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No, wouldn’t want to mar her perfect marble complexion.
“Papa!” Millie yelled a few feet away. “Look at this beautiful rock I found!”
Rhys smiled briefly at Lady Isabel and hurried toward his daughter. He complimented Millie on a truly extraordinary rock. Then they continued on the way to finding a place to eat, with Lady Isabel lagging behind while Button galloped circles around them.
When they finally reached a bank of the stream, Lady Isabel spread a blanket on a fallen tree trunk. She and Rhys sat opposite each other on a log while Millie settled on a small boulder across from them. Button lay at Rhys’s feet, begging for food with his gaze.
“I like it here,” Lady Isabel said after a few moments of silence. “I used to have a favorite spot on the bank of a stream just like this at the Gage estate.”
“I know,” Rhys said around the bite, then raised his head, realizing that he’d said too much. “I mean, that is my favorite spot, too. I wager a lot of young people like to sit by the stream and… do whatever young people do.”
Lady Isabel let out a musical laugh. “And what would that be, my lord? As ancient a marquess as you are, you certainly do not remember!”
Rhys cleared his throat. Her tone was teasing, and he wanted to keep the banter going, but all he could remember at that moment was her surfacing from under the water like a siren and forever enchanting young Rhys.
He didn’t care much for water, but as a young man in love, he often came to her favorite spot to seek her out. But then a darker memory clouded his happier ones, and he shook his head. “Alas, you are right. The memories of my youth are tarnished by the years passed.”
“That can’t be! You must have some amusing stories from your young days.” Lady Isabel smiled at him and popped a sandwich into her mouth.
“I like to swim!” Millie interjected, and Rhys was glad for the interruption.
“Truly? You can swim?” Lady Isabel turned toward Millie.
“Yes, and very well. My father taught me,” Millie answered proudly, and Rhys beamed at her.
Lady Isabel tapped a finger against her lush lips. “Well, it is good to know how to do it, but I would not advertise this activity to other people.”
Millie puffed out her lips and narrowed her eyes on the marchioness. “Why?”
“Because thetonfrowns upon brazen ladies who display unladylike behavior,” she said.
Rhys snorted, and Lady Isabel threw him a withering glance.
“There are far more suitable activities for ladies. Such as embroidering, watercolors, oh, and playing the pianoforte. Would you like to try them sometime?”
As an attempt to entice a little girl into a boring activity, it failed miserably. Millicent grimaced. But then her face lit up, and she proclaimed proudly, “I can climb trees and sling rocks, too!”
Rhys chuckled. “Let us not shock Lady Isabel anymore. She might have conniptions.”
Millicent shot up from her boulder and jumped on the log behind Rhys. She then climbed over him and settled on his lap. He bounced her on his knee as she reached for a grape and popped it into her mouth.
Lady Isabel pursed her lips in disapproval. “I do not think you should encourage your daughter’s wild behavior. If we are to have guests soon, she should display proper decorum.”
“I’ll leave boring her out of her wits to you,” Rhys said.
Isabel narrowed her eyes on him. “Boring? I thought you called me scandalous before, and now I am boring?”
Millie kept reaching for grapes, her head flashing back and forth before Vane’s gaze, making it difficult to concentrate on the conversation.
“Well, you are boring with children and apparently scandalous with everyone else.”
Lady Isabel gasped. “You truly do not know me enough to insist on such an assessment of my character.”
Vane bowed his head. “You are right. I apologize.”
Lady Isabel was taken aback, but she composed herself quickly. “As I was saying, all Millie needs is a good example and a few lessons—”
“Papa! Look!” Millie turned in his lap, her mouth full of grapes, and she kept stuffing more and more into her mouth.
