“His beak is not so pretty,” Leonora said.
“Agreed.” Dare pointed at a plump, mottled-faced man amidst the crowd. The Earl of Plummington, their host.
So then... “The earl’s pet is calling him an idiot?”
“It seems so.” Dare chuckled, and Leonora’s gaze followed his to a woman snickering behind a fan. “I would guess the countess had a hand in this.”
Oh dear. “How utterly devious. Why would she do something so . . . so . . .”
“Underhanded, not to mention humiliating to her husband?” Dare finished her sentence. “First, you must ask what he has done to her.”
“Do you know?” Leonora asked with curiosity.
He shook his head. “But since your friends caused such a scandal by releasing copies of White’s betting book, all sorts of odd things have happened all across London.”
“Well, good for the countess, then.”
Dare grinned, nodding his approval. “Are you joining the festivities at Huntington Manor tomorrow?”
“Oh, you mean the picnic beside their lake? I hadn’t planned on going, no.”
“Pity. I have it on good authority that the duchess is attending.”
“And what good authority is this? Don’t tell me you have spies in her household!”
He laughed. “Saints, no. Nothing like that. I overheard some chatter.”
“Chatter cannot be considered a good authority.”
“If that’s not good authority, I don’t know what is.”
Leonora laughed, her attention once again drawn to the parrot’s loud cry. She froze when it seemed to look straight at her.
She grabbed Dare’s arm. “Am I mistaken, or is the parrot looking at us?”
“Don’t be absurd. How can the bird be...” he cocked his head, “looking at us...”
“Perhaps it’s attracted to your blue jacket.”
Dare glanced down at his clothes. “Well, if it is, it’s got fabulous taste.”
What a peacock statement!
The bird suddenly launched from the pillar and took a path directly at them.
What on earth!
*
Dare had neverbeen so mortified, petrified, and horrified at the same time in all his life. Of all the heads in the ballroom, why the blazes had the parrot chosenhim? All he wanted was his nightly dose of sunshine, and this damn bird seemed determined to ruin that for him.
Talons threatened to claw at him, as the flap of the bird’s wings sent a gust through his hair.
What is this bird’s problem?
He swatted at the thing, dodging its attempt to use him as the sitting post. Why did it have to be so big? And bright. Dare squinted at the loathsome thing. Had Leonora been right? Was the thing attracted to his jacket?
Preposterous.
