Charlotte let out a peal of laughter. “I hope you told your theory to Vyse?”
“I tried to, but it was hard to get a word in edgewise. He was going on and on about birds, you see.”
“Birds?” asked Helena.
“Endlessly! How songbirds mate for life but he’s a soaring eagle. Of course, he’s dead wrong, as Georgie could have told him—songbirds are quite the little jezebels, while eagles are strictly monogamous.”
“I hope you corrected him on that, at least?” asked Charlotte. “I get such pleasure from telling a certain type of man that he’s wrong and trying to guess what shade of red he’ll turn.”
“I couldn’t be bothered, to be honest.”
Charlotte nibbled on her berry, which made her think of the Grand Salon and Wolfgang’s mouth on her—
“Well!” she squeaked. “I say good riddance to Lord Vyse.”
Elizabeth frowned. “If you’ve so little liking for him, why’d you invite him down?”
“Ididn’t.” Charlotte cocked an eyebrow at the dowager.
Lady Alice picked up her teacup with a sniff. “Lord Vyse is the grandson of my dear friend Serena Ellingwood, who moved away to the deepest wilds of Cumberland after her marriage and whom I see so rarely. She’s aching for Vyse to settle down, so what could I do but invite him to Clare?”
“You might have said no, or at least suggested that he not arrive drunk?” offered Charlotte.
“Poor Serena. Well, you can see why she asked for help.” Lady Alice’s shoulders began to shake. “Imagine having such a grandson.”
“Speaking of prowling,” said Alexandra, “I regret to inform you that Vyse mentioned lions to me. How the strongest men need a pride.”
Helena frowned. “Why bring so many animals into it?”
“Well,” said Alexandra, “I heard rumor that once he—”
The door cracked open and Wolfgang thrust his head in.
Charlotte sucked in a shaky breath, but Lady Skeffington sat up straight and shouted, “HOW FASCINATING, LADY ALICE! DOTELL US MORE ABOUT THE FERTILIZATION REQUIREMENTS OF THE DOUBLE MUSK ROSE?”
Wolfgang took in Lady Skeffington’s dismay and Alexandra’s glow of mischief. He glanced briefly at Charlotte, too, and her cheeks caught fire. “Ah, yes, the garden club. With all the cackling, I forgot you were engaged in scholarly pursuits.”
Charlotte rallied enough to tilt her head. “I’m not sure we’ve been scholarly, precisely, but we had the most fascinating discussion about rakes and other garden tools.”
Lady Skeffington began to choke.
“Lady Alice,” Wolfgang said, “you requested that I meet you here at four?”
The dowager blinked innocently. “Why, yes. Charlotte, the duke was asking about our cherry orchard the other day—”
No, I wasn’t, Wolfgang mouthed at Charlotte.
“—and it occurred to me that you have an appointment with Mr. Milstead this very afternoon to inspect the trees. Would you bring Warrick along with you, dear?”
This wasn’t my idea, Wolfgang mouthed again.I know you’ve been avoiding me. His face was screwed up half with laughter and half as if he thought Charlotte might toss a cushion at him.
But Charlotte smiled, wide and wicked. “Oh yes, Your Grace, you must see our orchard. You’ll find itmostinformative.”
CHAPTER 41
What was Charlotte up to, the scoundrel?
Wolfgang pondered the question as he waited at the bottom of the stairs for her to change for their walk to the cherry orchard.
