‘Oh, but I rarely think of others, Miss Ashling.’
‘That is not particularly edifying.’
‘Ah, but I said “rarely”, ma’am. For you, I make an exception.’
‘Do you know, my lord, I fail to find that edifying either.’
‘Touché, Miss Ashling.’ He laughed, but was stung. So the cat had claws, had she? ‘Are you so very nice in yourrequirements, ma’am?’
‘My requirements?’
‘Why yes. Not for nothing are you termed “the Unassailable”. Many the man has turned back at the flash of your eyes, the haughty upturn of your rather beautiful nose, the disdainful curl of your equally delightful lips.’
Elizabeth coloured. ‘We are not alone, sir, and those comments are not seemly.’
‘No, alas we are not alone, ma’am, but I only employ the most discreet of servants. Being a Bad Man, I find it prudent. Lambton is very deaf, when asked to be so. And as for “seemly”, why, I thought you said you were not afraid of truth.’
Her cheeks grew even more red. She now realised her predicament. Her hands were full with reins and whip, and making a scene in public almost unthinkable.
‘So you see, I am compelled to assume that your requirements in a man are very precise. Clearly looks are not everything, since Templecombe is quite an Adonis, but remarkably boring. So a degree of wit is on the list,214which really ought to discount the worthy Sir Lucius, who is merely dry.’
‘Stop this,’ Elizabeth commanded sharply.
‘Why, my dear? You see, I simply think that you have not had that additional element to make a man deserving of you. I am not as handsome as Templecombe, not as worthy as Radstock, but I do have a certain dangerous quality that adds intrigue. Women so like a mystery, and I can be very mysterious.’
He slid a hand beneath the light driving rug and set it just above her knee. She jumped, which made him laugh. It was more than he had intended to do, but he had thrown caution to the winds, for this conquest had become more important to him as Radstock had become a greater threat. He did not wish to be bested by either him or the lady.
‘How dare you, sir. Remove your hand this instant.’
‘What will you do, my dear? Scream? I think not. Sopublic a place, even if at this moment there is nobody close enough to—’
He did not finish, for she struck him in the face with the butt of the whip and dropped her hands. The pair broke into a canter, and Lord Easby, his lip split and bleeding, had to grip on to prevent himself being thrown back off the seat. Unconsciously, his hand gripped her leg more tightly, though it was for balance rather than from passion. Elizabeth had not handled the pair at speed, and had to concentrate as they took a corner, which was thankfully a comparatively gentle curve. It was at this point that she saw Sir Lucius trotting towards them. She began to pull up, more practically than with style, the horses agitated.215She was flustered, Easby had blood on his lip and his hand was still hidden beneath the rug. Sir Lucius had all the information he needed in a single glance. He rode calmly alongside the box, raised his hat politely to Miss Ashling, replaced it, and then, out of the blue, grabbed Lord Easby and pulled him off to fall and roll through the dust and into the grass.
Instructing the groom, curtly, to hold his horse, he dismounted, removed his hat and gloves, and dragged the dishevelled Earl up from his knees.
‘Miss Ashling has an aversion to duelling, so I will not call you out, Easby, but I will do what I have longed to do and you deserve.’
With which, having taken the trouble to haul Easby to his feet, he promptly knocked him down. Dazed, Easby lay still for a moment, then shook his head to clear it, and looked up into the belligerent face.
‘Oh, take a damper, Radstock,’ he muttered thickly, a bleeding nose now added to his injuries. ‘It is hardly abduction.’
Sir Lucius looked undecided as to whether he would like to repeat his performance, or just kill the man. Elizabeth, calling the groom to stand to the horses’ heads and let her take Sir Lucius’s mount, clambered down from the vehicle.
‘Enough.’ She laid a hand upon Sir Lucius’s arm andlooked up at him.
‘I apologise, Miss Ashling. This was hardly suitable for a lady’s eyes, but—’
‘I appreciate your concern, your intervention even, sir, but I beg of you to go no further. I think Lord Easby has216been made perfectly aware of my … disinclination to receive his advances in any form.’
‘To take advantage, under the pretext of—’ Sir Lucius began, frowning, but was interrupted by the unwanted suitor.
‘Yes, yes, Radstock, go on, by all means, and enumerate my ungentlemanly failings if you must, but do so after I have had the opportunity to depart, bloodied and conceding the error of my judgement.’ He looked to Miss Ashling as he fumbled for a handkerchief. ‘My profound apologies, ma’am. I can only say that I permitted my inclinations to get the better of good breeding. I accept that my behaviour was unpardonable, yet crave your pardon nonetheless, and your permission to withdraw.’
Miss Ashling, feeling somewhat overcome by events, nodded dumbly, and Lord Easby staggered to his feet, sketched an approximation of a bow, and commanded Lambton, in a testy tone, to drive him home.
‘Sir Lucius, yet again you have thought fit to rescue me from a situation from which I had hoped to extricate myself unaided.’ Elizabeth’s words admonished, but the tone was one of gratitude.
‘His behaviour was unpardonable.’
