“There’s to be dancing here in the gardens later this evening,” Lady Tabitha said. “I should like to attend.”
“Of course. We’ll go at the time of your choosing, and I’ll stay within eyeshot, should you need anything.”
She tilted her head. “You do know that you could dance, too, if you wished?”
He met her gaze. “I am not on holiday. I am under the employ of the Viscount Oldfield.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “Twenty-four hours a day?”
He shrugged. “Same as any other.”
She frowned. “Does he allow you no time at all for yourself?”
“What do I need time for?” he asked lightly.
“Dancing, for one.” Her answer was flippant, but her expression was serious.
“I don’t dance.”
This was only partially true. The fact of the matter was, Hudson would eagerly dance every song the orchestra played—if he could do so with Lady Tabitha.
In theory, Marrywell was the one place on earth where such an unlikely event might actually happen. The matchmaking festival was known for uniting lovers across backgrounds and class lines. If Hudson weren’t accompanying his employer’s betrothed, a fair portion of the crowd would have no objection to him standing up for a dance with any woman willing to concede twenty minutes of her time.
But Lady Tabitha was already promised elsewhere. And Hudson was employed by her intended to look after her well-being and nothing more.
“Well, if a country maiden catches your eye and you change your mind…” Her voice lowered and her eyes sparkled. “I promise not to tell your employer.”
The only woman he had eyes for was Lady Tabitha. It had been that way for years, and Hudson feared it would forever be so, even after she became Lord Oldfield’s wife. But he did not wish to think about her future matrimony. For now, the two of them were on their own—likely for the one and only time in their lives. Viscount Oldfield would intrude soon enough. Hudson didn’t wish to waste a single moment of his limited time with Lady Tabitha.
“The dancing isn’t until this evening,” he said instead. “What would you like to do this afternoon?”
She bit her lip and glanced about the botanical gardens. As beautiful as the flowers were, the grounds were too vast to cover in a single day, and they had already walked amongst the colorful blooms for nearly two hours.
“Something else,” she said. “Something different.”
He raised his brows. “Like what? Shall we gamble away your fortune? Join a circus? Hold up a stagecoach?”
She pretended to consider his outlandish suggestions, then shook her head shyly. “Could we visit the animals in the livestock tents?”
Hudson would wrangle a lion for her with his bare hands, if she asked. Of course he would accompany her to a livestock tent. Not for the first time, he wondered just what her life was like under her father’s thumb to make her think a request so simple might not be granted.
And whether she would fare any better once she was leg-shackled to the viscount.
“We shall visit the livestock without further delay,” he assured her, taking the first path in that direction. “Are you more fond of cows, sheep, or pigs?”
“My only encounters with any of them are when they’re served at the dinner table,” she admitted. “I’ve never been on a farm.”
“But you’ve visited the livestock at previous festivals, at least?”
“No,” she said softly. “Father considers cattle too rustic for a lady.”
He stared at her in disbelief. “You’ve never seen a cow?”
Her cheeks flushed prettily. “Barns are dirty and farmers are common. I was instructed to remain amongst my peers in the gardens or the assembly rooms at all times.”
In other words, visiting the livestock tent was a minor rebellion. Possibly the first she’d ever undertaken. Hudson could not imagine being so sheltered as to think pigs and sheep exotic animals, but he was absolutely determined to grant her any desire he was capable of.
“Follow me to adventure,” he informed her gallantly.
