“You are quite mistaken, Lord Penforth.” Hearing the tartness in her voice, she continued on firmly, making no effort to remove it from her tone. “There are a good many things on my mind at present, and certainly they donotsimply revolve around various gentlemen.”
Much to her frustration, Lord Penforth simply chuckled.
“I am very glad to hear it, for I should like your thoughts only to center upon myself, Lady Almeria.”
Given that this was not atallwhat she had meant, Almeria bit her lip and looked away from him to prevent a sharp response from escaping. No doubt Lord Penforth thought that he was being clever by teasing her so, but she was not at all pleased.
“My thoughts do not center on any one gentleman whatsoever,” she told him furiously, wanting to remove the rather smug look from his face. This, of course, was a lie, but Almeria was not about to inform him that shewasthinking of a gentleman – albeit another gentleman entirely. “I was thinking on another matter, in fact.”
“And will you share it with me?”
Almeria hesitated, her stomach twisting up inside herself over the lies she had now told. She had nothing to discuss with Lord Penforth, for she had not been thinking about anyone other than Lord Coppinger.
“No, not at present.”
Lord Penforth chuckled again, and Almeria’s stomach twisted harder.
“I see that I am not to be offered any of your secrets as yet.” He sighed heavily, still smiling. “I will not take such a thing to heart, although mayhap I might share my thoughts with you.” The smile on his lips fixed itself in place, seeming to Almeria almost false.
“Might I ask you if Lord Coppinger’s behavior has concerned you of late? Is that who you have been thinking of, and why you have been so distracted?” Very surprised indeed to hear Lord Coppinger’s name on Lord Penforth’s lips, particularly after she had just stated that she was not thinking about any particular gentleman. Almeria merely lifted her eyebrows and waited. He grinned and shrugged both shoulders. “No doubt you will think me very rude indeed for asking, but it is only because I wonder whether or not you have been offered any particular information of late as regards his behavior.”
Almeria blinked.
“His behavior?” she repeated, already confused. “Let me assure you, Lord Coppinger is the very best of gentlemen.”
Lord Penforth did not immediately agree, however, tilting his head and looking at her, his steps slowing.
“Can you be quite certain of that?”
Coming to a standstill in the middle of the park, Almeria turned to face Lord Penforth directly.
I certainly am not enjoying his company and conversation any longer!
Taking a breath, she looked at him straight in the eye.
“I have known Lord Coppinger since we were children. We areverydear friends.”
Lord Penforth sighed heavily and dropped his head.
“You will then be concerned to know that there have been some whispers about him.”
Immediately, Almeria rolled her eyes, making her disdain obvious.
“Goodness, Lord Penforth! I did not think that you were the jealous sort! Why would you attempt to injure a fellow just because he has embarrassed you a little?”
Lord Penforth’s smiles fled.
“Whatever do you mean?”
Quite certain that he knewpreciselywhat he was doing at present, Almeria shook her head and sighed heavily.
“I am all too aware that Lord Coppinger spoke poorly when he saw you last. When you confessed about the bouquets, he was determined to prove that you were speaking the truth, rather than pretending to do so.” She caught the flicker in Lord Penforth’s gaze, caught his jaw flexing. “Of course, I understand why he did such a thing.”
“And why was that?”
She smiled briefly.
“Because Lord Coppinger is like a brother to me,” she told him firmly. “He is doing all that he can to aid me, to make certain that all is well, and that any gentleman who might wish to further their acquaintance with me is the very best of fellows. Lord Coppinger seeks only to protect me, that is all – but for you to attempt to discredit him simply because he has embarrassed you somewhat speaks poorly of you, Lord Penforth.”
