“I feel as if you two are having a private conversation even though I’m standing right here,” Elizabeth said, cutting off whatever her brother had been about to say.
“You’re quite right, sister dear. It was unpardonably rude of us. Now tell me, where was the queen when last she remembers having her ring?”
“She can’t say.” Madelaine swept her hand in front of her. “We were everywhere today. Around the lake. Up the hill.Andback. It’s too much ground to search. I’ll never find it, and she’ll have one more reason to dislike me.”
“I’ll help you. I’m an excellent tracker.”
Elizabeth nodded. “He has the uncanny ability to find anything or anyone.”
An odd frown crossed Lord Grey’s face, but then it was gone. “My father and my older brother Edward taught me how to see clues most people ignore.”
She didn’t miss the change in his tone. Something bothered him. Was he thinking of his father? She understood longing for a parent’s love. She’d spent many useless hours hoping her mother would accept her, but there was no point dwelling on that right now. “You’re certain you don’t mind wasting your time helping me?”
He took her ungloved hand and squeezed it. The warmth of his fingers curled deliciously around her cold hands. However did he manage to smolder like fire with the cool wind now blowing? “Time spent with you, Lady Madelaine, will not be wasted.”
Lord help her, she wasn’t sure if he was trying to seduce her or not, but how easy it would be to fall prey to him if he was. She shouldn’t take up his offer of help. The sensible thing to do would be to politely decline. But what if hewasinterested in her for more than seduction? Heavens! She was just as bad as the other ladies-in-waiting who thought they would be the one to win Lord Grey’s heart. Yet if someone could win it, why not her?
“Shall we look together?” she asked, trying her hand at boldness. The cool blue of his eyes warmed instantly as a grin lit his face.
“Together sounds perfect.” He offered her his arm.
Madelaine slipped her arm into the crook of his, but she couldn’t quite settle on where she should rest her fingers. To clutch his upper arm would be too bold. She wouldn’t mind a bit seeing if he was built as powerfully as she was imagining. Shecouldlink her own hands together. That would be uncomfortable. Before she could decide what to do, he placed her hand over his. More butterflies assaulted her stomach.
“You two go to the tea house where the walk started and search there again,” Elizabeth said. “I’ll start here, and we can meet back in the middle at the lake. And don’t worry—” she continued, cutting off Madelaine voicing the impropriety of being alone with Lord Grey. “Her Majesty cannot disapprove. We are in the open, for heaven’s sake. I can see the tea house from here, so it’s not as if you’re alone.”
Madelaine nodded and held onto Lord Grey’s arm as they started down the hill. There was nothing weak about him, as far as she could tell. His arm could have been crafted of steel. He could easily be a soldier. Curiosity made her speak. “Why did you choose to be an equerry rather than a soldier?”
He paused and gave her a strange look. “I did not choose it. My father told me I was going to be an equerry and that was the end of the discussion.”
“You don’t seem a man to be told what to do.”
He laughed. “I’m not.”
“But here you are doing as your father has commanded.”
“Only because I planned to be the worst equerry ever. I had every intention of bending my father to my will eventually.”
“I don’t understand. You speak as if you’ve changed your mind.”
His eyebrows raised a fraction. “I’ve decided being an equerry may be more adventurous than I previously thought.”
“Really?” Madelaine startled when he took her hand again and started back down the hill. “It’s hard to imagine that watching over some preening lord’s horses could be that adventurous.”
“You’d be surprised.”
She had no idea how to interpret his statement. It seemed to her he wasn’t being truthful. Yet why would he lie? Maybe he wanted to impress her. The thought both excited and worried her.
What was she thinking? He surely could care less about impressing her. If the most beautiful and accomplished women at Court had failed to win his heart, then she certainly had no hope with her oddness. “Lord Grey—” She paused in her step. “—I—” Blast. A searing flush covered her face and neck. “I don’t want to mislead you with my agreement to let you look for the queen’s ring with me. I want your help, but I still don’t wish to be seduced.”
“That’s good.” He twined his fingers with hers for a second before releasing her hand and looking straight at her. “I don’t wish to seduce you anymore.”
“Why not?” Her blush grew hotter. “Is it because I lack feminine accomplishments?”
When he threw back his head and laughed, embarrassment swirled in her belly. Blast him! She hated being laughed at. Everyone was always laughing at odd Lady Madelaine. She straightened her shoulders and forced herself to look him in the eyes. “There is no need to laugh at me.”
“I’m not laughing at you.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I’m laughing at the absurdity of the situation.”
“You find me absurd?” She barely knew the man and already he stirred her ire. Of course, she knew better than anyone that igniting her temper was no hard task.
