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Yasmin didn’t want to be anywhere private with Giles. His kisses seemed to cloud her mind and lead to extraordinary gaps in judgment. Being seen with him would lead to gossip.

“Perhaps early in the morning. I would enjoy a drive in the park in your curricle,” she said airily. In the open vehicle, she could refuse his proposal expeditiously and have done with it.

“I shall come promptly after breakfast.”

She curtsied. “Good day, Lord Lilford.”

Giles didn’t bow, nor did he show any reaction to the fact she’d addressed him by his title. He brushed a kiss on her mouth. “I wish you a good day, dear.”

Yasmin’s heart thumped. She watched him go, struck by one thought: the woman who would be greeted by that quiet, deep voice morning and evening was so lucky.

But it would not be her.

Chapter Fourteen

Giles walked into his own house a half hour later, certain that Yasmin planned to reject his proposal. The debacle of the condom had changed her mind. He thought hard in the carriage, but until the moment of entry, so to speak, he could have sworn that she was enjoying herself.

It took time for lovers to learn each other’s rhythms and pleasures, which meant that persuading her to marry him was a question of intimacies. The thought sent a burr of desire down his legs, even as his cock was still protesting the close confines of his breeches. Persuading Yasmin to accept his proposal—again—was a challenge for tomorrow.

Today he had to speak to Lydia. Learning from the butler that she had returned from the scavenger hunt, he strolled into the drawing room.

His sister was seated beside the window, plying her needle in a cross-stitch sampler she’d been working on for at least two years. She had changed into a demure muslin evening dress that he remembered from her first Season. He found himself smiling as he sat down opposite her.

“Doing it a little too brown, sis,” he said teasingly. “You’re the very picture of virtuous womanhood.”

“Act as you mean to be,” Lydia said, smiling back. “I had a good time with Lord Pettigrew this afternoon, and I think that his attentions are marked. Before you ask, I did not welcome a kiss, and he didn’t offer one. The maid was never out of our presence.”

“Who won the scavenger hunt?”

She snorted. “The whole thing was a cheat. Most of us had made it back to the house and were totting up how many things we found when the Duke of Huntington strolled in with Lady Stella.”

“Accompanied by his mother’s brother, the bishop?”

“Of course,” she said, scowling. Lydia had always hated to lose at spillikins as a girl. Then she brightened. “Lord Pettigrew said that the hunt didn’t matter because he loathed the idea of me wearing anything as ugly as a vulture crown. Lady Stella actually put it on her head. Can you imagine? She truly is the strangest creature. She looked a terrible figure of fun with a beak looming over her forehead.”

“What was in the box?”

“No one knows! The duke opened it, burst into laughter, and refused to share the contents with anyone, including Lady Stella. She didn’t look very pleased. I don’t think they like each other at all, which is a shame because his mother would obviously like them to marry.”

“I see,” Giles said, thinking that this was his cue to bring up his marital plans. Lydia wasn’t going to be happy, but she had to accept it.

“The dowager might wreak havoc on Lady Yasmin’s ambition to be a duchess,” Lydia said, picking up her sampler again and glancing at him under her lashes. She hadn’t blackened them today, so they were the usual blonde that matched her hair.

“Speaking of which,” he began.

But Lydia didn’t hear him. “Where did you go? Everyone noticed when you and Lady Yasmin didn’t return. I don’t mind telling you that the Duke of Huntington was frightfully displeased. I heard him tell his mother that he was tired of her meddling. He was obviously referring to the way she paired him with Lady Stella and sent you away with Lady Yasmin.”

“We didn’t find enough objects to bother returning to Covent Garden.”

“The list was not easy,” Lydia said, clearly determined to be courteous. “Lord Pettigrew and I found only three, though we had a lovely time wandering through the market. I bought some darling buttons.”

Giles twitched, but it wasn’t the moment to mention Yasmin’s button collection. He had a strong feeling that Lydia would not welcome any signs of affinity with his future wife.

“I asked Lady Yasmin to marry me.”

Lydia gasped. “No.” Her throat began working, but no sound emerged for a long moment. Then, “I shall hate you if you do this, Giles.”

“That seems an extraordinary response,” he said, startled.