“Mother would not have let you be my chaperone if you weren’t also a widow. Besides, my sisters and I have had other governesses. None of them were like you.”
Alice decided not to ask the difference. She was doing the best she could to be subservient to Lady Beasley and her daughters while maintaining her dignity and giving them a decently broad education. She couldn’t abide by the fluffy-headed females with wool for brains.
Unfortunately, Susanne was not her pupil, and she, more than the younger ones, could use some learning.
“If I agree, will you do me the honor of attending some of my lessons?”
“I am too old for that,” Susanne scoffed. “I know all I need to know to run a household, or to direct a housekeeper and butler to run it. I must focus on finding a husband.”
“But what will you discuss with him if you do not know a little history? If you don’t learn a second language fluently, how can you travel together and not be a burden to him? What about going to a museum and speaking with him knowledgeably about art?”
Susanne shook her head. “Oh, Mrs. Malcolm. None of that is important to the gentlemen among whom I must find a husband. They can hire a translator when we travel and a guide for museums. He won’t be impressed if I am spouting information. In fact, that might dissuade some nice viscount or earl who wants nothing more than a dutiful, obedient wife.”
Alice wanted to shake her, but if Susanne truly had no interest in the outside world, then there wasn’t any way to force facts into her brain.
“Please come riding as my chaperone,” the young lady begged. “Just for the fun of it, without thinking of any of that knowledge stuff.”
Alice cracked a smile.That knowledge stuff. Maybe Susanne was correct. In her case, she was adorable, kind, and had a large dowry promised to any man who married her. Perhaps anything else was superfluous.
Thus, wearing one of her full skirts and missing her favorite green riding habit, Alice found herself seated sidesaddle, reins in hand, and hat upon head. Beside her rode Susanne, and on the other side, Lord Diamond, who sat his horse very finely.
They agreed upon the Royal Victoria Park. At least Susanne could be certain for whom it was named, although she didn’t know Victoria had officially opened the park when only a child of eleven.
After riding from Lord and Lady Beasley’s stable behind their home on The Paragon, the three riders eventually entered the park on Royal Avenue.
Lord Diamond spoke up as they passed the Royal Crescent.
“I am staying there,” he told them.
Of course he was! Where else would this perfect man reside but in one of thirty exclusive homes spanning five hundred feet of prime land overlooking the park?
Their three heads turned right to look up the slight incline across a stretch of green lawn where sheep had once grazed over the hidden ha-ha. Beyond it was a formal garden directly in front of the terraced townhouses. One hundred and fourteen Ionic columns greeted the eye, if Alice had counted correctly on one of her many walks.
“You are fortunate,” Susanne said.
“Indeed. My grandparents own it, although they are of a mind to sell.”
Alice would love to see inside one of the Palladian-style homes built by the same John Wood, the Younger, who had completed the celebrated Circus for his deceased father. However, she would never voice her desire. Next thing she knew,they would all be traipsing through a single gentleman’s abode, and that could hardly be what Lady Beasley intended for her daughter and her chaperone.
The wide path led them to the Victoria Obelisk, which Susanne was also able to identify as named for their queen. They continued on the large circuitous path.
Having always loved riding in Hyde Park or Richmond Park, Alice considered the outing to be an unexpected treat. Ignoring the curious glances of Lord Diamond — or trying to — Alice patted the horse’s neck and let herself become lost in the joy of being atop a gentle mount again.
“You ride well,” he called out past Susanne, who also looked over at her.
“His lordship is correct,” she said, sounding amused. “You appear like a lady and not at all like a governess.”
Alice tilted her chin, annoyed that Lord Diamond would think her unable to ride. In the next moment, she cursed her own pride. She ought to seem inexperienced and timid, but that was a hard part to play.
“My father kept a horse,” she said lamely. “I was merely lucky to get to learn... in my position, I mean.”
“Very lucky,” Susanne agreed.
Lord Diamond’s gaze narrowed. Not caring for his scrutiny, Alice dropped back to let the courting couple ride together.
She had been in Susanne’s situation many times before she’d made her fateful error. But she was there to make certain Susanne made no similar mistake. Therefore, Alice spent the rest of the ride watching the nearly hypnotizing view of horses’ rumps sway and their tails flash, trying not to look at Lord Diamond’s broad shoulders or his muscular thighs gripping his mount.
Seeing the two riders conversing, pointing out things, leaning over to talk, and laughing together, Alice tamped down the envy and bitterness she thought she’d outgrown and left behind.
