“Yes, Grandmama,” Diana said meekly.Drat!She looked at the prickles on her hem. The few gowns she had with her had become crushed and needed ironing. About to climb the staircase, she glanced through the long window and saw Ballantine carrying a portmanteau, climbing into a hackney with his valet. He was leaving Holland House again. Knowing she wouldn’t see him again for several weeks, she put a hand to her chest, which felt strangely hollow.
She hurried up the stairs, intent on finding something suitable to wear, and failed to see the man standing on the gloomy landing until she almost walked into him.
Lord Montgomery seized her arms, supposedly to steady her, but his fingers dug into her skin. “What has caused this head-long dash, Lady Diana?”
Unnerved, she stepped back from him. “I require a change of gown, sir, and I’m in dire need of a cool drink.”
He studied her, his gaze pausing on the spot of mud on her skirt. “You seem to have enjoyed your time in the gardens.”
He made it sound as if she’d been romping about in the grass. She raised her chin. “I found it pleasant to be out on such a nice day.”
“I imagine it was. Many ladies would relish a clandestine meeting with that rake, the Earl of Ballantine.”
Had he been watching her? She teased her bottom lip with her teeth as she considered her reply. “Hardly that. I happened upon him when I went to feed the waterfowl. If you’ll excuse me, my grandmother is waiting for me.”
She moved to brush past him, but he stepped in her way, his eyes narrowed. “It isn’t easy to fool me, Lady Diana.”
As this confirmed her own opinion of him, a prickle of alarm gripped her stomach. She forced a laugh. “I don’t know to what you refer, my lord.”
His jaw tightened. “You would not want me to go to your father with the sordid truth of your behavior. He would dislike hearing how you lied to him and how you toyed with a man’s affections.”
Diana frowned. She had to admit she was partly guilty. “My father would not be swayed by anything you might tell him, Lord Montgomery. He is more than capable of making up his own mind. He is a man of considerable intellect.”
“You encouraged your father to introduce us, did you not? And gave him the impression you would consider our marriage.”
As she could hardly refute it, she kept silent.
“But were you ever interested in marrying me?” His cruel eyes studied her. “Or was I a mere foil to distract your father while you carried on with your lover, a man of mystery you know the duke will never accept? Should Ballantine even wish for your hand? I doubt it’s marriage he has on his mind.” He shook his head. “He has a shadowy past and moves in less-than-exalted circles. I admit to being dumbfounded by your choice to associate with such a deplorable rake. And I am more than a little annoyed to have been used.”
He seemed to loom over her, his eyes now a stormy charcoal gray. She swallowed, nerves tightening her throat. He must have been watching from the bushes, but who had piqued his interest? Was it her or Ballantine? Did heknowBallantine was a spy? Wishing to extricate herself, she glanced around, hoping for a servant to appear. “I don’t know what you mean, Lord Montgomery. Lord Ballantine is not, nor has he ever been, my lover. It’s absurd to suggest such a thing. And it is insulting.”
“There is no use lying to me. I saw you two alone together in the summerhouse.”
“For the briefest moment. We discussed the Earl of Elgin’s recent acquisition and how we would like to view the marbles when they display them for the public.”
“Don’t pull the wool over my eyes! There was more going on between you. I thought it a touching scene between two people on very familiar terms with each other.”
She gaped at him. “That’s nonsense.”
“You deny it?”
“Yes, of course I do. If you go to my father with this falsehood, I shall tell him you have behaved in a disgraceful manner toward me.” She tried to dodge around him.
But he stopped her again, the anger fading from his eyes to be replaced with dismay. “I see I have been unfair. Please acceptmy apology, Lady Diana. I believe it was jealousy that made me behave so badly. I am not myself. I hope you will forgive me.”
Diana didn’t believe him. She thought that everything he did and said was calculated. And she just wanted to be free of him. “Then we shall forget it happened,” she said, escaping to her bedchamber.
Safely inside, she locked the door and leaned back against it, gasping. Tims looked up from ironing the blue muslin, concern in her eyes. “Are you all right, my lady?”
Diana put a hand to her chest. “Oh, yes. I ran up the stairs too fast.” How much she missed Ballantine’s protection already! Lord Montgomery had behaved like a spurned lover. But she struggled to believe he really was one. He’d tried to manipulate her and when his blustering hadn’t worked, he’d tried another tactic. Would he carry out his threat and cause trouble between her and Papa? She trembled at the uproar which would follow. Her father would bar her from leaving the estate for months and she’d miss the opportunity to search for Anne with Ballantine. A distressed, angry sob rose in her throat.
After changing, she took the time to compose herself, placing a cool washcloth against her hot cheeks before going downstairs. Smoothing her pale-blue muslin trimmed with lemon ribbon, a matching ribbon her maid had threaded through her curls, she entered through the drawing room door a servant had opened for her to be greeted with laughter, chatter, the smell of fresh baked bread, and the clink of crockery.
Grandmama acknowledged her dress with an approving nod and patted the place beside her, then continued her conversation with the lady seated on the sofa to her left. Diana crossed the carpet and joined them as the footmen and maids moved around the room serving bread and butter, cold meat, cake, fruit, tea, wine, and lemonade.
Her father entered, appearing quite calm. Diana dragged in a relieved breath. Lord Montgomery hadn’t sought him out. Had the viscount merely said those things to try to stir her sympathy? He didn’t love her, that was nonsense. She sensed something more serious lay behind his actions than anything she might have done. After all, they had only shared one dance. Was their marriage of great importance to him? Did he need the backing of a family such as theirs? His ungentlemanly behavior, especially when she was a young, unmarried woman, astonished her and she suspected, had been uncharacteristic of him. She believed him to be a sly and cautious man. Something had made him furious.
Was what he’d told her about Ballantine true? She was already convinced he was a spy. But a rake? If he were, Grandmama would have heard about it. No juicy gossip ever escaped her or her dowager friends. If it was true, she thought Ballantine would make a very poor sort of rake. Apart from the kiss, which seemed to have affected him as much as it had her, he had resisted every opportunity to seduce her.
