“I’m sure whatever you chose is fine.” He took the bowl from her, as did Gwyn with hers, then added, “Do we eat them here in the street or . . .”
“We go over to the square to eat them,” she said. “That’s what everyone else does.”
They walked over to the Berkeley Square gardens, where Gwyn deliberately chose to sit on a bench facing away from the alley. As Mama sat beside her, Joshua leaned his cane—and then himself—against a tree so he could eat, his gaze darting across to the alley every few moments.
Lord, but he was a gorgeous specimen of a man. Yes, his leg seemed a bit . . . twisted beneath his buff trousers, but his chest strained at the buttons of his old-fashioned, figured waistcoat and his shoulders filled out his blue coat quite pleasingly.
He caught her staring at him, and, misunderstanding her purpose for gawking at him, flashed her a reassuring smile that made her breathing quicken. He had an amazing smile when he let himself use it. And when she lifted a spoonful of her ice to her mouth, a heat flared in his eyes that she half-expected to melthisice. And hers. And anyone else’s in the vicinity.
Unfortunately, Mama caught her and Joshua eyeing each other with something akin to lust and got a speculative look on her face.
Her gaze narrowed on Gwyn. “Wheredidthe two of you go off to anyway?”
When Gwyn started and didn’t answer, Joshua stepped in.
“I forgot about needing new gloves,” Joshua said smoothly, as if he’d been lying to Mama his whole life. “So I returned to the glover’s after Gwyn went that way. And she helped me pick a new pair.”
“The ones you’re wearing now? Oh, dear, you should take them off while you eat. You’ll stain them.”
“Don’t worry about me. Gwyn picked a pair that specifically repels ice cream.”
Mama gaped at him, then laughed. “Sometimes you surprise me, Nephew. Just when I think you don’t even know how to joke, you say something like that.” Aunt Lydia patted Gwyn’s arm. “But you’re right about Gwyn. She is quite helpful at choosing items for gentlemen.”
When Joshua lifted a brow, Gwyn wanted to sink under the bench. “Mama, you make it sound as if I’m buying things for men all the time.”
“Don’t be silly,” her mother said. “My nephew knows I’m speaking of your brothers. Don’t you, Joshua?”
“Of course,” he said, his gaze locking with Gwyn’s. “Although surely she has helped a beau or two with such choices occasionally.”
“Not that I can recall.” Mama stared off across the park. “The only one I remember her helping was that fellow Hazlehurst. But she was so young then. What were you, Gwyn? Nineteen?”
“Twenty,” Gwyn said wearily. And right then, she was in no mood to continue the subterfuge. “You’re thinking of Ensign Malet, Mama. I think you’ve mixed up those two gentlemen.”
“Malet! Good Lord, you’re right. I should have remembered that. He had such an odd name. But then, Hazlehurst is an odd name, too.”
“It is indeed,” Joshua said blandly.
Gwyn glared at him as she ate her ice.
“So which one was Thorn nasty to?” Mama asked.
“Both of them, actually. Thorn was nasty to all my suitors.” And that was the truth. “He never thought any of them worthy of me. My social life got considerably better when he left for England.”
“Is that why you refused to return with him?” her mother asked.
Gwyn could feel Joshua’s gaze boring into her like a carpenter’s drill. “That was part of it. Part of it was my not wanting to leave you and Papa.” She smiled at Mama. “And given Papa’s untimely death, I’m very glad I had those years with you both.” Papa might actually have been her stepfather, but he was the only father she’d ever known.
Her mother smiled and took her hand. “I’mvery glad you made that decision, although at the time I thought it might have been better for you to go with Thorn.”
That startled her. “Why?”
“Because of your age. I had no idea when we’d be returning to England, and I thought coming here with Thorn might give you a better chance at finding a husband. If you’ll recall, eligible gentlemen were fairly thin on the ground in Berlin, unless you wanted to marry a German. And then we wouldn’t have been able to see you oncewereturned to England, which we would have done eventually.”
Gwyn should reveal the truth to Mama about what had happened between her and Thorn. She’d kept it hidden long enough. She could never tell Mama about why Thorn’s actions had nearly proved disastrous for her later on, but at least if she explainedsomeof why she’d been angry, her family could stop speculating on it. Because whatever she told Mama was going to be passed on to the rest of them eventually. Mama had never been good at keeping secrets.
“Actually, Mama, Thorn wasn’t just nasty to Ensign Malet; Thorn paid the man quite a bit of money to go away. Thorn was convinced that the ensign was a fortune hunter, so he offered the man funds just to see what he would do. Once the scoundrel took the money, it proved that Thorn was right about Ensign Malet’s character.”
And it proved she had beenwrongabout it. That still stung, even after all these years. Even after Lionel had turned into a blackmailer. Because she really hated that she hadn’t noticed what an arse he was until it was too late.
