“Did he look like a gardener?”
Lord Timothy paused, his brow furrowed. “Well. No. He looked like one of her employees.”
“Then how did you know he was the gardener?”
“I asked.”
Elspeth nodded. “And therein lies the difference.” She glanced at Sinclair, then back at Lord Timothy. “What do we do now?”
He rose. “I suppose we report to Mrs. Dove-Lyon.” He offered her his arm. Stepping free of the chairs, she took it... and her breath caught. Even the warmth and strength of his arm sent a light thrill through her, and she fought the urge to giggle again.
A feeling short lived. Crossing the main room back to Mrs. Dove-Lyon’s office felt like walking a gauntlet of cheers and catcalls. Lord Timothy tensed, his hand covering hers as they made the walk, Sinclair close on their heels. In mere seconds, Helena and Titan fell into step with them, the expressions on their faces those of warriors.
Once at the office, Titan knocked, then opened the door for the three to enter. As they did, two other people in the room stood, turning to them. Elspeth gasped, her head light, her feet leaden as she stood before the Earl and Countess of Inmarsh.
Her parents.
Chapter Nine
Monday, 17 April 1820
The Lyon’s Den, Whitehall, London
One in the afternoon
Timothy stared atthe three people before him, frozen, until Elspeth swayed by his side. “No!” he whispered, putting his arm around her waist to steady her. “Do not give in.”
Instantly Sinclair was behind Elspeth with a chair she had snagged from somewhere, and together they eased her down as she grabbed shallow, short breaths.
“Breathe deeply. Long, slow, deep.”
She nodded, glancing up at him from under lashes wet with tears.
He straightened, then bowed at the couple. From her reaction, Timothy assumed these were Elspeth’s parents, although he had never met either of them.
Mrs. Dove-Lyon took the lead. “Lord Inmarsh, Lady Inmarsh, may I present Lord Timothy Rydell, brother of the Duke of Embleton.”
Timothy bowed again, unsure of the etiquette of such a situation. After all, how often does one meet an earl when one has just won his daughter in a flower competition?
He should not have worried.
“Oh, I know all too well who he is.” The earl’s deep baritone boomed off the walls. “Youngest brother ofeleven!” He spit the number as if it were some vulgarity. “No future, no prospects, who seeks to ruin my daughter and my family.”
Timothy’s eyebrows arched, and he opened his mouth to speak, but Mrs. Dove-Lyon’s unnervingly calm voice sounded first.
“I am afraid, Lord Inmarsh, that you have been regrettably misinformed.”
Lord Inmarsh’s face reddened, but his wife placed a hand on his arm. “Liam.”
“She is already betrothed!”
Beside him, Elspeth shot up. “I am not! The contracts are not signed, and the banns have not been read. No one outside the family even knows about it!”
Sinclair sniffed but kept still.
Timothy stared at Elspeth, astonishment turning into something stronger, more enthralling. The tears had been wiped away, and her lips formed a firm, bright-red line as her green eyes flashed. His gut tightened, and his heart thumped, and he wondered if this was how Gordon felt when he looked at Ella.
“I gave my word!”
