“I have been there on several occasions, but not recently. Since taking over the title from my uncle last year, I find myself very busy with running the estates and taking my seat in the House of Lords. It has been an eventful year. I will be heading to my seat in Kent at the end of this week, but perhaps later this summer we can go together sometime?”
“Yes, that would be nice. I will be visiting Lady Gilchrest and Lady Caroline in a couple of weeks in Kent.” They arrived at a small pond where little baby ducks swam behind their mother in neat rows. “Oh, look how adorable they are.” Vivian exclaimed.
“I thought perhaps we would need these.” Davenport pulled a small bag from his coat pocket and handed it to her. She opened the bag and found it filled with bread crusts. Hmmm…well-traveled, an art lover, and a savior of hungry ducklings? He was shaping up to be quite the contender.
She laughed aloud. “Always be prepared.”
****
Jack was having breakfast with his mother when Andrew came into the room. He bent to kiss his mother’s cheek and then poured himself a cup of tea.
“Andrew, you are up early and looking bright-eyed this morning,” Mother commented.
“I had the best night’s sleep I’ve had in months last night. I feel as though I could conquer the world today,” Andrew replied. Jack exchanged a surprised look with his mother.
Andrew came over and sat across from him. “Jack, would you like to go for a ride in the park this morning? I have an excellent mare you could use while you’re in town.”
“Um, yes, I would like that,” he replied. “Let me go get changed.”
Pleased at this first overture of friendship from his brother since their talk the other night, he hurried upstairs to change into his riding clothes. An hour later they were trotting through Hyde Park in companionable silence. They headed up a tree-lined path near a pond dotted with lily pads.
“Isn’t that your girl over there, throwing bread to the ducks?” Andrew inquired.
A short distance away Vivian and a tall gentleman stood near the edge of the pond. She looked at the man, and her head tilted back in laughter. He frowned. “I told you she’s not my girl.”
“Whyever not? You obviously have an interest in her. Why are you holding back?”
“It’s complicated.” His brother raised an eyebrow in question. “She is here in London to find a respectable gentleman, to marry and settle down.”
“And you’re not ready to marry and settle down? Jack, you are two and thirty. You’ll have to marry eventually.” Andrew eyed him with sharp blue eyes. “No, that’s not it. It’s that you don’t think you are a respectable gentleman, do you?”
Jack turned away to look out at the couple by the pond.
“Jack, you have served your country proudly, you run a successful shipping business. You may not run in society anymore, but you can’t deny who you are: you are a Langdon.”
Jack turned back to his brother, surprised at the vehemence in his tone.
“Don’t be a fool. She is a lovely girl if a bit clumsy. I should know, she has been friends with Caroline for the past year. Davenport doesn’t have anything on you.”
“You know him? The gentleman with her?” Jack asked
“Lord Davenport, good chap. I went to Oxford with him. He just inherited the title from his uncle last year. Didn’t know he was looking for a wife, but it makes sense. Now that he is the Earl, he needs to beget an heir.”
The sound of enthusiastic barking erupted from down the path by the pond. Around the bend came a young woman walking five dogs, all leashed. The dogs were really walking her, pulling her along at a fast clip. As Jack and Andrew walked their horses closer, they saw the dogs had spotted Vivian and Davenport, and tails wagging, were tugging at their leads to come closer and say hello.
Davenport took a step back as the menagerie approached, but Vivian waded into the dogs, bending down to pet them. The animals all circled and jumped on her skirts, vying to get her attention while the young woman called out, “Fergus, sit! Charlie, no. Don’t jump!”
Vivian straightened and found herself hopelessly tangled in the leads. The owner continued her attempts to get the mutts to settle down. None of the dogs were listening at all to her pleas. Jack and Andrew looked at each other, and in complete accord, spurred their horses toward the fracas. Davenport stood by looking appalled, and Vivian’s maid hung back to one side with her hand over her mouth, eyes wide.
As they approached, Andrew whistled loudly. All five dogs turned to look at him.
“Sit.” Andrew called in a commanding voice. All five dogs immediately sat.
Vivian picked up one foot, extracting it from amidst the leads and stepped wide over one of the smaller dogs to free her foot of the tangle. Unfortunately, her other foot got caught, and she overbalanced, almost falling. At the last minute, her foot came free. She spun, stumbled, then fell toward the pond. Jack leaned down and scooped her up onto his horse. She let out a squeak, her eyes wide with surprise. Vivian weighed next to nothing. He easily settled her across his lap.
Grinning he said, “At least this time I was able to save you from going overboard.”
She returned his smile. “You always appear at just the right moment.”
