While he retrieved the fan, she excused herself and escaped at a quick pace toward some wild shrubs. When Brilliance rounded a clump of golden dock growing up in the middle of a stone wall, she entered what was left of the pagan temple, which would have belonged to the farmer and his family.
Lord Hewitt stood in the center with his back to her.Alone.
Brilliance sighed. It seemed they were destined for one another after all. She picked her way across the rutted ground, about to say his name, when Lady Georgiana poked her head through an archway closer to him. At once, her gaze fell upon Brilliance, and she smirked.
“There you are, my lord,” the lady called to him. “I thought I had lost you. I am ready to move on. It has grown too crowded here.”
As Lord Hewitt turned, he caught sight of Brilliance. But Lady Georgiana had already reached his side.
Stopping in her tracks, Brilliance wished there was something she could pretend to be admiring or looking at, any reason at all for her having been behind the gentleman other than quietly studying him.
Fixing her gaze on the smallest of crumbling alcoves as if she was looking at the famed Roman Colosseum her brother had once visited, she tried to appear casual.
Then she heard him address her. “Lady Brilliance, Lady Georgiana and I were about to stroll to the top of the hill and see the view,” he said. “Would you care to join us?”
Us?Brilliance would rather gnaw her own arm off than tag along.
“Thank you, no.”
By then, other guests had made their way into the temple. Bringing up the rear was Colonel and Lady Twitchard.
“Good day, everyone,” she said. “I hope you have already worked up an appetite. Please come this way.”
She and her husband stepped through a stone archway and disappeared around the half wall. As other guests trailed behind, they exclaimed in delight at something just out of sight.
Brilliance watched Lord Hewitt and Lady Georgiana follow. At least now they couldn’t go on their private stroll. When Brilliance went through the arch, however, and passed the half wall, she found a rustic picnic area had been set up by Lady Twitchard’s capable staff.
“Itwasa treasure hunt of sorts,” Brilliance said when she joined Martine, happy that soon she would enjoy a glass of lemonade. Even happier that Lady Georgiana’s intent to be alone with Lord Hewitt had been thwarted.
In no time, the guests were seated on two large woolen blankets, the ladies all tucking their skirts around their legs and the gentlemen trying to sit in a manly fashion.
Brilliance loved a country outing and a meal outside, but the juxtaposition of indoor elegance with raw nature struck her as funny.
Her ladyship’s elegant tableware had been laid out, and platters of all manner of food, including sliced meats and salads and vegetable dishes were offered where simple sandwiches would have sufficed. The only thing their hostess hadn’t tried to offer were hot dishes.
Napkins were provided and polished silverware, the latter making Brilliance begin to chuckle.
“What is amusing?” Lady Georgiana asked from across the blanket where she sat a wee bit too close to Lord Hewitt. “What can possiblynotbe to your liking?”
Oh dear!Brilliance looked at Lady Twitchard, who had paused in taking a bread roll to learn the answer.
“Everythingis to my liking, which is why I laughed with joy,” Brilliance answered, earning a smile from their hostess. “Who can be cross and serious at a picnic?” she returned pointedly, hoping Lady Georgiana would stop being such an arse.
Her hope was futile when next the young lady addressed her again.
“I heard that your piano playing was egregious beyond all belief and that I was fortunate to have missed it.”
There was a small, collective gasp as gazes swiveled between the two females, eyeing one another across the spread of food. Brilliance supposed it was what she deserved, but it occurred to her that Lady Georgiana’s words were reflecting badly upon their speaker. If the young lady wasn’t careful, she would lose all the sympathy gained by Brilliance’s own careless remark.
Hardly knowing how to respond, or whether she should say anything, Brilliance couldn’t stop her eyes from seeking out Lord Hewitt’s.
Had he been talking about her while riding with Lady Georgiana?
In the end, Brilliance decided to handle it the way she had hoped Lady Georgiana would have handled an errant remark.
“Why, yes,” Brilliance said, “I believe you were fortunate indeed.”
Lady Georgiana nodded and helped herself to a minced lamb tart. Everyone seemed to be waiting for the next salvo.
