“Indeed.” Nicholas removed his hat and bowed in the saddle. “All the more pleasant for having met you, Mrs. Burrell.”
Lillian laughed. “Charmer. Shall we see you at the Fitzgibbons’ ball?”
“You shall. Will you save me a dance?”
“Certainly.” Her carriage, which had been held up by a green barouche, jolted forward.
The widow and he had enjoyed a brief affair last Season. She looked most attractive in a wide-brimmed hat lavishly adorned with feathers. He wondered briefly if he might… No, he could hardly treat her so casually by leaving again within a few days. It had not pleased her to end their arrangement, but she appeared to have forgiven him. He wondered why he had ended it when they suited each other so well. Then he recalled it was Max’s funeral which took him from London, and since then, he had rarely returned, only for a brief dinner with friends or a stint in the House of Lords.
Nicholas rode on, breathing in the scents of trees, grass, and the tang of horse manure on the breeze. The polluted city streets seemed far away. Ahead of him, Charles waited on his chestnut, its flanks gleaming gold in the sun, and beside him, Dominic Thorne, the Earl of Redcliffe, on a spirited black stallion, which tossed its head, taking a dislike to Charles’s horse.
Nicholas hailed them. He’d hoped for a private word with Charles. He’d had little chance when he’d dined with him and his duchess, Nellie, the previous evening. Instead, he had suffered Nellie’s probing about his love life. Why did his friends’ wives always want to see him leg-shackled? It left him bemused.
He admitted the journey to London enclosed in the coach for hours with Carrie had been pleasurable once she’d recovered her good humor. In such close quarters, despite his efforts to remain in his role as advisor, he found her entrancing. What man wouldn’t be charmed by such a delightful, beautiful, and quixotic young lady? Carrie could amuse one minute and challenge the next. It surprised him when she made him aware of her reservations about making her debut. Most young women would be thrilled. It might be a supreme test of his patience to find a gentleman who pleased her enough to marry, as Max had wished. But get her there, he would. And then wish her happy.
“Is that a thundercloud over your head, Nicholas?” Charles called.
“Looks about to burst,” Dominic observed with an appreciative grin. Nicholas eyed his friends. Charles was the epitome of a steady, married man, whilst Dominic looked like the fashionable, rakish fellow Nicholas knew him to be.
“No lady companion, Dominic?” Nicholas raised his brows and made a point of glancing at a group of ladies riding past them. Dominic rarely lacked female companionship.
“The lady awaits me at breakfast,” Dominic said with his ready smile. “She has instructed me to hurry.”
A widow or an opera dancer? If he’d had a torrid night, it hadn’t marked him. Dominic looked full of juice. Nicholas found himself more than a little envious. His love life had stalled alarmingly since he’d become a surrogate parent.
“You two fellows should get married,” Charles observed. “It is the supreme state for a man.”
Nicholas grinned. “If I were lucky enough to find a lady like Nellie, I would brave the parson’s mousetrap in a minute.”
Charles rode beside him toward Serpentine Road. “Nellie believes you have met someone.”
“Then her usual perspicacity has failed her,” Nicholas said.
“Out with it.” Dominic rode up to them. “Who is she? A diamond? Want to keep her to yourself?”
“I haven’t had time to seek women’s company,” Nicholas said shortly.
“No time for ladies?” Dominic’s green eyes widened. “Are you feeling well? Should we be concerned for you? Send for a physician?”
Nicholas chuckled. It was good to be with friends. And they could always rely on Dominic to entertain them.
Dominic edged closer and peered at him. “Yes, decidedly pasty-faced, a definite need there. My lady might have a friend.”
With a laugh, Nicholas swung a sideways punch at him, which went wide of the mark when Dominic dodged it. “I’ll survive,” he yelled at him. “But will you?”
“You know what the cure is,” Dominic called from a safe distance while cocking an eyebrow. “Find yourself an amiable lady. It will work wonders for your sour demeanor.”
Charles had lagged but rode to join them. “Nicholas has two wards to raise, Dominic. That might have reduced his urges somewhat.”
“Leave my urges out of it, Charles,” Nicholas said with mock annoyance. It was not his intention to live like a monk. Perhaps he should delay his stay in London a day or more. Do as Dominic suggested? Seek some pleasant feminine company?
Dominic’s eyes widened. “I say. That would be sobering. What ages are these wards, Nicholas?”
Nicholas told him. “And I have the care of a young lady about to make her debut.”
“A debutante? I don’t envy you that.”
“Neither do I,” Charles said. “Nellie and I face that soon with Alice, Nellie’s younger sister.”
