She was dressed for swimming in a black frock that reached her knees, trousers covering her legs, and black stockings covering her feet, but she wasn’t wearing the shoes most ladies wore into the water. The lack of shoes didn’t impede her progress as she ran down her hat, the sound of her laughter reaching him on the breeze as Daniel Mizner, an acquaintance of Walter’s who always had some new financial venture in mind, snatched the hat out of the air and presented it to Gwendolyn with a flourish. He then sent Gwendolyn what was certainly an appreciative look—perfectly understandable because Gwendolyn, whilebeing the bane of Walter’s existence, was, without a doubt, an incredibly striking lady.
Walter continued watching as, after exchanging a brief word with Daniel, Gwendolyn pivoted on stockinged feet and headed across the sand, edging around a society matron sitting at a small table covered in linen and set formally with bone china and sterling-silver cutlery. Ignoring the scrutiny the matron was giving her, Gwendolyn stopped and looked over the guests assembled on the sand, her gaze suddenly locking with his.
After reminding himself that, while she may be beautiful, she was the reason behind his current situation, he narrowed his eyes on her before returning his attention to the pony, which was now contemplating Mrs. Van Rensselaer’s hat. “We have to go, and you need to cooperate or I’m handing you back to Miss Tilden.”
To his surprise, the pony tossed its head before it took a few steps forward. Not willing to miss the opportunity of having the little beast cooperate for a change, Walter strode into motion, his pace slowing when he realized the pony couldn’t keep up. It took him far longer than he would have thought possible to reach Gwendolyn’s side, but when he did, he found her watching him, her lips curved into a smile.
The smile only served to remind him that she was a trial of a woman if there ever was one. “A word, if you please, Miss Brinley?”
Her eyes twinkled. “Given the expression on your face, I have to believe you want more thanaword, Mr. Townsend.”
“Too right I do.”
“I thought so,” she returned, the amusement in her eyes increasing. “May I assume those words are the sort that may require some privacy, and if so, may I suggest we remove ourselves from the beach?” She nodded to something behind him. “We seem to be attracting attention from that crowd of youngladies over there, quite as if they’re dithering about whether they should join you.”
Walter glanced over his shoulder, resisted a sigh when all the young ladies waved back at him, sent them a wave in return, and then took a step closer to Gwendolyn. “Those ladies are undoubtedly dithering because I’m sure they’re scared to death of you. It’s not often one witnesses the dressing down of a society lady.”
“Is that what you want to discuss with me—the inadvisability of taking a lady to task for her unacceptable behavior toward the delightful and seriously misunderstood Miss Adelaide Duveen?”
“Of course not. It’s hardly my place to lecture you on what many saw as a serious departure from the rules of etiquette society has embraced for decades—not only a departure on your part, but also on Suzette’s.” He nodded to the pony, who was, unsurprisingly, eyeing another hat. “But speaking of Suzette, I want to talk to you about this ridiculous pony, and how it’s your fault I’m now in possession of it.”
She shot a glance to the pony. “I’ve never seen that pony in my life, so I fail to see how it’s my fault it’s now in your custody.”
“My proprietorship of this contrary beast lies squarely at your feet because you somehow managed to worm out of me what I’m looking for in a potential wife. Because of that worming, ladies have flocked to Bailey’s Beach in droves, all of them offering gifts for my children. Suzette, clearly wanting to make amends for her part in the events last night, went to the extreme length of hauling this pony here and presenting it to my children.”
Gwendolyn’s brows drew together. “Miss Tilden presented yourthreechildren with one pony?”
“Indeed. Given your expression, you understand the problem with that. And yes, this quarrelsome pony has already been responsible for some mayhem amongst my children, specificallywith Priscilla and Samuel. I shudder to think what’s going to happen when we get around to naming the beast. Priscilla insisted we name it Trixie, whereas Samuel believes it should be named something more dignified, perhaps from one of his favorite stories. I believe Excalibur was mentioned at one point, although it’s hard to say for certain, given all the crying.”
“Trixie might be an odd name for a male.”
Walter frowned. “I never thought to discern the beast’s gender.” He ran a hand through hair that had to be standing on end by this point, what with the trying nature of his morning. “It might have been prudent to investigate that matter earlier, because Priscilla doesn’t like boys. It would have spared everyone the impressive fit my daughter launched moments after Suzette handed over the reins.”
“Suzette should have known better than to give you an animal. It shows a distinct lack of sensitivity. It’s never a good idea to gift something that needs to be watered and fed.” She tucked an errant strand of hair beneath her hat. “She might have been better served to have given Adelaide Duveen the pony to atone for her serious lack of judgment last night. It would have allowed society to see that Suzette possesses at least a semblance of contrition about what she tried to do to poor Adelaide.”
Walter’s dismal mood suddenly lightened. “Is there a chance Miss Duveen might be receptive to taking this pony off my hands? I would happily give it to her on behalf of Suzette.”
“I highly doubt Adelaide wants to be responsible for a quarrelsome pony, Mr. Townsend. With that said though, if someone were to give you a cat, Adelaide is quite fond of those.” Gwendolyn dusted her hands together. “Since we’ve now cleared up what you wanted to speak with me about, I must return to a task Mrs. Parker assigned me. She’s asked me to speak with Mr. Clarence Higgenson about his apparent interest in Miss Hannah Howe, one of the ladies Mrs. Parker is sponsoring.I, however, am not convinced his interest is aboveboard, not when there are rumors regarding his affection for...”
When Gwendolyn faltered, as if she realized she’d been divulging too much, Walter finished for her. “Mrs. Lanier?”
“Ah, so there is something to that rumor?” Gwendolyn tapped a finger against her chin. “I was afraid of that. If you’ll excuse me, I need to run Mr. Higgenson down and have a heart-to-heart discussion with him.”
“I haven’t finished everything I wanted to say to you.”
“What else could you possibly have to say? I’ve now been apprised of your annoyance with me for getting you to disclose that bit about you needing a mother for your children.” She cocked her head to the side. “Were you, perhaps, expecting me to apologize? Because if that’s the case, know I’m very sorry for questioning you last night. I hope you won’t suffer undue distress from too many ladies trying to win your affections.”
“I wasn’t looking for an apology.”
Her lips curved. “Wonderful, because if you ask me, you should be thanking me for my interference. You now have an entire delegation of ladies trying to win your favor.”
“Thankyou? I never wanted to have an entire delegation of ladies seeking my affections in the first place. In fact, being besieged by so many ladies is leaving me feeling all sorts of discombobulated, a circumstance that’s unusual for me, to say the least.”
Gwendolyn readjusted her hat. “Forgive me, Mr. Townsend, but I’m not certain I understand where you’re going with this conversation. Allow me to cut to the chase. What exactly do you want from me?”
“I want you to fix my situation because you’re the one who created the chaos closing in on me.”
“How, pray tell, do you figure that?” she countered, crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re the one who let it be known you’re in need of a wife, and that knowledge was swirlingaround the upper crust long before I entered the scene. All I did was allow the young ladies to know what your main requirement is in a wife. Again, I’d think you’d want to thank me for helping society understand your needs, which should help you select the perfect wife in the end. That means there’s no reason for you to insist I fix a situation that’s actually to your benefit.”
