Not that he had much to smile about, given the state in which he’d found them this afternoon. He’d appeared equally as grim when they’d been introduced at the end of last season. He hadn’t acquitted himself with much honor on that occasion, although to be fair, he’d just arrived home to find his sister in hysterics, the victim of a failed kidnapping attempt.
He’d had rather a lot to deal with this past year, hadn’t he?
Perhaps she’d judged him too harshly. She knew herself that it was no easy task to act as the sole guardian of one’s strong-willed younger siblings.
She didn’t know much about Lord Fairmont, but Lady Fosberry had mentioned once that he’d only just turned eighteen when the full weight of an impoverished earldom and the care of his younger sister had fallen on his shoulders.
It couldn’t have been easy for him. He was a trifle gruff, yes, but surely that was forgivable, given the burdens he?—
“Lady Fosberry, wait!”
Phee turned at the shout. It was the gentleman in the yellow coat, waving them down.
“Good Lord, now what?” Lord Fairmont muttered, jerking the carriage to a stop. “Hasn’t he caused enough trouble?”
The gentleman— Lord Gilbert —made an awkward dash toward them, stumbling over his own feet as he came. One of hischeeks was streaked with dirt, and the left sleeve of his bright yellow coat was torn.
“Lady Fosberry.” He ran up to the side of the carriage, panting. “I’m so dreadfully sorry about the mishap. I was?—”
“Mishap?” Lord Fairmont looked down his perfectly aristocratic nose at the man. “Is that what you’d call it, Gilbert? A bit short of the mark, I think.”
“Yes, I—I mean no! Of course, it was a great deal worse than that, as you rightly point out, my lord.” Lord Gilbert flushed up to the roots of his hair. “I beg your pardon for detaining you, but I couldn’t let you leave without expressing my most sincere apologies.”
“Are you quite alright, Lord Gilbert?” Lady Fosberry offered him a kind smile. “You weren’t injured in the mishap, I trust?”
“Not a bit, no, which I daresay is more than I deserve.”
“Indeed,” Lord Fairmont muttered. “Far more.”
Lady Fosberry cast a quelling glance at her nephew, then turned back to Lord Gilbert. “And your horses, my lord? Are they alright?”
“I think so, yes. They’re, er, a trifle high-spirited, you see.” Lord Gilbert flushed even redder, his gaze sliding to Phee. “The young lady isn’t hurt, I hope?”
“She’s fine, no thanks to you, Gilbert,” Lord Fairmont snapped.
“James!” Harriett cried. “I do beg your pardon, Gilly. My brother is distraught.”
“Not a bit, Lady Harriett. Lord Fairmont is quite right. Quite right, indeed.” Lord Gilbert glanced at Lord Fairmont, his throat moving in a swallow. “May I have your permission, my lord, to call on you all later, so I might reassure myself of the ladies’ health?”
“Of course, you—” Lady Fosberry began, but Lord Fairmont interrupted her.
“No, you may not. Now stand back, Gilbert.” With that cutting reply, Lord Fairmont touched the ribbons to the horse’s backs, and they were off, leaving poor Lord Gilbert stammering and stuttering behind them.
“For pity’s sake, James!” Harriett exclaimed. “Was it necessary to speak so rudely to him? Anyone can see he’s mortified. Poor Gilly.”
Lord Fairmont jerked his head toward her, his jaw falling open. “PoorGilly? For God’s sake, Harriett, save your pity for those deserving of it. He might have killed someone today!”
“He didn’t mean any harm, James! It was an accident.” It took a great deal to rouse Harriet’s temper, but she was fuming. “There was no reason for you to be so cruel to him!”
“I beg to differ. A gentleman who can’t handle his team has no business in the Ring.”
Harriett stared at him for a moment, then shook her head. “I’m ashamed of you, James.”
If the afternoon hadn’t already been ruined, that would have done it. Lord Fairmont flinched, but he said nothing in reply, and none of the rest of them ventured a single word after that.
They spent the drive from Hyde Park to Hampstead Heath in an oppressive silence.
Lord Fairmont was right, of course. It had been wrong of Lord Gilbert to venture into the Ring today— very wrong, indeed —yet despite his foolishness, Phee couldn’t condemn him as harshly as Lord Fairmont.
