Lady Emma stared after them, the oddest expression on her face. “Now I think on it, my lord, I believe I would enjoy a walk, after all.”
“Oh, yes! Let’s walk, shall we?” Lady Flora jumped to her feet. “I’m mad to see the illuminations. They’re said to be very clever.”
“Then see them you shall, Lady Flora.” Lovell rose and offered her his arm with a gallant flourish. “Where shall we go first? The Triumphal Arches?”
“Yes, that sounds lovely.” Lady Emma slid her small, gloved hand through Samuel’s arm, her slender body vibrating with impatience.
His body leapt to aching attention at her nearness, the scent of her, the press of her fingers on his sleeve, and he was obliged to clear his throat before speaking. “Would anyone else care toaccompany us?”
“Not me.” Lady Lovell drew herself up with a sniff. “The gardens don’t interest me. Unless you’d care for a stroll,Mr. Humphries?”
“No, indeed.” Mr. Humphries helped himself to another slice of ham. “I’m comfortable where I am.”
“Lady Lymington?” Samuel glanced at his mother, who startled when he said her name. “No, thank you. I daresay you’ll enjoy yourselves more without us.”
“Indeed. We’re perfectly content to stay where we are, aren’t we, Henrietta?” Lady Silvester turned to Lady Crosby with a good-natured smile.
“Quite content, yes,” Lady Crosby agreed, giving Emma acheerful wave.
Samuel led them from the deep alcove that sheltered the supper boxes onto the Grand Walk. When she saw the lamps, Lady Flora gasped, her hand over her mouth. “Oh, my goodness. So many colors! Why, how lovely it is! Lady Emma, don’t you find it lovely?”
Anyone who’d never before seen the marvel of Vauxhall’s colored glass lamps could be expected to pause to marvel at them, but Lady Emma would have marched right past them, without sparing them a glance if Samuel hadn’t stopped her with gentle pressure on her arm. “Lady Emma, I believe Lady Flora asked you a question.”
Emma seemed to realize she was dragging Samuel and she stopped, her fingers loosening on his coat sleeve. “Oh, er…yes! Quite beautiful, indeed.”
Lady Flora sighed with pleasure. “The blue is the prettiest, I think.”
Lady Emma was peering down the lane toward the darker walkways at the back, as if searching for something. “Yes, the blue is very…that shade is…did you not say, Lady Flora, that you wished to see the Triumphal Arches?”
Lady Flora’s brow furrowed. “Did I, indeed?”
Samuel stood quietly, taking in this odd scene. Lady Emma had risen to her tiptoes, and was peering in the direction of the Center Cross Walk. She was chasing someone through the gardens, and it looked to Samuel as if it was that disreputable pack of drunken rakes who’d turned down the Grand Walk justahead of them.
Why would Lady Emma be chasingthem? The look on her face when she’d been watching them from the supper box had been far from admiring. Then again, Emma was good at keeping her secrets, and had beenfrom the start.
Damn it, none of this made sense, and it was driving him mad.
“Shall we wander toward the Triumphal Arches?” Lady Flora peeked up at Lovell from under her lashes, her lips curving in awinning smile.
Lovell gazed back at her, appearing stunned for a moment before clearing his throat. “Whatever you like, my lady. I’m your willing slave.”
If Lovell had said it to any other lady, Samuel would have thought it an abominable bit of flirtation, but in Lady Flora’s case, it was nothingbut the truth.
Lady Flora colored, but she allowed Lovell to lead her toward the Grand South Walk, where the first Triumphal Arch was located. “There are two more besides this one, each of them situated where the pathways cross, and at the end is atransparency.”
“Vauxhall’s transparencies are meant to be clever. I should like very much to see one.” Lady Emma didn’t pause to wait for a reply, but slipped her arm free of Samuel’s, and turned toward the back of the garden. Lovell and Lady Flora went along willingly enough, leaving Samuel no choicebut to follow.
There was no sign of the drunken rakes, but they were likely headed for the darker walks at the back of the garden, where the branches were thicker, and one might take a lady who didn’t object to a bit of intrigue. Samuel was now certain Lady Emma was following them, and he was determined to let her have her way, and see what became of their little adventure.
“Ah, that’s a handsome one,” Lovell exclaimed when they reached the transparency at the end of the walkway. “What say you, Lymington?”
Samuel stepped closer to study the painting on display. It was a military scene, the width of it nearly as wide as the path leading from the Grand South Walk.
“See how the paper has been scraped thin here?” Lovell said to Lady Flora, pointing to one section of the painting where the soldiers’ red coats shone with particular brightness. “It allows more of the light to come through, exaggerating the effectof the colors.”
“Is it paper, then? I thought it was silk,” Lady Flora said, studying the transparencywith interest.
“No, it’s varnished paper, painted on both sides and illuminated from behind with lamps.” Lovell smiled down at her. “It’s meant to look likestained glass.”
