“Lady Eloise Barclay.”
He nodded. “That works. I have yet to make her acquaintance. This will be a good opportunity. How long is the scavenger hunt expected to last?”
“About three hours,” Fiona replied.
“Good, then she and I will have time for a long conversation.”
“Excellent,” she remarked, her smile turning a littletoobright. “I have only spoken to her briefly, but she seems lovely.”
“Is that so? Then I shall look forward to getting to know her better.”
She tipped her chin into the air. “Yes, do.”
He noticed Fiona’s upraised chin begin to wobble as though she were going to cry.
In truth, he was not surprised. This had been a difficult day for her, first finding out about Cherish being in the family way and possibly Margaret, as well. Then to see him willing to escort another lady around, even if it was atherurging, was still a bitter pill for her to swallow.
“Fiona,” he said gently, “you are the one who is pushing me to do this.”
“I know. But I sincerely want you to meet these young ladies.”
“Then why are you frowning at me?”
“I am not frowning,” she said while doing exactly that. “I am ecstatic for you, so do not try to wriggle out of our agreement.”
“Yes, I can see how genuinely you are smiling,” he said with sarcasm. “Go ahead, call out our names and let’s get on with this game.”
Since he was to spend the next three hours in the company of Lady Eloise Barclay, he hoped she would turn out to be tolerable.
He had to admit, Cherish and Fiona had not done badly in selecting these ladies. Only Anne was an outright mistake so far, a snake in lamb’s clothing, or whatever the expression. The pointwas that she was sneaky and not to be trusted, something Fiona would have spotted immediately had she spent any time in her company. Perhaps Cherish had been the one to choose her, for Bromleigh’s wife was far more trusting and gullible than Fiona.
Their choice of Millicent was not a bad one, however. Unfortunately, Millicent was an adventuress—intelligent and thoughtful, but meant for a man who also had the desire to explore exotic lands.
Florence was quirky, smart mouthed, and independent. In truth, she reminded him a little of Fiona, and he liked Florence because of this.
But he dismissed her as a possible match because she did not have Fiona’s warmth, and this was a must for him. If he took a wife for himself, she needed to be someone he could trust to love and protect their children with all her being.
That was Fiona. It was not Florence.
And now, he was to learn about Eloise.
Or not, he realized when greeted with a tepid smile from thistonbeauty.
She did not appear pleased to see him, and actually retreated several steps as he came to stand by her side now that everyone had been matched to a partner and instructions were given out. There were eight couples paired off and eight of each scavenger hunt item hidden in the woods.
“Eight items on this list. Not so bad,” he remarked, hoping to put Lady Eloise at ease, for she did not look particularly excited to be participating in this game.
She gave him a blank stare.
“We are only required to find one of each.” He cleared his throat, and then continued when she made no remark. “For example, the duchess has hidden eight eggs painted pink, but we must only take one to put in our basket. If we come across another pink egg, we must leave it for another couple to find.”
She still said nothing.
“Shall we start?”
She nodded.
He groaned inwardly. Did the girl forget how to speak?
