stir near the front door, another draught of icy air around Daisy's ankles, and footmen bearing down on her with yet more luggage. Shiny, expensive luggage. Lots of it. Drat. Fuming, she stood aside to let all six of them past. And sauntering along in their wake, a handsome dressing case in hand, was an individual Daisy had no hesitation in recognising as a very superior valet indeed.

He was tall, he was dark, he was lean, and he moved not like a man who spent his life polishing boots and arranging neck cloths, but like one who was at home in the saddle. He was unsmiling, his regular features handsome enough if you liked that sort of thing, she thought critically, watching from the side of the stairs. Then he saw her. Daisy frowned as a pair of deep blue eyes swept over her from head to foot in a comprehensive and very male assessment. Impertinent wretch! Her lips were parted as she almost spoke the set-down aloud, and then in the nick of time she remembered who and where she was.

Her teeth snapped shut, catching the tip of her tongue painfully. Eyes watering, Daisy stood in fulminating silence as the valet passed. And then he winked at her. Nothing else on his face moved except for that one lid, and then he was vanishing up the stairs, long legs taking them two at a time.