Then, Rachel’s head swiveled to him, and so did the Lord she was with. He pretended not to see her and retreated into his room, trying and failing to see past the red heat spiraling inside his chest.
***
“Who was that?” Lord Strathmore asked, his brows lowering, and the formation of a scowl begin to form on his face.
“Beg your pardon?” Rachel asked, with her heart leaping in her chest. “Who?”
“That man who was on a balcony just over there,” Lord Strathmore gestured to the house and the terrace where William had once stood but was now empty.
“I don’t see anyone,” Rachel said while training her gaze in the direction Julius had pointed towards. “Perhaps it was one of my father’s menservants? That is the servant wing, My Lord.”
“I do not know,” he said. “His look was not one of a servant’s. He looked almost angry and was glaring at me.”
“Well, I do not see him, and I do not think he matters,” Rachel said while reaching to rest a hand on the Lord’s chest. “You were telling me how you work in the capital?”
Lord Strathmore’s eyes skimmed over the still empty balcony with suspicious eyes before he turned back to face Rachel. “Ah, yes. As you know, I have my marquisdom, but I have a secular business. The Prince Regent has commissioned me to source personal objects for him. Things of curiosity and rarities that he finds interesting.”
So, this is why mother is happy—another Lord that had an ear to the Regent.
Instantly, Rachel's stomach soured. He was handsome and young, all the things she had expressed to her parents that she wanted, and here he was, with a way into the Capital, which was what her parents wanted. He was the perfect man with the balance for her, which is what her parents would tell her.
She could imagine the discussion now, with them telling her that she had gotten what she wanted with the Lord, a young, handsome man. And Rachel could not deny it. But she did not want her or him to be a pawn in her parent’s chess game.
“I see,” she nodded. “If you are not breaking any rules, can you tell me what the oddest…well, oddity that the Prince requested?”
He laughed. “He asked me to find a boar baby rattle from Greco-Roman archaeological recoveries, and he asked me to find a flying squirrel from East India.”
“A rattle? From that far back in history?”
“You would be surprised, My Lady,” he mentioned. “Since our civilization was formed from theirs, it would mean that their traditions came from them too. The Prince might be odious, but he is a learned and brilliant man. He recalled the Greek philosopherAristotlesays in one of his treatises that young children should be given one and many of them have the figure of a pig or a boar, so he asked for one.”
“But to what purpose?” Rachel marveled as she stopped at a rosebush.
He shrugged while reaching out for a flower. “I do not know, nor do I care to know. All I do is what he asks me to do.”
Snapping the flower off, he handed it to her. “I would compare the rose to your beauty, but your face far outweighs the simplicity of this flower.”
Rachel blushed. Taking the flower, she smiled, “Thank you.”
He leaned into her ear, “When we marry, I will free you from these horrid dresses. You deserve to be clothed in silks and satins. The finest cloths in the kingdom and be celebrated at the treasure you are.”
Jane’s subtle cough had them pulling apart, but his words still rang in her mind. His promise was tantalizing, and while a part of her wanted to see it, she knew that if she gave in, she would be damning her and him to the machinations of her parents.
“That is very…” she paused, “…appealing, My Lord.”
“It is my promise to you, My Lady,” he flashed her a grin. “I can get all the silks and satins you want. Gold from Egypt, jade from the East, and pure diamonds from Africa.”
He said it sincerely, but Rachel felt a bit conflicted. Did he want to marry her for her beauty, or did he want to marry her to make her a fashionable accessory on his arm?
“I am honored that you think so highly of me, My Lord,” she added.
“You deserve it,” he added as they began the stroll again. “Tell me, My Lady, what do you do for enjoyment?”
Brushing the flower over her cheek, Rachel snorted. “I would not say it for enjoyment, but the only place I do go to away from my home is our local church. I go to balls here and there, but church is all I know.”
He stopped short, eyes wide with shock. “Nowhere? Hyde Park? Drury Lane Theatre? Vauxhall?”
She gasped at the last one. “Vauxhall? The Pleasure Gardens? That place of sin? No, thank you.”
