I know I have seen this young woman naked, Michael Winslow, Viscount Althorpe thought.  He was just seated at a table at Gunther's with his niece.  He studied the red haired young woman in the brown bombazine gown intently.  He had vague memories of unbound titian hair cascading over creamy skin.  He watched as she pointed out to the shop attendant the cakes and pies she wished to purchase. He remembered full, rose-tipped breasts--   

 "Uncle Michael, I don't think you heard a word I said," Maggie said plaintively interrupting his thoughts. 

 He looked at niece Maggie distractedly and quickly said, "I was just wondering if you were going to have just an ice or some cake as well."   This seemed to mollify Maggie somewhat. One did not expose one's female relatives to the members of the demimondaine.   He continued to study the young woman as she made her purchases with one part of his brain focusing on his niece's chatter.   

 The young woman must have felt his regard; she looked over to him enquiringly, then with smiling recognition.  Michael somewhere in the back of his mind remembered her smile, but for the life of him he could not place the acquaintance.  He had vague memories of the warmth of summer and the crisp fragrance of cool clean country air. These transient memories momentarily displaced the fragrance of fresh baked pastries and the oppressive humidity of the sweet shop.  For him to have such intimate knowledge of her nude form, he must have known her well indeed.  He surreptitiously hazarded a wink in her direction. 

 The young woman waggled her fingers discreetly at him and hurried out of the shop.  He noticed a young man in rough clothing trailing after her holding some of the packages. 

"...and then the pink bunny told me that rainbows had jewelry in them-"

Michael refocused his attention to his niece with a start.  "What talking pink bunny?" 

"I wanted to see if you were paying attention," his niece looked at him a long suffering expression on her face.  "What was I talking about?" 

"You were talking about your new saddle and bridle that you received for your birthday." 

"You may have heard me but that young woman had most of your attention," the little girl said.  

"I was just thinking that your new boots should be exactly the brown of that woman's dress."

Maggie looked at him knowingly, not taken in by this obvious ploy by her uncle Michael, "My new habit is blue, I think black would be better, as you should know." 

Michael took one last glance at the door through which the young woman disappeared and refocused all of his attention to his niece.      

 He remembers me, Emily thought, as she quickly walked towards her aunt and uncle's townhouse.  There was a new lightness in her step, as she was dodging puddles left by a brief summer shower.  She forgot about her tiredness from the two day trip from Bath in a closed coach and the sweltering heat.  She was transported in her mind to the time that Michael Winslow and his father visited her family when she was but fourteen.  As he was an older young man of eighteen, she was pleased and delighted when he played games with her.  He treated her as a friend, and she fell headlong into calf love with the tall dark haired young man.  About mid week she must have worn out his good will. He started to avoid her company and sought more mature entertainments at the local tavern.  She was heart-broken at the time.  Looking back from the maturity of her years, she realized that the exclusive company of a fourteen year old girl must have palled after a few days. 

 She walked up the front steps, and took a deep breath of the fragrance of fresh baked goods. She wished to dispel the memories of that long ago summer and focus on the here and now.  With age comes wisdom and common sense, she needed to fix her thoughts on possibly contracting an alliance.  The one thing she had not had since her father died was her own family.  Her relatives treated her well, but she never seemed to stay anywhere long enough to develop emotional attachments. No one kept her long enough to become attached to her.