Page 48 of Lady Arabella’s Reluctant Hero

"I hope she's not troubling you." John's voice came from just behind her.

She gave a start that made Lucy giggle and her cheeks grow warm. She looked to Lucy. "Is everyone going to take a turn sneaking up on me during my stay?"

Lucy's giggle grew louder. "I certainly hope so. You jumped a foot!"

Arabella narrowed her eyes, but her lips twitched with amusement. "Little imp," she muttered.

This made Lucy laugh outright, and Arabella was a little startled to find John smiling at her too when she finally looked up at him.

How long had he been standing behind them? He was close enough that he could have been listening.

John gave Lucy a little jerk of the head. "Lucy, be a dear and go see if Kit and Clarissa would like a refreshment."

Lucy hurried off, and Arabella had to fight the urge to call her back. Don't go. Don't leave me alone with your father.

But that was ridiculous. She was perfectly comfortable in John's company. She flinched. Lord Alderton, rather.

She had nothing to fear from Lord Alderton.

"Was she bothering you?" he asked.

"Not at all." Arabella glanced over at the girl who'd cozied up next to Clarissa. "She is honest and clever." She added a bit belatedly, "I like her."

She was surprised to realize it was true.

"I see." He sounded nearly as surprised as she felt. "That is…good."

She nodded. He smiled.

Then they stood there. In silence. It seemed neither of them knew what else to say.

Arabella turned her attention to the chaos taking place by the pianoforte and was grateful for the distraction.

She swallowed hard as the silence stretched. Had she really told Lucy that she liked silence?

An odd urge to laugh took hold, but she swallowed it down, suddenly and acutely aware of the few inches of air between his sleeve and hers.

Perhaps she wasn't so fond of silence after all.

16

The picnic had been Clarissa's idea, which meant…John was carrying the hamper.

This was generally how his sister's ideas worked. She supplied the enthusiasm and delegated the labor. Kit was put in charge of the blankets, Thea to choose a location, and Lucy to guard the biscuits with her life.

Arabella had been spared an assignment. Perhaps because Clarissa hadn't expected her to agree to the outing in the first place—John certainly hadn't—and hadn't wanted to push her luck.

Mrs. Lennox had declined the whole enterprise on the grounds of her knees, her embroidery, and, John suspected, a deep moral objection to eating on the ground like heathens.

They settled in the south meadow. Clarissa kicked off her shoes before the blankets were fully spread, which sent Lucy into shrieks of delight. John found a patch of shade under the old elm and resigned himself to a long afternoon of being the only sensible person present.

"Leucanthemum vulgare," Thea announced, pointing at a cluster of daisies near the stream.

"Those are Margarets," Lucy corrected, crouching beside her.

Thea blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"Margarets. I named them." She pointed to one. "That one is Margaret, and that one is also Margaret, and the tall one by the rock is Lady Margaret because she is the biggest."