A sudden dizziness swept over him, and Jonathan was forced to close his eyes, his heart thumping. “That is a strong possibility, Susanna,” he breathed, opening his eyes to see her searching his face. “But it does open up the perpetrator to be any number of persons. It could be family,friends, or even acquaintances who might have come to his house and stepped away for a moment.”
“It is someone who saw you standing together – perhaps more than that –” Lady Ellen said, without even a hint of embarrassment in her voice, “and they then decided they wanted to separate you from any possibility of a future together.”
Jonathan ran one hand over his forehead. “But why?” he asked, looking back at Lady Ellen. “For what purpose? It is not as if I have any enemies, not as if I am aware of those who desperately want to seek revenge upon me.”
Lady Susanna bit her lip. “Might it be to do with me? Is there someone who does not want my happiness?” Her eyes found his. “There is none that I can think of, just as you cannot. So where do we go from here?”
Jonathan was about to answer when something caught his eye — a flash of movement among the elms some forty yards distant. He turned his head, just enough to follow it without drawing attention, and saw two figures standing very close together in the dappled shade near the Serpentine. They were not walking, not taking the air, not doing any of the things that young ladies did in Hyde Park during the fashionable hour. They were talking — quickly, intensely, their heads bent close.
Lady Maude. And Lady Evelina.
“Susanna,” he murmured, angling his body so the two could not see his face. “Your sister. Beyond the second elm.”
She turned, her fingers tightening on his arm. He felt the tremor that ran through her. From this distance, they could not hear a word, but they did not need to. Everything about the scene was wrong — the urgency of Maude’s gestures, the way Evelina kept glancing over her own shoulder, the stiffness in their postures. This was not the easygossip of two acquaintances enjoying the afternoon. This was a council of war.
“They are very serious in their conversation,” Lady Ellen observed quietly. “That is not the manner of two women discussing bonnets.”
“No,” Jonathan agreed, his mind turning the scene over like a hand of cards laid face-down. “It is not.”
He watched Lady Evelina press something into Maude’s hand — what, he could not tell at this distance. A note? A coin? It was too small to identify. But Maude’s reaction was telling: she looked down at whatever it was, then back up at Evelina, and for just a moment, her composure faltered. She looked frightened. Not angry, not defiant — frightened. Then the mask slid back into place, and she tucked whatever she had received into the fold of her reticule.
“We should remember this,” Susanna said, very quietly. “Whatever they are planning, it is not finished.”
“Lord Lancashire! I am astonished to see you with another young lady on your arm when I hear that you are already considering courting another!”
A cold chill wrapped around Jonathan’s shoulders as he turned his head to see a broad smile on Lord Broadford’s face. “Lord Broadford, good afternoon. Might I ask what you mean?”
Lord Broadford snorted and rolled his eyes, walking past Jonathan and making to continue on his way. “As though you are unaware,” he said, throwing his words back over his shoulder. “It will be all through London by the evening! You cannot keep your interest in Lady Theresa from society’s ears any longer!”
Jonathan closed his eyes, let out a heavy breath, and, with it, a groan that came from his very core. That young lady, it seemed, was more than determined to capture him,for he had no doubt those whispers had come from her. “I am tired of this.”
“Lady Theresa?” Lady Susanna’s voice had gone very quiet indeed. “I thought –”
“You must know that that did not come from me,” he said quickly, opening his eyes to look at her. “I told you that I was a little rude to her as I made my way from her company to yours, did I not? I did not ever think she would do something like this, but –”
“You think that she… ?” A cloud passed over Lady Susanna’s expression. “She has told someone that you are thinking of courting her, and now the ton will know of it.”
“Because she is very eager for your attention, Lord Lancashire,” Lady Ellen said, with a look of disgust on her face. “But to try and force your hand is ridiculous. She will be the one who looks preposterous in the end.”
Jonathan ran one hand over his face, feeling the weight of Lady Theresa’s whispers settling as a second burden upon his back. First, he had the issue with Lord Blackwood, and now he had Lady Theresa adding her own difficulties to him! “She is a most peculiar creature. I have seen her be bold and much too forward, but I never imagined that she would speak a rumor to try and force my hand.” Keeping his gaze on Lady Susanna, he set his hand on hers. “Susanna, might I ask your father for his permission to court you?”
Her eyes flared. “But you cannot! We have not discovered the truth yet and –”
“I know there are risks,” he said, interrupting her as gently as he could. “But I do not care. I will not have Lady Theresa whisper such a thing about me and expect it to sail through society without hesitation. Nor will I have the questions and the rumors about her floating around society either, not when my heart is already quitedetermined to belong to you. To my mind, there is no need for further delay. Please, Susanna, do not make me wait any longer!”
Her eyes closed, and for a long moment, she did not speak. Jonathan was afraid that she would refuse him, that she would still demand that they find the truth, that they reveal the culprit before announcing their connection to each other. He could not wait. He did not want to wait. All he desired now was for the ton to see that his heart was already secured to hers, and he cared for no other.
“Very well.” The words were whispered, her eyes still closed, but Jonathan’s heart leapt up with a thrill. “If you think it best, Lancashire.” With a hint of a smile on her lips, she opened her eyes and sighed. “I confess, I am somewhat afraid that there may be more difficulties ahead, but I do not want society to touch you with their gossip. I do not want them to think that you are connected to another instead of to me.”
“Then I will not delay,” he swore, lowering his head just a fraction and wishing desperately that he might take her into his arms. “I will write to your father this very day, and by the evening, all will know that we are courting. Will that please you?”
The beautiful smile that spread across her face gave him no doubt as to the state of her heart. With a sigh, she nodded, her eyes like gold as the sunshine broke through the clouds to shine down on them. The light caught in her hair and at the curve of her cheek, and Jonathan thought, with a fierce, aching clarity, that he would remember this moment for the rest of his life — the moment she chose him, for the second time, knowing full well what it could cost her. “Yes, Lancashire. That would please me very much indeed.”
18
“Susanna, I received a note earlier this evening.”
Susanna, who had been waiting for this moment ever since they had all sat down to dinner, did her best to appear calm. Setting down her knife and fork, she clasped her hands in her lap and gave her father her full attention. “Yes, father?”
