“Clearly not everyone adores you, Zach, no matter how much you believe otherwise,” Warwick said so only he could hear.
His friend said something foul beneath his breath.
“One wonders where this animosity between you and Miss Mary Blake stems from, Zach? Perhaps there is more to it than I realized.”
“She is a virago, and there is nothing to it but that. Unlike you,” Zach added.
“Pardon?”
“You’re overly protective of Lady Samantha, my friend. Care to tell me why?”
“She is family,” Warwick said with a calmness he was now far from feeling.
“And there I was thinking your proprietorial air had more to it. Silly me.” Zach slapped his shoulder before walking away.
His friend had simply been retaliating because of what Warwick said about Mary, Warwick reminded himself.
“I don’t like those ladies,” Merry was saying to Kat when he reached them. “They’re mean.”
“You may think things, girls, but it really is not done to say things like that, even if it’s true,” Samantha said.
“That Lady Samantha is only popular because of her brother, but honestly, I find her lacking, as I do that family she is part of. It’s all very odd, don’t you think?”
Warwick couldn’t tell Phillipa Blake what he thought of her opinion of Samantha, because there was no way he should have overheard her conversation. But he wanted to.
“Extremely. However, Mr. Warwickshire Sinclair is absolutely divine. I could overlook his family to be Mrs. Warwickshire Sinclair,” Miss Patterson said.
He shot a look at the retreating women and saw Zach had not joined them after all. He was stalking away in the opposite direction muttering.
“What are the Blake women saying about me?” Samantha asked him.
“How do you know they’re saying anything?”
She raised a brow.
“Lady Blake just said our children were perfectly horrid.”
“And?” she asked.
“And the only reason you are popular is because you are a duke’s sister.”
She giggled. The sound was so sweet it had him smiling.
“I really am sorry I’ve been rude to you, Samantha,” Warwick said.
“I forgive you.” She smiled. “Now, we need tea and cakes.”
The children squealed and he thought that right then and there he was exactly where he wanted to be and was not going to examine that thought too much. Instead, he’d take them to tea.
CHAPTERNINETEEN
“What are you looking for, Samantha?” Dorrie demanded as they walked along the street toward the tea shop.
“I’m sure they have set someone to follow us,” Samantha said.
“They have. A footman and maid,” Somer said.
“Yes, but someone from the family.” She searched the people around them once more.
