Before Alice could refuse, they were all heading that way.
“Bloody brilliant,” she muttered.
“Tut tut, Lady Alice. Such language.”
“Go to hell, my lord.” Why did this man get a rise out of her? Why did she want to kiss him one minute and slap him the next…no, not kiss, Alice!
He gave a loud bark of laughter that had all eyes turning their way. She noted that Lady Devlin was glaring at her, and wanted to tell her not to worry, as she was no threat to her daughter’s marriage prospects.
“So, you will need to wear—”
“I have left the house for such reasons before. Please do not lecture me on what I need to do or wear, Lord Stafford.”
“I do believe that sentence just took ten years of my life,” he whispered. “Tell me you did not go alone?”
“I did not. I have a footman, one of the staff members I told you about, who is…ah, well, let’s say zealous in his protection of me, thanks to my brother.”
“How so?”
Why did I say that?She never talked of private things with anyone. And yet hadn’t she already told this man far more than she should have?
“Just know that I rarely leave the house without a large escort, Lord Stafford.”
“I feel like that was a threat.”
“Take it as you wish. I will make my own way there,” Alice said.
“You bloody will not,” he whispered in a furious voice.
“Then I will collect you in my carriage. We will discuss this no further. Be ready, as I shall wait no more than five minutes, my lord.”
His hiss of breath had her smiling.
“Is this informant reliable?”
“He is.”
“Very well,” he said but added nothing further.
After listening to the band for a while, they then wandered some more, and Alice heard the conversation going on around her while wondering how soon she could excuse herself and leave. Not easy considering she’d come with the twins, but perhaps she could plead a headache.
Lord Stafford wasn’t an easy man to be in the company of, especially when she was as aware of him as she felt right then.
“We shall take this path down to the water,” Lady Corbyn said, further heightening Alice’s need to flee. She wasn’t fond of water, possibly because she’d not spent any time in it, and alsoshe couldn’t swim, so there was no way she was taking a chance of falling in.
“What are you doing?” Lord Stafford asked her as Alice moved to his other side, which placed him closest to the water.
“Moving away from the water.”
“Because?”
She shot him a look, and met his eyes.
“Need I have a reason?”
“Absolutely,” he replied.
“I don’t like water.”
