“Well, there is…” he drawled, glancing down at her with hooded eyes and a sensual twist to his lips.“But I shouldn’t speak of it in mixed company.”
Ignoring the heat that rose in her cheeks—and other places—Caroline pursued her point with dogged determination.“Of course, fornicating and gambling and so on, most enjoyable, I’m sure.But I’m speaking of true happiness, the kind that absorbs your mind and invigorates your spirit.That makes you feel—at peace, I suppose, with yourself and the world and your place in it.”
She halted, a little disconcerted by her own vehemence, and she could see by the widening of his gray eyes that Fitz was taken aback too.Silent for a moment, they walked side by side through the late winter woods, until finally he spoke quietly.
“Is that how you feel, when you are about your work?No wonder you want to get back to it.If I had anything that made me feel like that…well.I’d be willing to do a great deal worse than trap two mature adults into matrimony to have it.”
The wistful note in his voice made Caroline’s throat ache.
“What about nature?”she asked, gesturing at the forest around them.“When I see you here, in the woods, or riding your horse—anytime I’ve seen you outdoors, in fact, I have noted a certain ease and lightness to you that is not present in a drawing room.”
“I will never become accustomed to the way you do that,” Fitz said, admiration warming his tone.“How you look at someone and know things about them!Marvelous.And you’re right, I do feel most…myself, I suppose, when tramping through the countryside or jumping Arion over fallen trees and the odd burbling brook.I’d always rather be out of doors.And of course it’s acceptable for the son of an earl to be an avid sportsman, to hunt and shoot and ride to the hounds and so forth.But one cannot exactly make a career out of it.”
It was so much the way Caroline felt, the need to get out from under a roof, away from the enclosing walls of a house and into the green, living world—her heart beat hard in utter sympathy with Fitz.But before she could argue that there certainly were ways for a gentleman to gain his independence through a love of nature—her father had managed it, for one—a shocked laugh sounded from up ahead of them.
Glancing up, Caroline saw that Lord Weatherby had bent his head nearer to her mother’s and whispered something that was evidently naughty, as she now blushed and issued him a teasing rap of the handle of her parasol against his arm.This time she didn’t even glance at Lord Alfred.
Recalled to her purpose, Caroline ground her teeth.“Wemustfind a way to remove Lord Weatherby from the equation.”
“I believe the others will be ready to stop for our picnic quite soon, there may be an opportunity then.But how to make him give up his perfect position for seducing your mother?”
“I suppose we could tell him Lady Rosalie is starting a high-stakes game of hazard in the drawing room.”
“That might ordinarily work, except I think he considers himself engaged in a high-stakes gamble right this very moment, with Lady Quick.No, I don’t think he’ll be distracted from her easily.Unless…” A devilish glint shone in Fitz’s eye.“I have an idea.When the time comes, all you need do is announce your intention to find the nest of that bird you were so interested in, what was it, the Dartford Yodeler?”
“The Dartford warbler,” Caroline corrected him.“And the woodlark.But I don’t understand how that will help.”
Evidently determined to be mysterious, Fitz winked and said, “Leave the rest to me,” before tipping his hat and falling back to tend to the rest of the guests.
Caroline had to wait until they reached the spot designated for their luncheon before she found out what Fitz’s idea entailed.
As one of the first to arrive at the site of the ancient hill fort, some minutes before the straggling rest of the party, Caroline was able to gape in open astonishment at the “rustic picnic” conjured up by Lady Rosalie for her guests’ amusement.
The cleared area on a spur of land jutting out from the forest was known as Caesar’s Camp—and Lady Rosalie had evidently taken those legendary Roman origins as her inspiration for the picnic she’d ordered her staff to create.Low trestle tables had been set up end to end in the center of the hill fort, covered with white table linens and laden with jugs of wine and platters heaped with food.Sprays of hothouse flowers like sweet oleander and vibrant hibiscus exploded from vases.Clusters of grapes dripped from every corner.There were no chairs; instead, rugs and cushions had been strewn with elegant abandon about the tables.
“Where are we supposed to sit?”Helena asked, brows arched in surprise.
“Ah,” said Lord Weatherby, approaching the table and casting himself down upon a velvet cushion the color of mustard.“I collect we are not meant to sit at all, but to recline at our ease, like the Romans of yore.”
“At least he’s not wearing a toga,” Lord Alfred muttered, eyeing Lord Weatherby’s sprawled limbs with distaste.
The remark surprised a laugh out of Helena, though she quickly smothered it.Still, the small moment gave Caroline hope as the rest of the walkers wended their way to the tables, exclaiming over the exotic fruits grown in the Duke of Thornecliff’s famous greenhouses and orangeries and the gorgeous bone china dishes hand-painted with laurel wreaths.
Everyone fell upon the feast as though they’d traversed a wild mountain pass rather than a pleasant, easy stroll through very domesticated woods.Most seemed delighted with the opportunity to lounge informally amongst the pillows, though there were several moments of hilarity as the ladies attempted to position themselves elegantly without exposing their underthings.The duke’s liveried servants, who’d had the unenviable task of transporting this entire feast out here by wagon, stood silent and impassive in attendance, as though bored by the whole affair.
Caroline picked at a slice of veal-and-ham pie and let the conversation flow and eddy around her while she waited for Fitz to make his move.
He’d seated himself next to Lord Weatherby, somehow endeavoring to look perfectly at ease and natural.It was partly his attire, Caroline thought.While she had dressed in a serviceable brown wool gown for this outing, simple and easy to move in, most of the other guests appeared to take this walk as an opportunity to exhibit their most exquisite daytime finery.Frilly parasols and gleaming Hessian boots abounded.
Fitz, by contrast, wore looser trousers and a plain, well-made brown and green jacket with a pair of worn-in brown leather brogue boots.He looked ready for anything, the veneer of refinement stripped back to reveal the rugged, capable outdoorsman beneath.Caroline, who had found him devastating in formalwear, was nigh incapacitated by Fitz in windblown tweeds.If she allowed herself, she could so easily picture him pulling himself up hand over hand to stand upon a rocky cliff face, the waves of the North Sea crashing below…
She could hardly pay attention to anything else, which was why she noticed at once when Fitz dropped a quick word in Lord Weatherby’s ear, something that made Weatherby shoot him a glance full of consternation over his dripping spoonful of cabinet pudding.Clapping him on the back reassuringly, Fitz lifted his gaze to meet Caroline’s stare and gave her a wink.
Taking that as her cue, Caroline burst out, “I couldn’t eat another bite.Mama, I believe I shall venture forth in search of the nesting grounds of the rarely seen bird species that make their home in these woods.I should like to do some drawings, if I can find a Dartford warbler or a woodlark.Would anyone care to join me in a ramble?”
Fitz was at her side instantly, holding out his hand, and Caroline trusted her balance to him with a heated sense of remembered intimacy.
“I, for one, have walked enough,” declared Lady Kildare emphatically.“I shall stay here and rest—if any of you gentleman would be gallant enough to keep me company.”Her husband and lover both instantly volunteered for the onerous task.Sir Frances, a florid gentleman who’d taken an entire jug of wine for himself as soon as he collapsed tableside, was already asleep amongst the cushions.No one else seemed any more motivated to rise and join Caroline.
