After Nate straightened, Exeter continued, “And this is Lord Turley.”
They shook hands.
Nate willed his hands not to start sweating again.
Exeter stepped over to his wife, who was standing next to Miss Stern. “Miss Stern, may I present Lord Fotherby?”
If she was as nervous as Nate was, he could not see it. She looked as cool as a glass of iced lemonade on a hot day.
“It is very nice to finally make your acquaintance, my lord.” He thought her lips tilted up at the corners, but it was hard to tell, for the corners of her mouth rose naturally.
She held out her hand, and he remembered to bow, and take the slender digits in his. She was not wearing gloves, and he wished he was not either. Nate remembered he’d have to remove them to drink his tea. Still, he fought to keep his fingers from closing tightly around hers. “Yes. It is”—splendid. No, he couldn’t say that—“delightful to meet you. Itwasyou riding in the Park with Lady Exeter.”
“It was.” Her bright, moss-green eyes met his and searched them. Still, she left her hand in his, but pulled her plump lower lip between small white teeth. “I think we must have a conversation. Do you not agree?” He glanced at the others. “They know all of it.”
“I see.” Knowing that, he was shocked her friend had arranged this meeting. “We must indeed speak.”
Lady Exeter came over, and Miss Stern removed her fingers from his. Her ladyship handed Miss Stern a cup and waited for him to remove his gloves before giving him his cup. “I hope you like the way I prepared it, one lump of sugar and a splash of milk.”
At this point he’d agree to anything. “Yes, thank you.”
Her ladyship pointed to a spot on the other side of the room. “There is a very interesting painting that my husband picked up while he was in Italy. It is on the far wall.”
That was well done of Lady Exeter.
“Thank you.” Miss Stern gave her friend a relieved smile. “I thought I had looked at them all, but I see this has just been hung.”
“It took me some time to decide on the right frame.” Her ladyship smiled as well. “I shall save you each a slice of spice cake.”
“How very kind of you.” Miss Stern’s smile broadened. “It is definitely my favorite receipt for spice cake.”
“Naturally it is.” Her ladyship returned Miss Stern’s smile.
Nate glanced at both ladies. There was some sort of private joke about the cake. He wished he knew what it was.
Lady Exeter raised her brows and glanced toward the painting. “I cannot save the cake for long. Both Exeter and Turley have developed a fondness for it.”
Nate was sure he saw Miss Stern almost roll her eyes, but she placed her hand on his arm. “We had better get to it. The spice cake is truly wonderful. Lady Turley and another of our friends stole the receipt and shared it.” Miss Stern’s lips twisted as she wrinkled her nose. “Well, perhaps ‘stolen’ is not the right word. They took a piece of the cake and asked Lady Littleton’s cook to replicate it.”
A smile tugged on his lips. He had only just met her and her friends, but he liked them already. They were more fun than any of his previous chums had been. “Definitely not stolen, then. More like ‘copied’ in the way that many artists copy the works of famous painters in order to learn.”
“Well said, my lord,” Lady Exeter announced. “That is a much better way to look at it. They did the same with the lemon biscuits.”
Nate couldn’t stop himself from chuckling. “You have enterprising friends.”
“Oh, you have no idea,” Miss Stern muttered under her breath. “We had better look at the painting.”
They ambled to the far end of the room and stood before a newly framed painting, with their backs to the others.
At first he wondered if he should start speaking or if she would ask, then she said, “Please tell me what exactly happened. Why did you abduct my sister?”
“I was stupid.” That was the short answer. However, the one raised brow and the imperious look on her face that reminded him of her grandmother informed him that she wanted a longer explanation. “I would like to blame it on a lady who had told me your sister had compromised Merton with the intention of marrying him, and he really wanted to marry her cousin. A lady who was on his list.” Miss Stern’s eyes flew wide. Nate gave her a rueful look. “Yes, he had a list he’d decided to choose from. That, though, is but part of the story. You see, I was not present that evening. The evening Merton and your sister were caught together.”
Miss Stern’s jaw dropped for a second before she recovered herself. “They were caught together? No one told me that part.”
“They were. But as I said, I was not there, and I really didn’t know her. I wanted to believe it was true. That she was so desperate to marry, she would do something like that to catch a husband. Knowing Merton as I did—he and I had been friends since we were children—I knew he was too honorable not to wed her. Not only that, but I knew she was not on his list. Suffice it to say that Merton and I were very high sticklers. We were members of the Tory party and believed many things I now think are not only questionable but wrong. I digress.”
A line formed between Miss Stern’s brows. “How did you meet him?”
