The house filled quickly, and the party was soon held tobe “a sad crush”—no small encomium. As Leo had hoped, Lady Clendon, known for her gregarious nature and her vibrant personality, had scheduled a number of waltzes, even though the party wasn’t a ball, as such.
He danced a country-dance with Clarissa, which made conversation between them unnecessary. She ended it, looking a little flushed. The dance had been rather long. Her partner for the next dance hovered, holding a drink out in anticipation. Clarissa accepted it gratefully, and allowed the man to escort her to a seat.
Isobel, too, was coming off the floor. Leo seized the opportunity. “Would you care to step outside for a little fresh air?” he asked her, and offered her his arm. He’d removed his gloves, and his hands were bare.
She hesitated, then laid her hand on his arm.
Outside in the small courtyard, the breeze was soft and balmy, but her arms and neck were bare. “Should I fetch your shawl?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No, it’s cool, but not cold.”
They strolled between the potted shrubs and flowers. She stopped at a large blue ceramic pot spilling over with fragrant lilies in bloom, turned and said abruptly, “I have a temper and I don’t always control it as I should.” She took a deep breath and met his gaze frankly. “But I really hate the idea of someone watching over me, monitoring everything I do and say.” Turning away, she pulled off one of her long evening gloves and stroked her fingers up the stem of a lavender flower spike.
“You mean the chaperone?”
“I mean, as you very well know, your practice of overruling my choice of dance partners. I’m not exactly delighted about the chaperone, but I should add that Clarissa doesn’t at all mind the idea. As usual, I’m the difficult one.” She raised her hand to smell the lavender fragrance on her fingers.
Leo swallowed. He opened his mouth to explain, but shegot in first. “I’ve never taken well to being told what to do. It’s one of my abiding faults.”
It was the kind of not quite an apology that Leo was sometimes guilty of himself—but he appreciated her honesty. “And perhaps ten years of running my estates and telling everyone what to do has caused me to become a little... autocratic.”
“Only a little?” she queried, but there was a smile in her eyes.
He shrugged. “My only excuse is that Sir Jasper Vibart is the kind of man all young women should be warned against.” Seeing her eyes kindling for battle, he held his hand up. “But I take your point. In future if I think you need some background on any of the gentlemen you meet in society, I will inform you privately.”
“And?” she prompted.
He rolled his eyes. “And allow you to make the final decision.”
She nodded. “Thank you. We can agree on that.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “But if youevercancel one of my dance partners and replace him with Lord Giddings or anyone else, I will... I don’t know what I will do, but I guarantee you won’t like it!”
He nodded. “Yes, that was ill done of me.”
“It was.”
He couldn’t help but smile. “I have a temper, too, and I’m afraid I couldn’t resist. And it made the poor fellow so very happy.”
She gave him a baleful look.
They turned down a little pathway bordered by a low hedge of clipped rosemary.
“I understand that you’re worried this chaperone might act like a gaoler, but I assure you she won’t. Or if she does, I’ll dismiss her.” After a minute, he added, “Like you and your sister, I know what it’s like to be confined.”
She quirked a skeptical brow at him.
“I was unable to leave my father’s estate for years. He was an invalid—fretful and demanding of my presence day and night—and I, just out of school, was suddenly solely responsible for... for everything and everyone.”
They strolled on and he tried to explain what it had been like for him, pitchforked into responsibilities—economic and emotional—that he’d had no preparation for. Without any real support. “And before that I was at school,” he finished, “and thatwaslike being in gaol.”
He glanced at her. “I wasn’t free to do what I wanted until my father died. So last year I escaped, left the country, put the estate in the hands of my manager and traveled. I started to discover who I was. And it was glorious. Until I came home to learn...”
She turned to look at him. “Learn what?” she prompted after a minute.
“That without my knowledge or agreement, I’d become your sister’s legal guardian.” He explained the mistake her father had made in his will.
She stared at him a moment, then burst out laughing. “You mean you came home from your glorious adventure only to be landed with us? And we were soooo grateful for your interference. And so obedient. What a homecoming.”
He couldn’t help but smile. “Exactly.”
