Iris knew her at once, and her heart shifted in her chest, but not in the pleasant way it always had before whenever she looked at Lord Huntington’s lips.
No, this was a shift into panic.
Where in the world had Lady Beaumont come from, and what was Lord Huntington doing alone in the garden with her?
She soon had her answer.
Iris watched through the gap in the branches as Lady Beaumont threw herself at Lord Huntington, and his arms closed around her.
Chapter Two
Half an hour earlier
“What’s the matter, Derrick? Couldn’t find a rosebud?”
Lord Derrick was striding across Lady Fairchild’s lawn toward Finn, a grim look on his face. “You have a problem, Huntington.”
Finn yawned. “I can’t think what, unless you mean my poor showing in the scavenger hunt. Not a rosebud to be had, but if I can bear the shame of it, surely you can.”
Lord Derrick wasn’t amused. “On the contrary, your humiliation for the day has just begun.”
“Well, what is it? Do the ladies require my assistance?” There were few things Finn loathed more than a scavenger hunt. He would have done the gentlemanly thing and escorted Miss Somerset into the garden despite his aversion, but she’d hurried off with her sister and Lady Honora without a backward glance at him.
“No, Huntington. It’s Lady Beaumont. She’s in the garden.”
Finn blinked. Lady Beaumont? What the devil would his former mistress be doing in Lady Fairchild’s garden? “I think the sun has addled your brain, Derrick. That’s impossible.”
“One would think so, but she’s there. I saw her with my own eyes behind the beds of red roses, and she looks as if she’s ready to claw the petals off every one of them. I’ve never known a woman with a nastier temper. You did say she didn’t take it well when you broke with her, didn’t you?”
“She cracked my carriage window with her riding crop, Derrick. I think we can both agree she didn’t take it well. But how would she get into the garden? There’s no chance a high stickler like Lady Fairchild would invite a woman of Lady Beaumont’s reputation to her scavenger hunt.”
“No doubt she bribed one the servants to let her in.”
“Jesus. Do you think she’d go that far?”
“I think shehasgone that far. Do you suppose a lady who’d crack a window with her riding crop would hesitate to bribe a servant? And she’s here, isn’t she?”
“Damned clever plan.” Ugly, but clever. He should have expected something like this from her. She never did anything by accident, or by halves. Whatever her reasons for being here today, she’d do a thorough job of it.
“Clever enough to work. I’d advise you to go into the garden and fetch Miss Somerset at once, while I escort Lady Beaumont off the property.”
“No, Derrick. Fetch Miss Somerset for me, will you? Say her sister wants her, and escort her back to the terrace where she’s out of the way. Lady Beaumont will refuse to stir a step out of the garden until she sees me and says whatever it is she’s come to say. Christ, what a bloody mess.”
Finn dragged a hand down his face. Lady Beaumont might very well snatch the petals off every rose in the garden, but they weren’t her primary target. If she managed to get her claws into Miss Somerset, she’d rip her to shreds.
“Yes, all right.Go, Huntington, before she catches up to Miss Somerset, and it’s too late.”
But Finn was already gone, rose petals drifting to the ground in his wake as he ran through the garden. Short of stuffing her into a burlap sack, he hadn’t any bloody idea how he’d get Lady Beaumont out of here without anyone seeing her, but he’d have to find a way—
“Lord Huntington?”
Finn froze, his eyes squeezing shut.
Not Miss Somerset. Not now, and not here—
But of course it was her, because one way or another your sins always caught up to you, and now his latest sin was about to catch up with Miss Somerset, as well.
Finn sent up a quick plea for mercy, turned to his betrothed, and offered her his arm. “I’m sure you must be fatigued, after so long a time in the sun. Allow me to escort you back to the terrace.”
