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Miss Trent nodded slowly, but did not take her hand from his arm.

“I would not have you distressed,” he said gently. “If you would rather stay apart from this, I would understand.”

Her eyes cleared, and her chin lifted. “I would prefer to go with you, if I may,” she said, her sudden resolve surprising him. “If you were about to say what I thought, nay, hoped, you might, then I think it best I stand at your side.”

Relief buoyed him, his breath leaving in a great rush as he laid his hand over hers, the warmth of her skin and the joy of her words flooding his heart. “We will finish that conversation just as soon as we are able,” he swore, and she smiled. “But for now — let us go and discover what Lady Henderson is about.”

CHAPTER 16

Quite where Viola had found the courage to speak to Lord Carrington so boldly, she did not know. Perhaps it had come from the shock of hearing Lord Brookmire speak of Miss Galbraith as he had — or from the pleasure of hearing Lord Carrington declare, so firmly, that he had no intention of pursuing the lady, all the while sending quick, urgent looks her way. Either way, she felt herself buoyed now as she walked at his side, the two of them of one purpose.

“There — is that not the lady in question?” Lord Carrington paused, gesturing to his right. “Lady Henderson?”

Viola sharpened her gaze and saw Lady Henderson throw back her head and laugh, then lay a hand on another lady’s arm. “Yes, I believe so,” she said slowly. “Though she is with five others at least.” Her stomach clenched. “What do you mean to do?”

“Speak with her.” He stepped forward, drawing Viola with him. “I intend to make it quite clear, to the lady and to her companions both, that I have no intention of courting her daughter.” His jaw tightened. “And to ask why she would say such a thing so publicly.”

“I pray you will not.”

A figure moved swiftly into their path. Miss Galbraith’s cheeks were flushed a deep red, her smile fixed, her eyes flashing. There was a brittleness to her, as if her composure might shatter at a touch.

“Miss Galbraith.” Viola glanced at Lord Carrington. “Lord Brookmire is searching for you.”

Her smile flickered. “I have avoided him for the moment. I saw you turn toward my mother, and I knew I must stop you.”

Viola blinked. “Stop us?”

“Yes.” The lady’s voice dropped, low and urgent, with an anxious glance toward her mother. “I beg you not to speak with her here, in the park, with so many of the ton about and the fashionable hour nearly upon us.”

A flicker of sympathy stirred in Viola. Miss Galbraith feared the rumors that any scene would feed. And yet — could she truly expect the lie to be left to spread?

It was Lord Carrington who answered. “Your plea is understandable, Miss Galbraith. But you must see that I cannot let society go on believing you and I are courting.”

The words fell with measured clarity, and the air between them thinned. Miss Galbraith closed her eyes briefly, her fingers gripping together.

“Why will you not consider me?” she asked. The question was soft, but a raw edge ran beneath it. “We have known one another for years, ever since you came as a boy to Lady Warrington’s house in Scotland.”

“That was a long time ago, and long before she set a tenant in it,” Lord Carrington said quietly. “We are long acquainted, yes. But I will not make a match on suitability alone.”

Miss Galbraith blinked, a dampness at her eyes.

“I intend to make a love match.” The simple truth sent a shiver of heat up Viola’s spine as he turned and looked directly at her. “I did not always mean to. But it is my only thought now. My only desire.”

No one gasped; there was no exclamation of surprise. And yet Viola felt the ripple of his words all the same. Warmth flooded her from crown to toe, a dizzying rush that left her light-headed, and she dropped her gaze to the ground a moment, her pulse racing.

Miss Galbraith sniffed, and Viola looked back to find the color pulling from her face. “How very… unexpected,” she said, her composure sharpening into something colder. “I had thought you a gentleman of more sense, Lord Carrington.” Her gaze flicked between them. “A gentleman of your standing ought to consider what society will say of such a match — what controversy it will stir.”

Viola met her eyes without flinching, though her heart thudded. There was an unspoken hostility coming off the lady now, aimed at her alone.

“I care nothing for society’s whispers,” Lord Carrington said firmly. “My only consideration is what is in my heart.”

“Besides which,” Viola added, keeping her voice steady, “you of all people must understand him, Miss Galbraith, for you already have the affection of Lord Brookmire.”

The effect was immediate. The cold mask shattered, uncertainty breaking across her face. “Lord Brookmire?”

Viola nodded. “He has been most attentive, has he not?”

“But… ” Miss Galbraith passed a hand over her eyes. “He has never said a word to me of affection, nor of courtship. I presumed — ”