He didn’t believe her but resisted drawing her close. To know she felt more for him than that slight shrug of her shoulders implied. He deserved it. And he must allow her to leave, then endeavor to forget her. His heart strangely heavy, he nodded. “I’m glad we agree it’s best.”
“Now, if you’ll forgive me, I must see to the rest of my packing.”
He couldn’t bear the finality of it and reached out to keep her there for a moment longer. “Don’t do it now. I promised you we’d go to the beach. Let’s have a picnic, make it our last day together.”
Laura’s frown cleared. “I should like that. If you really want to.”
“I do. We’ll take your maid with us.”
A reluctant smile lifted her lips. “Penny will enjoy that.”
“I’ll see you downstairs when you are ready. Mrs. Brandt will organize a hamper.”
He left her to go down and give the order. A day at the seaside was a safe choice. There’d be no opportunity for a seduction. He sighed. The maid’s presence would make sure of it.
“We go to West Wittering,” Brendan said as he assisted Laura and the maid into the carriage.
“Is there sand there, milord?” Penny asked, looking wide-eyed. “I’ve always wanted to see sand and the water.”
“Indeed there is. You may walk down to the sea, if you wish,” Brendan said as he settled with his back to the horses. Which would give him and Laura time alone together.
At midday, having driven through several small villages and verdant landscape, the carriage came to a stop. Laura gasped at the beautiful vista. “How glorious!”
It was high tide. Spread out before them, the long sweep of sandy foreshore, dotted with tuffs of scrubby vegetation, stretched down to the rippling sea. Above, in the azure sky, gulls soared and dipped, while waterbirds gathered together on the sand like ladies at a tea party.
Frederick, his second footman, took the large hamper from the coach, while Charles put down the steps.
Brendan assisted Laura and the petite, excited maid onto the grass.
“I have seen pictures, but this is nothing like I imagined. One gets a sense of infinite space, and the air smells so different to Surrey,” Laura said as the brisk, salt-laden breeze toyed with her bonnet ribbons.
Charles placed a rug on the grass and began laying out plates, cutlery, napkins, wineglasses, and the dishes. Then he settled a bottle of iced champagne and a plate of oysters among them. Ordinarily, such an affair would be arranged with a seduction in mind. Brendan had certainly lost his touch. With regret, he watched the maid, having begged permission from Laura, dance over the sand to the water’s edge.
Laura met his gaze, her blue eyes rivaling the sky. “I would love to walk barefoot over the sand and feel it on my toes.”
“And I should like to watch you,” he said with a sigh. What a sensual woman she was.
Her eyes danced. “But of course, I’ll resist.”
He could have offered to remove her stockings. “Shame,” he said, eyeing an angler throwing his line in farther along the shore. “Shall we eat?”
“Oh, yes. I’m famished.”
Laura sat down on the rug, arranging her skirts around her. Brendan joined her as Charles served champagne, while Frederick brought out the dishes: cold breast of fowl, ham, mustard, salad, bread rolls, small pork pies with crusty pastry, grapes from the hothouses, and lemon syllabub.
As they ate, Penny joined the footmen and the coachman to eat beside the coach.
Brendan put down his knife and fork, wiped his hands, and leaned back on his elbows to watch Laura sip her champagne. “Tell me about Longworth. What it was like there when you were a girl.”
She frowned, as if wary to divulge some secret. “I had a wonderful childhood. My brother and I rode our ponies, and we told stories to entertain each other.” She shrugged. “After Robert went to boarding school, I was left to my own devices. I rode, read books, and helped Mama in the house. Papa tutored me in science and Latin, which my governess didn’t teach. He believed a woman had as much right to an education as a man.”
“Your father had a strong influence on your life?” Brendan asked, understanding why she seemed so different to the women he had known.
She screwed up her nose. He wasn’t sure if it was at him or the champagne bubbles in her glass until she spoke. “He urged me to pursue those things which interested me. I wanted him to be proud of me.”
Brendan hated how hampered she was. He’d never thought about it before, but Laura made him want to roar at the unfairness of life. He wanted to be there to encourage her and help her. The power of his feelings surprised him. “You’re a kind person, Laura,” he said finally. “One who cares very much for her brother, whom I doubt deserves it.”
Laura selected a grape from the bowl. “Robert lived a wild life in London, as many young men do. Sowing his wild oats, they call it,” she said wryly. “He has found it hard to adjust to the demands of an estate after my father’s death.”
