Treacherous Temptations(26)

“Yes,” Mary replied. “A trip by barge to Richmond, a place where he spent much time in his boyhood.”

“How remarkably…quaint,” the countess remarked. She parted her lips for the maid to apply a rosy red tint. She then puckered in an affectation of a kiss.

“He wishes to depart early to avoid the heat of day and to be back by supper.” Mary bit her lip in expectation. “Do you intend to join us, my lady?”

“La, darling, you know I rarely rise before noon and I’ve never cared to spend an entire afternoon out of doors, let alone sojourn to the country. So I suppose that simple creature Jenny must again suffice as your chaperone.”

“Then I may go?”

“You may, but only on the provision that you return in time for supper. Sir Richard sent word he will join us. You already know he was displeased to have missed you earlier.”

“Yes. I’m sorry, my lady. I will be certain to arrive back with adequate time to prepare for supper.”

Lady Blanchard waved Nanette away and turned away from the mirror to regard Mary straight on. She cocked her head with an appraising look. “I see you have at last done something with your hair.”

“Indeed, my lady!” Mary spun around to better display the pile of curls atop her head. “It was Jenny’s experiment. Do you approve?”

“I suppose it is some improvement, but I fear I must place you in more capable hands for the opera.” Mary’s smile drooped. The countess looked upon her with a sigh. “You really must strive harder, Mary. It seems I have done my best for you to no avail.”

“I really have tried, my lady,” Mary insisted. “But I am not a dancer, I despise needlework, have no talent for painting, and the French tongue is little more than gibberish to my ears. I was just not born to this kind of life.”

“I know, my dear,” she stroked Mary’s cheek sympathetically. “I just don’t understand what Sir Richard expects, for one simply cannot make a silk purse from a sow’s ear.”





Chapter Eleven


Mary and Lord Hadley set out by coach early in the morning to Westminster, where a private barge awaited to convey them to Richmond. They were accompanied by Jenny, as chaperone, and James, Lord Hadley’s valet, who carried several baskets of provisions for the voyage.

Mary wore another simple chintz gown with a broad brimmed bonnet adorned with ribbon and flowers, while Lord Hadley, still donning the gentlemanly accoutrements of cravat and frock coat, had chosen a mode of dress devoid of the noble trappings. She wondered if he had done so to set her more at ease. With his black hair swept back, unpowdered, and queued, and a manner and dress more relaxed than the day before, he could have been the typical country gentleman she was accustomed to…had he not also been so devastatingly handsome.

“We shall travel in the same manner the Royal Courts have used for centuries between London and Hampton Court Palace, albeit in a less splendiferous style,” Lord Hadley chuckled. He explained that his coachman would drive ahead to meet them later in the afternoon at Bushy Park. “No doubt he’ll stop for a few pints along the way, but he’ll still have ample time to rest the horses before they are needed again.”

“But if it’s a faster trip by land, why do we travel by water?” Mary asked.

“My dear Miss Edwardes,” he snared her gaze with a teasing smile. “Are you always more eager to arrive at your destination than to enjoy the journey?”

Mary regarded him thoughtfully. “I suppose I have undertaken too few pleasure trips to be able to answer that. Generally speaking, my journeys have always had an intended purpose.”

“Then I shall share our purpose with you. We have boarded this barge, on what promises to be a fine day, with the sole objective of enjoying a leisurely passage along some of the most scenic vistas in England, all while enjoying one another’s company, sipping wine, and sampling whatever delicacies Lady Blanchard’s cook has provided in those baskets…although I believe what I crave most might not be inside.”

“No? Mary asked. “What is it you desire, my lord? Perhaps it can be procured along the way?”

His dark eyes glittered above a meaningful smile. “Curiously, since only yesterday afternoon, I seem to have developed an almost insatiable craving…for strawberry tarts.”

His words fired Mary’s cheeks as well as her imagination, distracting her thoughts for the entire upriver voyage. His kisses had roused powerful yearnings—and God help her she wanted more.

The journey was, indeed, a leisurely one, the boat propelled against the current by the exertions of a half-dozen burly and broad-backed oarsmen. Hadley and Mary spent much time in companionable silences, broken only by Mary’s occasional questions about points of interest as they passed the ancient Lambeth Palace, the London residence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and countless other palatial estates abutting the banks of the Thames. Lord Hadley singled out each, expounding on the histories of the stately homes and the various scandals associated with each of the noble families.

He had not misrepresented the scenery. As they travelled farther upriver, the traffic became lighter and the waterway gradually narrower, its banks more pastoral with open fields between the picturesque villages they passed with occasional islands springing up and dividing the waters.