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“No, you’re not,” Leticia said with a sorrowful shake of her head. “You’re only making everything worse.”
“Letty,” Harry whispered her name as he dropped his hand, and all the steam puffed right out of him. “You can’t mean that.”
“Get out of the water, Harry. Go see your mother. She’s close to tears, and your father…well…he’s prouder than ever, but still…get out of there at once and tend to your family.” Harry bowed his head and trudged from the water, brushing his shoulder against Richard’s as he went. “And you,” Leticia said as she stepped from the water back onto the shore. Not once did her eyes meet his but she whispered, “I need to speak with you. Alone.”
CHAPTERTHIRTY-ONE
“Lady Leticia!” Eliza’s voice called out to her, rising above the din. For when Leticia exited the river with Richard in tow, she realized all at once that the park had descended into chaos. Pandemonium reigned as the Dowager continued to flutter about, waiting anxiously for Richard to finally come fully out of the water. Uncle Sebastian stood not far off, already proudly regaling a small crowd with the tale of how his son managed to take on a Duke and pommel him quite soundly. It was no matter that everyone here had already seen the spectacle of the two men fighting in the river or that Harry had done no such thing as Richard was perfectly unscathed. The onlookers gawped at Sebastian, drinking in his lively retelling. Leticia did not spy on her aunt, but she assumed Aunt Amelia must have moved toward the river as well to help Harry out and to console him, of course, as he was likely to be upset after fighting with his friend.
“Over here!” Eliza shouted once more, and Leticia gazed off in the distance where her friend stood. She was on tiptoe, waving one hand in the air. Leticia led Richard toward Eliza.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Eliza replied. “Well…” she paused, “that is a bit of an inaccurate statement, but there is nothing at all wrong withme, so I thought it best—” she paused again and shook her head. “Take my carriage, Leticia.”
Leticia cast a sidelong glance at Richard who was dripping wet. “I do not think that wise. He will ruin the upholstery.”
“The two of you need to make a hasty escape, otherwise a throng will descend upon you,” Eliza whispered. “My driver will take you wherever you want to go.” As if on cue, Mr. and Mrs. Hoffingbrooke’s small carriage wound around the bend and came to a sudden stop in front of them. “Quickly,” Eliza commanded. “Make haste. And should anyone ask after the pair of you, I will feign ignorance.”
“Thank you,” Leticia whispered.
“Do not thank me yet,” Eliza replied. “You must be away before someone sees the two of you leaving together unchaperoned.”
Richard, who had stood silent this entire time, stepped forward then and swung open the carriage door. He offered his hand to help Leticia inside, but she refused to take it, preferring to mount the step on her own. Once she was safely inside, and Richard was climbing the step as well, she pounded on the roof of the carriage and shouted, “To Braxton Manor!” The driver yelled something to his team, and as Richard closed the door behind them, the carriage gave a lurch and began rolling. Richard had not taken a seat yet, and he stumbled, having to hold his hands on both sides of the compartment to prevent himself from toppling over.
“You couldn’t have waited until I was safely seated?”
“You could have tried to hurry. You heard what Eliza said. We had to get out of there before anyone saw us. Besides, we will have some privacy at Braxton Manor and—”
“Do we need privacy?” Richard interrupted as he carefully maneuvered himself into the seat across from her. He was not trying to be coy. She could tell by the mild look that was on his face that he was truly bemused.
“I would prefer to have this discussion without every member of thetonwatching us, but if you’d like to go back to the Garden Party, I’m sure the others will be simply delighted to—”
“No, no,” Richard stopped her with a wave of his hand. “Mrs. Hoffingbrooke did well sending for the carriage. I must thank her properly later.”
Leticia snorted and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’ve seen the way you treat your friends. I’d much prefer that you leave Mrs. Hoffingbrooke alone.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
She ground her back teeth. The overpowering scent of river water flooded the cabin, and she closed her eyes to try and calm herself, but it was useless. There was so much she wanted to say to Richard, and when this carriage stopped at Braxton Manor, she intended to push him out of it, so that left very little time for conversation. “How was the ballet, Your Grace?” Her words dripped with vitriol, and she surprised even herself with the open hostility she showed him.
Richard seemed genuinely surprised as his entire upper body jerked. He came to sit in a very stiff posture. “I did not go to the ballet.”
Leticia eyed him coolly. “I can understand why your mother would continue to associate with Miss Loery and her family. I can even forgive the Dowager for inviting those odious people to her Garden Party today because she does not know the full story. But you? How can you, knowing full well what Miss Loery really is, even want to spend time in her presence?”
Richard’s shoulders slumped. “I have not spent time with Miss Loery. I only saw her today because—”
“Oh, please.” Leticia cut him off. She flicked her wrist at him. “If you intend to lie, do be quiet.”
“But you said you wanted to talk,” Richard replied, his whispers just barely audible.
Leticia felt all her frustrations building inside her. She scooted closer to the window so that she might breathe deeply a fresh gulp of air. “I do wish to speak to you, but not if you are going to dance around the truth.”
“Fine,” Richard said crisply. “Let’s talk about what really happened between us. We spent the night together, and the next morning I awakened to find you had disappeared. Hours later, I found that you had not just fled from your own home, but you had gone so far to escape spending another moment in my presence that you went all the way to London. I followed you here, only to be greeted by a note from you, stating that our relationship was concluded.”
Leticia pulled back from the window, dropping the curtain as she did. She blinked twice, processing his words. “I never wrote you a letter.”
“Yes, you did,” he accused. “I came after you as soon as I could, and that very same day, I received your message.”
