“We really don’t.” He regarded her with exasperation tinged with pity. “And I should just like it noted now for the record so you will be in no doubt that you are wrong once this fool’s errand is over. Mark my words, they are having a final tryst before she marries her creaking, corset-wearing cheat in the morning.”
“Remind me again—which of us uncovers the truth that nobody else can find and which of us cannot even organize his own paperwork?” She glared down her nose for good measure to let him know she thought him a cretin, wishing the mention of the paperwork in Shropshire didn’t remind her of the kiss they had shared there.
Clearly amused by her suspicions, he gestured for her to lead the way, so hunched like thieves they went in the same direction of the boots, taking a convoluted route to avoid the path where her prey might see them. He followed her lead as they darted from hiding place to hiding place, chuckling softly as they crouched behind the assorted flower beds and shrubberies, until they spied Lieutenant Fitzherbert pacing to the left of a small ivy-covered pergola that resembled a birdcage.
Diana motioned for him to crouch down further, mouthedOver thereas she pointed to a solitary clump of bushes butting the right side of the pergola.
Giles shook his head. “It’s too exposed and much too close. We’ll be stuck there for the duration, which likely won’t be wise if theyarehaving a tryst.”
“We need to be close else we won’t hear anything useful.”
“What the blazes do we need to hear? If they are having a tryst—which theyare, by the way—we certainly don’t want to hear that!”
“He made her cry, Giles! If he has dragged her out here to continue his onslaught, or worse attempts to bully her into changing her mind, we shall need to hear it to know when to step in!”
As Rory turned his back to stare at the sky, Diana darted across the twenty feet of open lawn before he could stop her. Giles followed and threw himself behind the bush, too, before the fellow suddenly turned and resumed his pacing—this time right in front of the pergola and completely blocking their exit just as he had cautioned.
While Diana pressed her nose against the leaves to watch, Giles nudged her with his elbow. “Do you do this sort of thing often?” He was squatting on the soggy grass and huddling as best he could in the insubstantial fabric of his evening coat. “Because freezing to death in a Mayfair back garden isn’t my idea of a fun way to celebrate Christmas Eve. I hopeThe Tribunepays you well for this nonsense. For the record, I should also like it noted this is a ludicrous way to make a living.”
“Will you stop distracting me while I am trying to concentrate!”
“Well, it is.”
She shushed him again, the whites of his eyes the only brightness in the shrubbery they were now trapped in as they waited in silence for several minutes. The only sounds were the lone hoot of an owl in the distance, the soldier’s boots stamping on the floor while he tried to keep warm, and Diana’s racing heartbeat, which to her disgust was racing more because of the proximity of her vexing companion than the situation.
Suddenly, the boots stilled.
“Pamela!” Rory rushed forward as she hurried up the path and much too close to their bush for comfort. As they ducked to the ground for cover, two bodies collided amid the unmistakable sounds of fevered kissing.
“See!” Giles couldn’t resist hissing in Diana’s ear. “I did tell you she was in no danger.” She narrowed her eyes in response but continued to watch them like a hawk.
When the star-crossed young lovers finally prized their lips apart, it became obvious that Giles, the gloating wretch, was right.
Rory’s anger wasn’t directed at Lady Pamela but at her father, who disapproved of the soldier and was forcing her to marry Stifford. Rory begged her to run away with him—tonight—to Gretna Green and to hell with her father. She initially refused because she was a dutiful daughter, then she capitulated because she loved him and they clung to each other in joy.
It was all very heartfelt and very private, leaving her feeling like a voyeur when the kissing started again in earnest. That was when she finally gave up her eavesdropping and huffed.
“It seems you were right, and the lady doesn’t currently require rescuing.” Oh, how that concession hurt!
“Apparently so and now we are stuck—just as I said we would be.” He shivered and burrowed deeper into his coat, his tone more peeved than self-congratulatory. “Freezing to death and listening to two people in the grip of passion.”
“Should we try to make a run for it?”
Giles assessed their position and shook his head. “They are bound to see us.” To prove that point and make her misery complete, the moon decided to peep from a crack in the dense clouds overhead, illuminating not only the two entwined star-crossed lovers at the entrance to the pergola but the twenty feet of open lawn they would have to navigate to escape back to the terrace unseen. “I say we be brazen about it and announce our presence. Make out we are just having a stroll and enjoying the moonlight exactly as they are.”
“Because that wouldn’t be improper at all, would it?” Diana gestured to their surroundings. “Us emerging from a bush as if we’ve been having a tryst, too!” She was snarling as if their predicament were suddenly his fault, and he grinned at that irony. “I’d be ruined!”
“Why would you care?” He had the gall to laugh. “You are not after a husband and your complete ruination would ensure you were spared any unwelcome proposals. Thoroughly ruined, you can live your life in that blissful freedom you claim to adore so much.”
Sometimes men were so stupid. “If I am ruined, so is my career! One cannot write society gossip, Giles, if one has been shunned by society and isn’t invited to any of their functions!”
“You are overreacting.” She ignored that comment, aware she was indeed overreacting but being huddled next to Giles was scrambling her wits.
“And I should like it noted for the record that I told you so.”
She ignored that, too, fuming that he had the audacity to be right and she would likely never hear the end of it—Giles enjoyed nothing better than sayingI told you so. “We are simply going to have to stay here and sit it out until their business is concluded!” Diana winced as she glanced at the embracing couple and contemplated the full extent of the business they could engage in. “Which hopefully won’t be long…”Please God!“Seeing as they are apparently on the cusp of eloping and they only have a few hours to get away or she’ll be walking up a different aisle with a groom who wears a corset.”
“Then the least you could do is share that ugly shawl with me until they pry their blasted lips apart and run away to Gretna.” He tugged the edge of it and she yanked it away glaring.
