Thea made some excuse and headed back toward the duchess and her entourage. Alderton offered his arm. "Would you care to walk? The South Walk is meant to be particularly lovely."
She took his arm, and they fell into an easy stride along the lamplit path.
Alderton made pleasant conversation. He pointed out the cascade, a painted spectacle at the far end of the walk that drew crowds every evening. He told her about his first visit to Vauxhall as a boy, and then about how his daughter reacted when he took her to a traveling fair.
She laughed at his stories, and they walked on. But all the while, she was keenly aware that Sebastian was tracking their progress from behind.
He’d followed them. She couldn't see him, but she could feel it. That specific prickle of heat that had become as familiar as her own heartbeat.
It was with this knowledge that she… Well, she began to perform. Her smile was a smidge brighter, her laugh a touch louder. And yes, she may have shifted just a little closer to Lord Alderton.
After a little while, Lord Alderton stopped, so she did too.
"Miss Hale…" Lord Alderton’s voice was gentle and slightly different in tone. "May I be frank with you?"
"Of course," she said. But her stomach tightened. The shift in his manner set her off-balance.
Perhaps she’d gone too far in her act. A niggle of guilt had her biting her bottom lip. Perhaps she’d given Alderton the wrong impression. What if he took her smiles and laughter to heart? Oh dear. What if he asked for her hand, or?—
"You are a remarkable woman, Miss Hale." He turned to face her. "I hope you know that. This Season has been immeasurably brighter for your company."
The words were so kind but only made Estella’s anxiety increase. She didn’t have to look back to know that Sebastian was following their every movement. But that was not her immediate concern.
Oh drat, she’d been so solely focused on her own desires, she hadn’t taken Alderton’s feelings into consideration. "Lord Alderton, I ought to explain."
"But I suspect…" He continued as if she hadn’t spoken, a sparkle of amusement in his eyes. "The gentleman you're hoping to impress this evening is not me."
The punch glass nearly slipped from her fingers. Heat flooded her cheeks. "I—that's not—I haven't been?—"
"Please." He smiled, and her stammering died in her throat. "You needn't explain. I recognize the look."
"The look?"
"My late wife had it." His eyes softened with memory. "When we were courting. She'd be speaking with another, perfectly attentive, perfectly charming. And her gaze would drift to whatever corner of the room I happened to be standing in. She couldn't help it. She told me later that she'd tried very hard not to look." He paused. "She failed spectacularly."
Estella's throat grew tight. She didn't know what to say. She wanted to apologize, to tell him she hadn't meant to be unkind, that she genuinely valued his company.
"I must admit, while my wife might have occasionally let her gaze turn my way, I was far more foolish." His smile turned wry as he reminisced. "I made an utter fool of myself chasing after her everywhere she went. If she so much as smiled at another man, I felt the sudden urge to fight the poor chap."
He laughed, and Estella found herself smiling at the warm sound. But when he turned back to her, that shame came back. "I am sorry, Lord Alderton. I won’t deny my attention has been…elsewhere. But I did not mean to?—"
"Miss Hale, please do not apologize." In the golden lamplight, his expression was entirely without rancor. "I am not wounded. I promise you that. I've enjoyed our acquaintance enormously, and I hope we shall remain friends."
"I would like that," she managed. "Very much."
"Good." His smile widened, and a glint of mischief appeared that she'd never seen from him before. "And if it would be useful, I'm happy to continue playing my part this evening."
She blinked. "Your part?"
He leaned closer, dropping his voice. "Blackwood has been glaring at me since you took my arm." A pause. "I confess I find it rather entertaining."
A startled laugh escaped her. Alderton's grin turned delighted. "Shall we give him something to really worry about?"
Estella pressed her lips together, but she just barely stifled a delighted laugh. "Lord Alderton. Are you suggesting we conspire to make the Marquess of Blackwood jealous?"
"I'm suggesting we take a turn along the Grand Walk, and I lean in to share an amusing observation, and you laugh as though I've said the wittiest remark you’ve ever heard." He offered his arm again with exaggerated gallantry.
They continued their stroll, and Alderton delivered a fine performance. He leaned in close and whispered that the ham in the supper boxes was, by all accounts, inedible, and that the arrack punch tasted like someone had dissolved sugar in turpentine.
