Introducing Merry and Sir Barnaby Part 2

As part of my wee series of blog posts about the hero and heroine of Resisting Miss Merryweather, here's a snippet of conversation between them.

Anne Merryweather (Merry), the heroine, is the daughter of a noblewoman and a dancing master. We can pretend this image is her father's dancing academy.




Merry's father taught her how to read people's body language--a skill that she uses to read the hero, Sir Barnaby Ware, when they first meet. Here, she's trying to determine his character:

They walked side by side along the riding officer’s path. Sir Barnaby made a good pretense of strolling—he commented on the wildflowers, the limestone cliffs, the seabirds—but it was obvious that most of his attention was turned inward.

If she was to gain any understanding of him, she needed to see the real Sir Barnaby, not this polite automaton walking alongside her.

“I wonder if you ever met my father, Sir Barnaby?” Merry said, watching his face closely. “He was a dancing master. Alexander Merryweather.”

She saw the blink of surprise, the slight blankness of his face as he processed the words, the dawning realization in his raised eyebrows. “You’re Alexander Merryweather’s daughter?”

“Yes.”

That had broken through his preoccupation. Sir Barnaby halted, and stared at her in astonishment. Merry stared back intently. The next few seconds would tell her about his sense of self-importance.

The change from politeness to polite condescension was sometimes overt, sometimes almost imperceptible, but Sir Barnaby displayed none of the signs. He didn’t draw away from her. His chin didn’t lift; it lowered. And it wasn’t haughtiness in his eyes, but interest.

Not a snob.

“I never met him, but I heard of him, of course. He was legendary.” And then Sir Barnaby’s manner altered again. There was genuine sympathy in his eyes, in his voice. “I heard he died last year. I’m very sorry, Miss Merryweather.”

Merry nodded acknowledgment of his sympathy. “Thank you.”

She saw an unspoken question form on Sir Barnaby’s face, and then his expression became politely disinterested. He resumed strolling.

Being astute, Merry guesses his question, and in the course of their subsequent conversation Sir Barnaby gives away a lot more information about himself than he realizes...


[Image courtesy of the British Library (Public Domain).]