Felicity decided not to argue too much. She’d left her parents behind on the terrace, sipping the last of their tea and chatting genteelly with Mrs. Langley and some of the others. That meant that Felicity could speak as she liked, but if a bad report got back to her mother, there might be consequences.
Speaking of consequences, here was Lord Vincent.
They walkers clustered together at the entrance to a neat little path of hard-packed earth, just large enough for two people to walk abreast, forming themselves into pairs. Lord Vincent materialized at her side, and offered her his arm, grinning.
“Shall we walk, Miss Thornhill?” he said, in a low voice. “We’d better not fall behind the others. It’s shockingly secluded along here.”
“Miss Thornhill, I believe you’d agreed to escortmeon this walk.”
Lord Vincent stiffened, the smile freezing on his face. Almost sagging with relief, Felicity turned to find Lord Lanwood standing behind them, hands folded behind his back, his face impassive.
“I beg your pardon?” Lord Vincent snapped. “I believe I just asked Miss Thornhill to accompanyme.”
“I’m sure,” Lord Lanwood agreed, his expression placid as ever. “But in light of my rather sudden attack of megrim last night, Miss Thornhill kindly offered me her arm along this walk. I’m sure the fresh air and greenery will do me good.”
Felicity had not, of course, offered any such thing, but that hardly mattered. She was being offered a way out, and she fully intended to take it.
“Naturally,” she said, giddy with relief. “I am sorry, I should have said something.”
There was nothing for it but for Lord Vincent to ungraciously step aside. Lord Lanwood offered his arm to Felicity, and she took it gratefully.
Of course, that wasn’t the end of it. Lord Vincent followed them along the path, stamping bad-temperedly behind, as the path was not wide enough for three.
He’d told Felicity it was scandalously secluded, but that was an exaggeration. Lucy led the way, glancing back to see where Felicity was and relaxing a little at the sight of her on Arthur’s arm. They weaved slowly around the old rose-gardens, which were grown prettily wild, and through the forest-like wilderness. The group moved slowly, their aim being to chat and admire the scenery rather than to stretch out their legs in earnest. Bit by bit, Felicity and her escort – and their ungracious hanger-on – overtook pair after pair until they were almost leading the party.
“How is your megrim now, Lord Lanwood?” Felicity asked, after a long pause. “You seem a little brighter now than you did last night.”
“My head is fine, thank you,” he responded. “In fact, I…”
“Oh, goodness,” Lord Vincent snorted. “My dear Arthur, are we to hear the sum of all your health complaints, as if you were an old maid or a doddery matron? Come, spare us.”
Felicity shot him a sour glance, which he did not seem to notice. Lord Lanwood’s cheeks coloured, just a little.
“What about you, Lord Vincent?” he responded. “How isyourhead? You must have been befuddled last night, to let your champagne glass slip so easily out of your hand. You would ordinarilyneverlet go of something like that.”
The insult was clear, and Felicity bit her lip to keep from smiling.
“Come, gentlemen,” she said airily. “Let’s not pick at each other like a pair of hens. We should be enjoying our walk, not snapping at each other.”
“I’m fairly sick of this endless walk,” Lord Vincent muttered. “I’m going back.”
“I shouldn’t go back if I were you, not if you want to finish walking soon,” Lord Lanwood responded.
“Oh, wouldn’t you? And why not?”
“Because we’ve come in a full circle. Another ten minutes, and we’ll arrive on the other side of the lawn, in sight of the terrace and a refreshing cup of tea. If you go back the way we came, you’ll walk the whole loop again. It’ll be a tremendous waste of time.”
Lord Vincent snorted. He elbowed rudely past the pair of them.
“Well, well, I’ll walk on ahead of you, then. You two walk so slowly I feel as though I’m walking with a pair of old ladies. Do excuse me.”
Without waiting for a response, he marched on ahead, stamping as though he were angry at the earth. In a moment, he was out of sight around a bend.
Felicity couldn’t hold back her laughter. She chuckled helplessly, leaning heavily against the earl.
“Oh, lord,” she gasped. “I think we’ve offended him.”
“Oh, I hope so.” Lord Lanwood agreed. She glanced up and was gratified to see a small smile on his face. “I can’t say I enjoy Lord Vincent’s company much.”
