~From the diary of Lady Fiona MacKintosh—Feb 1893
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Eve looked up frombeneath the wide brim of her hat to find Lord Aylesbury pulling his mount to a halt a few yards away.He dismounted, sweeping off his hat with a slight bow.Pushing herself up to a more proper sitting position, she greeted him, shooting a look at Fiona, who hadn’t yet noted his arrival.
“Good morning, Lord Aylesbury.Would you care to join us?We’ve brought a picnic.”
The marquis also looked at Fiona before casting a smile down at Eve.“I would love to.”
Tying his reins off to a nearby branch, he joined her, dropping down on the edge of the blanket and tossing his hat to the side.Reaching out, he tickled Alice’s belly and grinned at her.“She’s a splendid girl, Lady Glenrothes.You’re fortunate.”
Eve nodded.“I am.Alice seems to like you.”
“I fear I’m becoming quite fond of her myself.”With a smile, he let Alice entrap his finger and draw it into her mouth, but his gaze had already been drawn away.Eve didn’t have to follow it to know where he was looking.
“And not only fond of Alice, I believe?”
He inclined his head slightly, conceding the point.“She hates me, you know?”
Given her conversation with Fiona, denying it would have been senseless, but Eve felt the need to add, “Hate is a strong word and a stronger emotion.”
“Yes.”He nodded, watching Fiona as she handed some bread to Lela and helped her toss it into the water.She looked so happy.As fresh and appealing as a summer day in her simple beige linen walking suit, her laughter lifted his heart with its joyful lilt.“But I’m glad for it.I know that sounds odd, but indifference would have been harder to bear.Hate I can work with.”
“So you do intend to ‘work with it,’ as you say?”
It was pushy and more than a little improper to ask such a thing, but Eve couldn’t help herself.The marquis was eminently more likeable than Ramsay.Aylesbury turned back to her, his bright blue eyes filled with more delight than Eve had seen from him yet since coming to London.
“Yes.Would Glenrothes mind, do you think?”
“Vin and Richard might,” she teased.“But I believe Francis would approve.But, dare I ask, considering her feelings toward you, are you certain this is a project you wish to take on just now?I fear you have more than enough on your mind.”
The light in his eyes dimmed, and Eve was sorry to be the cause of it, but she had to ask.He nodded.“That isn’t a problem that is likely to solve itself anytime soon.”
“Have you had any news of her?”
His head shook in a grim negative.“No and while I’m not likely to, I find as time goes by that my own life needs some tending to.I need to do something for my own happiness.”
Something in his wording sat ill with Eve.“I shouldn’t like to think that you would consider Fiona some sort of compensation.”
“Please have no worries there.I have an honest affection for her.”
Eve frowned.She didn’t quite like the sound of that either.She wanted something more for her sister-in-law than something so blasé as ‘honest affection.’
“What are you doing here?”
They both looked up to find Fiona standing above them with Lela propped on one hip.Her expression, which had been sunny all morning, was as dark as a thundercloud.
“Lord Aylesbury just happened by,” Eve told her.“I invited him to join us on our picnic.”
“Uninvite him.”
“Fiona!”
“No, Lady Glenrothes,” Aylesbury jumped to his feet, smoothing down the sleeves of his jacket as he considered Fiona steadily.“It is quite all right.I’ll go.”
“No,” Eve insisted firmly.“You will stay.Fiona, please sit down.”
She shook her head stiffly.
