Adrian shrugged. “One is ice. The other…fire.”
Yes, Miss Eliza Wainwright was definitely fire. He just had to make certain he did not get burnt.
The next day,Lady Asquith planned a morning outing for her goddaughters in Hyde Park. Though the day was warm for late winter, the five girls bundled up in their best woolen stockings and cloaks.
Eliza did not mind. In her opinion, any day without rain was a day to enjoy the out-of-doors.
Lady Asquith instructed the coachman to find a patch of dry grass where a chair might be set up for her in the shade. The place he chose had a splendid view of the man-made lake, the Serpentine.
In no time, Annette and Lenora, the youngest two girls, had ingratiated themselves with a pair of nurses out with their charges.
Once certain Lady Asquith was otherwise occupied—from her perch, Lady Asquith chuckled at the sight of Nettie quacking back to one of the ducks to the obvious delight of a small blond boy giggling with glee—Eliza huddled with Cassie and Millie.
“Now will you tell me what went on between you and Harbury?” Eliza asked.
Cassie’s eyes widened. “But I already did tell you.”
“You didn’t tellme,” Millie pointed out.
“He was very gentlemanly.” Cassie glanced between Eliza and Millie, encountering two expressions of consternation. “Well, he was!”
Millie glanced heavenward. “Cassie, define gentlemanly.”
“Well.” Cassie’s cheeks pinkened. “For one, h-he asked if my seat was comfortable.”
“Astonishing!” Eliza exclaimed in a whisper. “Do you mean to tell me the duke had a thought for someone else besides himself?”
“What else?” Millie asked.
Cassie scowled. “He complimented the soprano’s voice.”
Millie pulled a face. “Ohhh! He’s musical, too?”
“Stop it, Millie. H-he was…nice. He fetched me a drink.”
“Redver did as much for me, not to mention Godmama.”
“Speaking of Redver…” Cassie shifted positions. “I noticed the two of you getting quite cozily while Godmama was sleeping.”
Cozy—as in comfortable and warm. Yes. In the end, they had been quite cozy. Eliza looked toward the water. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Eliza, you shook hands with him!”
Eliza suppressed a shiver, remembering the hot, strong feel of his gloved fingers. The same fingers that had worked her into a frenzy as the Blackbird.
“Eliza!” Millie gasped in mock shock. “You shook hands with the same Lord Redver you criticized as aloof and arrogant?”
Of course, Millie would remember such a detail. “We shook hands only because we agreed to be friends.”
“Youlikedhim?” Millie asked.
“I didn’t say I liked him,” Eliza calmly replied. “I said we’d agreed to be friends.”
But she had liked him. Too much. He already haunted her dreams. How much proximity could she take before she started to develop an inconvenient attachment?
Or worse—accidentally revealed herself?
“Friendship”—Cassie leaned forward—“implies liking.”
