“You are not at fault. And thank you.” She winced. “Going under like that was ghastly
Chaswick had begun offering up instructions with Spencer keeping watch, forcing Greys to loosen his hold on Diana. Now that she was out of harm’s way, he no longer had any excuse to keep his hands on her.
Although he was careful not to allow much distance to separate them.
“Begin by dipping your face in the water, blowing air out your nose to form bubbles,” Chase instructed before demonstrating the exercise himself.
“Now I know you are joking.” Diana’s sister was shaking her head at their older brother while he squeezed water out of his eyes.
“Not at all!” It was Diana who answered. “But be sure to blow the air out, not in, Collette.” Her voice echoed in the tiled room. “If air is going out, water can’t get in?” She turned to Greys for validation, and her grin stole his breath.
He doubted he’d ever known any other individual who welcomed new experiences with more zeal than Diana Jones.
He nodded, and Diana lowered the bottom half of her face into the water to successfully mimic what her brother had shown them. When she emerged, she all but dissolved into a fit of giggles.
Diana’s dunking all but forgotten, the ladies followed suit, and before long, they’d all mastered the beginner skill. The remainder of the lesson, which went longer than Greys had anticipated, consisted of Chaswick, Spencer, Blackheart’s sister Lydia, and himself, helping the small group of proper ladies learn how to kick, bob, and practice blowing their bubbles.
By the time they were to climb out, propriety regarding apparel was all but forgotten until Violet reminded them and demanded once again for modesty’s sake, that the gentlemen face the opposite wall again.
“That went rather well,” Chaswick proclaimed, climbing out of the pool. “Aside from Diana’s little mishap.
“Indeed.” Uneasy discussing yet another incident where she’d put herself at risk, Greys stretched his arms, standing waist-deep in the water. “Shall we make up a party at White’s for a drink and some cards?” he asked the two men in general.
“Not tonight, I’m afraid. Tabetha has made plans for us.” Spencer said.
“Family dinner at Well’s Place with Westerley, his new countess, and his mother,” Chaswick explained. Since both mens’ wives were sisters, that precluded any of them from joining Greys for their usual gentlemanly pursuits.
Greys couldn’t very well invite Blackheart, the man pretending to be his butler, to join him for cards at the club.Dashed inconvenient.
Greys could go alone, he supposed. He’d meet up with other familiars who’d be more than happy to be fleeced at a game of cards. But it wouldn’t be the same.
“You can turn around again, gentlemen,” Violet called out from the door that exited to a makeshift changing room. “Thank you for the lessons Lord Chaswick, Mr. Spencer. Will we see you for dinner this evening, Greys?”
“I believe so.” Usually, the prospect of fulfilling these types of family obligations didn’t bother him. So why would spending the evening with his cousins and aunt annoy him tonight?
Spencer and Chaswick swam to the deck and climbed out. But Greys remained.
“I think I’ll take a few laps before heading out.” The exercise might chip away at some of the discontent he’d been experiencing lately. “Good luck with the in-laws.”
The men chuckled and exited through a separate door than the ladies, leaving Greystone to swim a few lengths before stopping to strip off his shirt. If he were at Greystone Manor, swimming in the lake at his country home, he’d remove his breeches as well. But, unfortunately, any of Blackheart’s servants could return for some reason or another, or even worse, one of Blackheart’s sisters.
He lowered his head, but before swimming more than a few feet realized he was no longer alone.
Diana stood at the edge of the pool in nothing but her soaked swimming costume, which clung like a second skin to her hourglass shape. And although he had no doubt the garment had been made to be modest, the fabric wasn’t completely opaque.
“I lost one of my ribbons.”
“You lost what?” He cleared his throat, forcing his gaze away from where her pert breasts begged to be noticed through the fabric.
“My ribbon. Is that it over there? Would you mind…?”
Greys turned to where she was pointing at a blue wisp of fabric floating in the deeper part of the water. After a few slow strokes, he scooped it up and then swam back to the edge of the shallow.
“You’re going to have to come and get it.” It wasn’t what he’d meant to say. It wasn’t like him at all. And by the look on her face, the taunt was the last thing she expected.
But she didn’t seem annoyed. And as she tilted her head, with her hair damp and pulled away from her face, the natural beauty of her features nearly robbed him of his breath.
Here he was, a man destined to further the grandeur of his legacy, lacking any self-discipline whatsoever where this innocent young woman was concerned. “Never mind—"
