H
yde Park was a lush green field of grass and trees, that to realize it was in the heart of London was astonishing. Lorelei did her best to maintain her cool sophistication, but knew she was failing miserably. There were just so many exciting things to see.
“Have you been to the park, my lady?”
She shook her head. “There are so many people. I fear we are going to run someone over.” Indeed, myriad couples walked hand in hand, clothes and parasols displayed of every conceivable color. Others were on horseback. Everywhere there were dogs, birds, children.
“Which is exactly why running a horse through the park is illegal.” He pointed in the direction of a body of water. “That is the Serpentine.”
Small boats and ducks and swans milled lazily about the water. “We have a large pond at Spixworth. Do you have a boat, my lord?” Lorelei asked him, almost positive it was a suitable topic.
“I do not.”
“Do you know how to row a boat, my lord?” The question came from behind and Lorelei had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling.
“I can handle a boat, Lord Harlowe.” Kimpton slid her a sideways glance. “And you, Lady Lorelei, can you handle a boat?”
Her grin broke through. “Most assuredly, my lord. I also swim.” Oh dear. She wasn’t so certain swimming qualified as fitting.
“How… unusual,” he said. “I don’t believe I’ve met a woman who is able to swim.”
“Lore can outswim even me, and I’m fast.”
Kimpton lifted a brow in her direction.
“There has been a race or two,” she said modestly. “Brandon has been gaining on me of late. I have no doubt in another year or two he shall pass me up.” Ha! It would be years if she had anything to say about it.
Her brother’s snort was quite distinguishable and Lorelei’s face warmed.
“I believe that is a race I should like to witness if not participate in at some time in the future,” Lord Kimpton murmured.
Brandon’s laugh sounding from behind had her heart swelling with joy. In that instant, she saw her companion through different eyes. In his kind treatment of Brandon, her view was turning rose-colored.
The clop of the horses’ hooves were down to a slow walk with the crowds. She gazed out over the mass, unable to come up with another appropriate topic. She wasn’t town savvy. How did one talk of nice weather? The horses pulled to a quick stop and Kimpton’s arm shot across the front of her, preventing her a tumble over the edge of the carriage. “What—”
Lord Shufflebottom had brought the moving traffic to a standstill.
“Hello, Shuff. Is there problem?” Kimpton’s voice was possessed coolness.
His exhibiting such control had Lorelei wondering at Kimpton’s age. In her experience, most men were just overgrown boys. Oh, Lord. Had she just channeled Aunt Isobel?
“Lady Lorelei, I see now the culprit who usurped my plans.” Lord Shufflebottom’s smile sent ice skittering up Lorelei’s spine. It also infuriated her.
“I believe I possess the ability to make my own decisions regarding the use of my time, sir. If there is anyone who usurped your plans, sir, I confess it was I.”
“Of course, my lady, I stand corrected. I shall hold you to your promise of a ride at a later time. Good day to you both.” Lord Shufflebottom tipped his fashionable hat and with his smarmy smile, trotted off.
“He asked you to accompany him today?”
Lorelei lifted her chin. “He did.”
“And you chose me over him?”
“Aunt Isobel chose you over him,” she corrected. And thankfully so, she thought, suppressing a shudder.
“Then I shall have to thank Aunt Isobel.”
Another snort sounded from behind.
“That’s enough, Brandon,” she snapped.
“Didn’t say anything, Lore.”
Maybe bringing Brandon along hadn’t been so wise.
There was no stealing a kiss, not with her brother sitting in the boot. And, most certainly, Lady Lorelei possessed kissable lips. Thorne should have made his request for a drive in person. However, he hadn’t been so sure he could have stopped himself from an all-out brawl with her other admirers. He would take comfort in the fact the dowager had chosen him.
“So you had a house full of callers?”
“And lots of flowers.” From the boot.
Thorne winced. He hadn’t sent flowers. “Oh? What are your favorites, Lady Lorelei?”
“She likes roses.”
An answer he should have known, having carried her out of the ballroom the night before. “Do you concur with your speaker, my lady?”
An engaging blush illuminated her cheeks while she fiddled with the locket around her neck. “Er, yes,” she murmured.
Thorne was not ready to marry. But if he were, he knew instantly he wouldn’t mind sitting across the breakfast table every morning from Lorelei. Even her brother didn’t seem so bad. But at only five and twenty there did not seem the rush. His mother was just impatient for grandchildren and her interference in forcing an issue that did not pertain to her was infuriating. What if some coxcomb snatches Lorelei from your grasp before you are ready?
To marry now would be akin to his mother winning by default. The very idea grated at his independence. But what if some coxcomb—
“Is something amiss, my lord?”
“Are you attending the Faulk’s musicale this evening?”
“I am not. It’s the theater for me tonight. It will be my first.”
“Ye gads,” Brandon said.
“Ah. Much Ado About Nothing, I take it?”
“You’ve seen it?” Her dark blue eyes flashed excitement that ignited his blood.
Would it hurt to remove her from the competition? Then, once he was ready to settle down, there she’d be. Waiting. For him. “I have.”
Looked like a stop at the Georgian Theater was in his immediate future.