Lady Phoebe nodded as though she thought of this assignment as her own personal mission. “I shall let you know if there is any lemon cake to be had.”
“Splendid!” Lady Genevieve and Verity chorused. Both ladies were so jubilant that Sebastian had to suppress a groan.
“Shall we?” He offered Lady Phoebe his arm and this time she did not hesitate before accepting him.
Sebastian did not bother bidding a temporary farewell to his friends. Instead, he just led Lady Phoebe into the tent, finding it mercifully empty. The seller stood behind a wooden counter, and while Sebastian knew that this man would not approach either of them or invade upon their conversation, he wanted to spend a few moments alone with Lady Phoebe.
Flashing a winning smile, he walked over to the counter, pulling Lady Phoebe lightly along.
“I am terribly sorry, but I must bring you some awful news,” he said.
The seller looked up and gave Sebastian a stunned expression. “Your Grace?” he said loudly. “Is there a problem?”
Sebastian lifted his free hand and pointed to a spot in the distance. “There are some children not too far from your tent. I do believe they were trying to scheme a little. As we approached, I heard them whisper that they were planning to make a ‘sweet escape’. I might have misunderstood, but I think the rascals mean to nick something from your stall. They ought to be chased away before they make off with a handful of your absolutely splendid assortment of treats.”
There were no children, but Sebastian needed the seller to leave, so that he might be alone with Lady Phoebe.
“I shall watch the stall if you wish to close it for a few moments,” Sebastian continued. “I am the Duke of Talwyn, so your tent will be safe under my watchful eyes. If anybody attempts to enter, I shall tell them that you have paused for lunch. Although, Idohear there is an excellent pie tent not far across the field, if you did wish to stop for luncheon. After all, the day has barely begun, and it will likely prove to be long and successful. You would not want to greet the rush of customers on an empty stomach, surely?”
His words were woven carefully, persuasively, and he kept up his encouraging smile. The seller, an older man that had not yet gone fully gray, considered his argument.
Slowly, he nodded. “Thank you, Your Grace. You are most considerate. Many people would simply expect a vendor to work on their feet endlessly with no break, so I am most grateful for the respite. But first, you said the children were not far from here?”
“Not far at all. Barely one hundred yards that way.” He nodded to the tent wall behind the counter.
In an instant, the vendor had disappeared, and Sebastian dropped Lady Phoebe’s arm so that he could dart to the front of the tent and pull closed the flaps.
“Well,” she huffed. “If you wished to speak to me privately, Your Grace, you only needed to say as much.” She waved her hand at the enclosed space. “It was not necessary to chase the seller from his shop.”
Sebastian arched an eyebrow sardonically as he strode across the divide and stopped right in front of the lady who had been haunting his dreams.
“We both know that getting a moment alone with you would have been rather difficult.” The sound of footsteps outside the tent drew his attention for a moment. When they receded continued, “I would have done almost anything, Lady Phoebe, to secure this bit of privacy for us.”
Her blue eyes stared into his and when she spoke, he noticed the slight trembling of her lower lip. “So, we are utterly alone?”
“At last,” he said boldly, stepping closer to her.
“You are a schemer,” she whispered. “I am surrounded by cunning individuals who will stop at nothing to achieve their own aims.”
Sebastian frowned.
She does not know just how closely she has come to hitting the mark. Her parents… Lord Birchwood… they are all conniving and despicable.
Then, he replayed her words in his head and did not particularly enjoy being lumped in with such nefarious company.
“I am clever,” he said softly. “I will give you that much. And I do occasionally spin a yarn so that I might have my wishes granted, but…”
“Just like Genevieve.” Phoebe shook her head gently. “My cousin will say almost anything so long as she gets what she wants in the end.”
“Is that such a bad thing, my lady?”
Phoebe rocked back on her heels, separating them slightly. “Yes.”
He was surprised and did not bother to hide it. “Why do you say that?”
“Because even though I love Genevieve dearly, she is rarely honest with herself or others. She, like you, tells one story after another.”
“I thought you were the storyteller here,” he interjected and she hushed immediately. When he saw pops of pink embarrassment highlight her pretty cheekbones, Sebastian lowered his voice to a whisper and said, “You did not happen to bring any of your writing with you, did you, my lady? After our last encounter, I was very much hoping to read one of your stories aloud.”
