A Taste of Desire(20)
At his chagrined smile, Amelia put aside her pique. He could hardly control the vagaries of London traffic. “Good day, Lord Clayborough. That is quite all right,” she said graciously. “Come, let us walk toward the bridge.” Turning to address Charles, who was acting as her groom for the morning, she said, “We shall return shortly.”
From the driver’s seat, the ever-loyal Charles bobbed his head in acknowledgement. Having befriended the fair-haired, ruddy-faced young man when he was just a boy working in the stables, Amelia had received his eternal gratitude when she’d rallied her father on his behalf. Charles had promptly ascended to the rank of a footman. Her father’s paltry effort to appease her after her birthday had come and gone without him offering even a token acknowledgement of the special day.
With Hélène trailing behind just out of earshot, Amelia and Lord Clayborough started down the walking path leading to the river.
They walked in silence for several seconds before she peered up at him from beneath the shallow brim of her bonnet. “My father is sending me to Devon.” She made the announcement abrupt and dramatic in an effort to jolt him from his seemingly perpetual state of bonhomie.
His brows shot up as his brown eyes grew round with surprise. “To Devon? Pray tell, what business have you there?”
Well, it was certainly better than a placating smile accompanied by words of reassurance.
“No business at all. My father’s idea of punishment involves putting me to work.”
Lord Clayborough’s eyes widened another fraction, his strides slowing, only to quicken to keep pace with her when her own continued brisk and unbroken.
“Work?” He uttered the word as if his tongue found it unpalatable. “You cannot be serious.”
First Lady Jane and now him? Did she at all resemble a court jester? “I assure you, I do not sport about such things. For the duration of his trip commencing next month.” This time when his strides slowed to a halt, Amelia followed his lead and turned to face him.
“My dearest Lady Amelia, I can only offer my sincerest apologies.”
“It’s hardly your fault,” Amelia dismissed his apology with a wave of her hand. “My father is, as usual, being quite unreasonable. And this—this punishment is barbaric. In light of these events, it is imperative we wed immediately.”
Pushing his brown hat up with the tip of his gloved finger, he furrowed his brows. “What about your father, your chaperone …?”
Amelia could make out minute beads of sweat dotting the line on his forehead where his hat had recently sat. This would be a most inopportune time for him to start having second thoughts about going up against her father. It wasn’t something that had troubled him before. And really, what could her father do? He hadn’t the power to strip him of his title or entailed properties.
“Miss Crawford returned to Yorkshire early this morning. She received word last night that her mother has taken ill.” Though, surely a distressing ordeal for her chaperone, it had made the task of meeting Lord Clayborough this morning a great deal easier.
“I do hope it’s nothing serious,” he said, with a look of concern.
Amelia resumed walking, Lord Clayborough instantly falling in step at her side. “I don’t believe so. She is expected back next week. Now getting back to the matter of our wedding—”
“Well—”
“We have only ‘til year’s end to marry, given the new law in Scotland.” A gust of wind billowed the skirt of her walking dress. With both hands, Amelia clasped the striped muslin close to her legs until the wind subsided.
“If we have until then, why be hasty? I mean, is that really prudent given the disaster of this past week?” Lord Clayborough asked, trepidation lacing his tone.
“I’m returning home the day after tomorrow. We don’t have the luxury of time.” Amelia wondered if he had heard her. She was being put to work. If that did not necessitate haste, she did not know what did.
Removing his hat, he drew out a handkerchief from a pocket inside his jacket and dabbed his forehead. “Don’t you think it would be to our advantage if we were to wait until after your father leaves for America? I should hate to risk a reoccurrence of Wednesday’s incident.”
Taking his hesitancy as an unacceptable show of weakness, Amelia angled her head and fixed him with a look of reproach. “Well, you must ensure that he does not discover us until after the ceremony.”