"So, it is as I thought," the Marquess of Kenwood said, hanging up the lantern inside the door of the pavilion and removing his cloak in order to shake the raindrops from it. "She is not here."
They had reached the pavilion beside the river just as the rain started to fall in earnest. A quick glance had shown them that the building was empty. A series of calls from the doorway had made it obvious that Angela was nowhere in the vicinity.
"I knew you were right," Diana said, also removing her damp cloak, "as soon as you suggested that this was one of my mother-in-law's schemes. We should have gone back.'' Her last words were almost drowned in a loud rumble of thunder.
"And spoiled her evening?" Lord Kenwood said. "That would have been quite unsporting of us, Diana."
"Well," she said, looking about her and thinking not for the first time how absurd it was to have a building so splendidly furnished in the middle of the woods, "the countess seems to have played into your hands, sir. This is the kind of opportunity you have been waiting for two weeks, is it not?" She seated herself on an elegant Queen Anne chair and looked with what she hoped was cool nonchalance
at her companion.
"Unfair, Diana, unfair," he said, strolling across the small room to seat himself on a comfortable sofa. "I do believe you have wanted the opportunity as much as I. But I don't intend to argue the matter with you. I shall surprise you and behave like a perfect gentleman. What shall we talk about?"
She stared at him and could not think of a single thing to say.
"This looks promising," he said, one eyebrowraised."The weather?That is a safe topic and one that allows for endless profound comments. Do you suppose this storm will be short and sharp? Or will it turn into a night of steady rain? What is your considered opinion?"
"It is raining too heavily to last," she said. "I believe it will be over in an hour."
"Ah," he said. "We have the makings of a protracted discussion here. I disagree, you see. I believe that after the thunder and lightning have passed, the rain will fail to take the hint. I predict typical English drizzle for a fortnight."
Diana was stuck for words again.
Lord Kenwood drummed his fingers on the arm of the sofa. "You are not much of a conversationalist, are you, Diana?" he said. "Shall we try a different topic? Or perhaps you would like to sing? Shall we take turns, or shall we try our duet again? ft is a pity we did not learn a whole repertoire, is it not?"
"How absurd!"Diana said rather crossly.
"And how ungrateful!" the marquess said, both eyebrowsraised. "I am trying to save you from a fate worse than death, Diana, by distracting my mind, and you accuse me of being absurd. I am mortally offended. Are you afraid of the storm, by the way? I have two perfectly free arms with which to shelter you if you are."
"No, thank you," Diana said, "I am not."
"I did-not think you would be," he said."A pity.No, perhaps not a pity.If I were to touch you, I might find it impossible not at least to try to ravish you. It is a dreadful fate to be a notorious rake, Diana. We have so little self-control when confronted with beautiful ladies inside secluded buildings in the dead of night and in the middle of a storm.''
Diana's lips compressed. "You always speak with that tone of levity," she said. "Is nothing serious to you?"
One corner of his mouth lifted in a wry smile. "I am taking this situation far more seriously than you seem to realize, Diana," he said. "I am filling the silence, my dear. What is the alternative? You know as well as I do that if silence falls between us, I shall walk over there and kiss you. And we both know where that is likely to lead. Is that what you want?"
"I am surprised that you even ask me," she said tartly. "Are you trying to tell me that it is not what you want?"
"Ah, Diana,'' he said,' 'you are a coward. Are you afraid to answer my question? Must you merely throw it back in my teeth?" He grinned at her.
Diana jumped and gripped the arms of her chair when a particularly vicious flash of lightning was succeeded almost immediately by the crash of thunder.
"Are you afraid?" he asked.
"No."
''What are you going to do?" he asked.' 'When mis house party is at an end, I mean."
"I shall go back home," she said.
"To your father's house?" he asked. "How do you plan to find another husband?"
She looked at him, feeling herself flush. "Finding a husband is not the whole goal of my life," she said. "And I don't think I can discuss the matter with you."
"I shall miss you," he said.
She smiled fleetingly. "I doubt it," she said. "The world is full of barmaids and chambermaids and ladies' maids and ladies who are not satisfied with the lives they lead."
