“Hmm.” Aunt Almeria wasn’t convinced. “You’ve never struck me as the feeble sort, either with or without a full belly.”
“Usually I am not.” Lottie’s fingers were now crossed so tight, the tips of them were pink as she did her best to wriggle out of exposure. “But today really was quite the ordeal. Even for m-me.” She managed to inject a distraught hitch to that last word and Guy almost spat out a mouthful of crumbs. “But I am fine now, thank goodness. Just feeling a little… well, fragile, I suppose.”
“Oh, go and have a lie-down then!” Aunt Almeria shooed her away with a complete lack of sympathy and Lottie happily bolted.
That was when his mother and his aunt turned to him with twin do-you-think-we-were-born-yesterday expressions and Guy realized that he was about to be interrogated too. “I should also go.” He wasn’t stupid either. “I need to check on Juno. She’s a valuable horse and might need some medical treatment herself.”
“I smell shenanigans, Guy Harrowby,” said his mother to his retreating back, “and, rest assured, we are not done with this yet!”
He could have gone back to the stables, but did not trust either Miss Maybury or Lady Lynette not to track him down and dominate his afternoon, so instead decided to take Zeus out to visit some of his tenants. Although he could hardly go dressed like this. He had donned a formal outfit for this morning’s ride. Too formal for a casual catch-up with those who worked his land, and thanks to Lottie’s mad dash, his cream breeches and once-shiny Hessians were covered in dust and mud. He needed to change first and was on the way to his bedchamber when Lottie’s head poked out of her door.
“Thank you very much, Judas!” It was a toothless reprimand because it was accompanied by a begrudging smile. “You were more hindrance than help down there. Spread-eagled indeed! And do not get me started on the ‘Lord Wennington, you are my hero’ nonsense.”
“You thought my improvised additions too much? My apologies for not being as natural a liar as you are.” He shrugged, not bothering to hide his amusement. “Probably because I didn’t realize that simply crossing one’s fingers behind one’s back canceled a lie out.”
“Ah…” She colored slightly. “You saw that, did you?” Then she grinned. “I am aware that it is a wholly pathetic thing to still be doing at my age, but I am afraid I’ve been doing it for too many years to break the habit. It was something my older brothers always did to get themselves out of trouble with our parents and it’s stuck. I am also a dreadful liar if I don’t cross them.”
“Yes—I noticed how all the um-ing and er-ing stopped the secondyou crossed them. It was fascinating.” As was she. Every facet of her bold and unconventional character intrigued him.
She leaned her head against the doorframe, seemingly as keen to linger and chat as he was. “Do you think they believed me?”
“Absolutely not. Do you?”
“No.” She sighed. “I am in for more questions once your aunt gets me alone again, aren’t I?”
“Undoubtedly.” Guy rested his back against the opposite wall. “Tell her the truth. My aunt Almeria has always had a warped sense of humor and will find that story hysterical. Just as she doubtless found hiring the Infamous Galloping Governess amusing. But I take it Lord Chadwell didn’t.”
She winced. “No.”
“I went to Cambridge with his son.”
Her expression instantly shuttered. “Are you and he friends?”
The mere thought of the wastrel had Guy pulling a face of disgust. “Absolutely not.”
“Good.” She edged back into her room, her sunny smile back, and gestured to her hair. “I’d best go fix the soggy bird’s nest on my head before Lady Frinton comes to tear me off a strip. Can you believe that some ungentlemanly scoundrel thought it funny to almost drown me in half the pond? I certainly shan’t be saving him from all his annoying admirers at tonight’s bridge tournament. Instead, I shall amuse myself by taking a seat at the back and leaving him to their mercy while I eat jam tarts.”
“I shall survive for one night unchaperoned.” He shrugged, matching her playful tone. “After I beat you tomorrow,Miss Travers,my hordes will all be your problem because you will become my constant bodyguard who has to fend them all off.” While his heart wanted him to linger longer and flirt with impunity, his sensible head told him that this seemed like the most prudent time to back away. “Enjoy your lie-down and your inevitable dressing-down, Miss Travers.” He pushed himself away from the wall. “And thank you for saving me today.”
“Good luck with tonight, Guy.” She went to close the door then stopped, her expression suddenly serious. “Please keep your wits about you with Miss Maybury. You don’t want to end up ruined.”
Sometimes she said the darndest things. “Can a man beruined?”
“He can be compromised into marrying a woman and I wouldn’t put it past her to try.” There was concern in her lovely eyes.
“I have managed to fend Miss Maybury off for at least two years all by myself.”
“Maybe so, but I fear she has decided to up her game because of all the competition. Just know, that although you do not stand a cat’s chance in hell of winning me as your chaperone tomorrow, I will come to your aid with her for the duration if she gets to be too much. The same goes for Lady Lynette. Send me a signal.” She raised her right palm. “I solemnly pledge to do whatever it takes to protect your virtue.”
“That is very decent of you.” They shared a smile. For Guy at least, it felt profound. “I look forward to your sworn protection at dinner.”
The few gentlemen present, including Guy, went off to play billiards after the bridge tournament and, as it was close to midnight, the ladies then began to drift off to bed. Lady Frinton was one of the first to go, and Lottie had to attend to her before she could come back down and keep watch. As it wasn’t the done thing for a mere companion to rejoin the esteemed guests without her mistress, she took herself off to the library. Picked a book and a chair nearest the cracked-open door so she could check that both Lady Lynette and Miss Maybury had retired to their rooms before she dared retire to hers.
The male laughter drifting down the hallway as she descended the stairs suggested that either the billiards, or more likely the port and cigars, weren’t ending anytime soon. Nor was the excited ladies’ chatter coming from the drawing room, so she settled in for the duration.
She was a whole chapter in when Lady Wennington poked her head around the door. “Do you mind if I join you?”
“Of course not—it is your house after all.”
