A point in the lady’s favor—Mateo enjoyed a good horse race. “There is a race in Spain, theCarreras de Caballos de Sanlúcar,” he said. “The horses race alongside the Mediterranean Sea.” It was a spectacular setting, and the memory of horses racing on the packed sand, the sea sparkling in the background, made him a bit homesick.
“That sounds lovely.” She smiled. But her smile seemed strained. Almost forced. Unlike Hattie’s, whose smile always appeared naturally easy.
What the hell was he doing?What was the matter with him that he kept thinking of Hattie Woodchurch?
“Perhaps we ought to return,” he said. “It looks like they are preparing to serve tea.”
They strolled back across the lawn, and just as they reached the terrace steps, Mr. Woodchurch appeared again. He ignored Mateo completely and said to Miss Raney, “How are you at croquet, Miss Raney? I’d like to invite you to partner with me when play begins. That is, if you are free.” He looked at Mateo.
“I, ah...” Miss Raney glanced nervously at Mateo.
“By all means,” Mateo said.
Mr. Woodchurch smirked. Mateo wondered why he felt such animosity from the gentleman.
“Wonderful,” Mr. Woodchurch said.
Miss Raney looked again at Mateo, and he bowed, setting her free. Mr. Woodchurch seized the opportunity and offered his arm to her. With a last look for Mateo, she carried on with Mr. Woodchurch.
Mateo watched them go. He was already wishing the afternoon would end. Apparently, after tea, he would be forced to play croquet.
And really, where was Hattie? He craned his neck, looking for her in that crowd of too many people.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
HATTIEWASINthe miserable thick of the garden party. It was nothing as she’d expected, which was a small crowd, one or two tables, and polite conversation. But no, this garden party was crowded in between enormous floral teapots and lawn games. Men in morning coats that were quickly discarded due to the heat, women in fancy hats, liveried footmen dashing about, and children.Squadsof children.
The moment Hattie arrived, Lady Iddesleigh said she was very happy to see her, and then immediately pressed her into service that Hattie didn’t know how to refuse. “You’ll help me, won’t you, dear?” Lady Iddesleigh had asked frantically. “Mrs. Hughes has fallen ill and Donovan is nowhere to be found. There isn’t anyone to help with the children. There are simply too many of them! Do you see them? Look, they’re all there at the table under the maple tree,” she said, gesturing to a table where several kids were chasing each other. “Will you mind them for a few moments? I’ll be forever in your debt.Thankyou,” she said, and turned away before Hattie could object.
Daniel—who had of course protested about another invitation to a hoity-toity gathering, but then had been ready a full half hour before Hattie—laughed.“You’ll help me, won’t you, dear?”he mimicked Lady Iddesleigh, and set off, leaving Hattie to fend for herself. She felt she had no choice but to walk over to the children’s table.
Lady Margaret Hawke, the Iddesleigh daughter known as Meg, was at the table. She’d been a girl the last time Hattie had seen her. Her youthful face was the same, but she was clearly disgruntled. She sat on a chair with her chin propped on her fist, looking morose. She hardly glanced up when Hattie took a seat next to her. “I don’t know why I must sit here,” she complained. “Birdie is almost as old as I am—why can’t she watch them?” She looked curiously at Hattie. “Oh! Are you the governess, then?”
“The gov... No,” Hattie said uncertainly. “I’m a guest.” She supposed she couldn’t blame Lady Margaret for thinking she was—she’d tried her best to update the old gown she’d stolen from her mother’s closet. “I’m Harriet Woodchurch. You may remember when I was a student at the Iddesleigh School?”
“Oh. No,” Lady Margaret said, and sank back into her despondency just as two boys raced by so fast that they nearly knocked Hattie’s hat from her head.
She sighed. It was like being surrounded by a dozen Peter and Perrys.
She tried to ignore the children racing around the table and kept her gaze on the adults milling about on the terrace above. She spotted Teo once, and her heart leaped in her chest...until she realized he was speaking to Lady Mabel Stanhope. Mabel had always had the privilege of looking quite charming no matter the circumstance, and today was no exception. What did Teo think of her?
She lost sight of him in the crowd and didn’t spot him again until it came time for everyone to be seated for tea. Hattie assumed her watch was over and rose from the table. But a footman intercepted her on her way back up the stairs with the message she was seated with the children. She bristled; there was nothing in the invitation she’d received to suggest she was the help. But she did as she was asked, then listened to Lady Margaret’s heavy sighs while the Duke of Marley’s two youngest, Annika and Bredon, argued over the toffee candies.
Hattie was hot in her gown, her hair sticky beneath her hat. It was too warm, and really, why had she come? Did she really think these invitations meant anything other than people saw her as useful? What could possibly come of it? She would never feel anything other than a poor relation or a servant.
She sat at the table with the unruly children and watched Lord Iddesleigh escort Teo to a table with him and his wife, and Lord and Lady Marley. The other tables quickly filled, but there were so many people that there weren’t enough places for them all to sit. She realized that some of the unseated guests were eyeing the children’s table and talking amongst themselves, as if plotting a coup.
Hattie sat back, her arms crossed over her middle, bored and angry and feeling inferior.
She didn’t know how long she sat stewing, but eventually, people began to rise from the tea tables and more people took their places. Hattie stood from the children’s table, having decided she was making it worse by obeying. But as she started up the steps, she saw Teo speaking with Lady Mabel again.
She turned and walked away from the steps, toward the fountain, completely disheartened. That was where Flora caught up to her, breathless and giddy. “I’ve looked all over for you!” She latched on to Hattie’s arm and glanced up at her hat. “Where did you getthat?”
Hattie self-consciously touched the brim. “Umm...it was my mother’s.”
“Hattie, you won’t believe it—I talked to him about the stars!” she whispered excitedly.
“You did?”
