“Would you like for me to join you on your ride through Hyde Park?”
“You are welcome to join us, but won’t your mother be disappointed if you miss all the gentlemen who will be calling on you today?”
Emma frowned. “I hate sitting around in the drawing room and waiting for callers. It’s dreadfully boring.”
“I can imagine.”
“If I have to embroider one more handkerchief with my initials on it, I believe I might literally go mad.”
“You poor thing,” Ellie teased.
Emma smiled. “You are only getting a reprieve because you’re going riding with Mr. Cosgrove.”
“That I am.”
“Are you interested in him as a suitor?”
“Frankly, I am interested in everyone, since they are surely better than Lord Worthington.”
“Mr. Cosgrove is rather handsome.”
“That he is,” Ellie replied. “I wouldn’t mind looking at his face for the remainder of my days.”
Emma smirked. “The only fault that I can see in him is that he is a poor judge of character.”
“He is?”
With a bob of her head, Emma replied, “Yes, because he is a good friend of my brother’s.”
Ellie giggled. “That is terrible of you to say.”
“It makes it no less true,” Emma joked.
A knock came at the door, interrupting their conversation.
“Enter,” Emma ordered.
The door opened and a maid walked in. She met Ellie’s gaze and announced, “Mr. Cosgrove has arrived, and is waiting for you in the drawing room.”
“Thank you,” Ellie replied as she smoothed down her blue riding habit.
Emma gave her a knowing look as the maid departed from the room. “Are you nervous?”
“I am,” she admitted.
“That’s a good sign.”
“It is?”
Emma smiled up at her. “It means you have something to lose.”
Tossing her hands up in the air, Ellie declared, “I have everything to lose.”
“Don’t look at it that way,” Emma encouraged. “Have an enjoyable time but do remember that everyone is watching you.”
Ellie swallowed nervously. “You are terrible at giving encouraging speeches.”
“You are going to Hyde Park,” Emma said. “You will be on display, even though you are not going during the fashionable hour. Gossips are always waiting to pounce on the latest scandal.”
