Page 24 of To Tempt a Scandalous Lord
“My lady, would you consent to join me for a ride tomorrow morning?” Niall rubbed his hands along his thighs. “I think it would be best if we continued this discussion in private.”
She slid her eyes up to meet his, a hesitant chuckle escaping her lips. “It’s been quite a number of years since I have ridden out. Lindsay was never much of a horseman. And unfortunately I do not have a mount.”
“That’s quite all right.” Flora beamed at her. “I will pick out a suitable horse from the few Amstead and I brought along with us, and make sure Niall brings it with him when he comes to pick you up in the morning.” She raised her brows, as if to sayDo you have any other objections?
Lifting her chin, Lady Lindsay offered his sister a smile. “I would appreciate it.”
Swallowing discreetly, she turned back to him. “I will meet you for a ride, my lord, thank you. My hope is that between the two of us, we can find a happy way forward.”
Chapter Nine
The next morning, outside the townhouse, Alicia considered the chestnut mare who was to be her mount for the morning. The mare’s coat was sleek and shiny, her mane gleaming with copper under the dawning sun. She would never claim to have an eye for horseflesh, but even Alicia knew the horse was a beautiful creature.
“Flora selected Bluebonnet just for you.” Inverray ran a hand along the mare’s side, and the beast leaned into his touch. Of course it did. “She’s even tempered and doesn’t scare easily. You’ll be safe on her back.”
Alicia rubbed her palm along the horse’s soft muzzle, letting some of the tension in her shoulders go. “Please thank her ladyship for me.”
“You can thank her yourself. She and Amstead are going to meet us in the park.” He tilted his head. “I thought it a good idea for us to have chaperones, of sorts.”
Alicia gasped. This talk with Inverray had been all she could think about last night and into the morning; any rules of propriety of such a meeting had been forgotten. At least one of them was thinking straight. “I had not even considered it. Thank you for doing so.”
The marquess nodded. Dressed in a dark blue frock coat and camel-colored breeches, with Wellington boots shined to perfection, he was the picture of an English gentleman…until one took in how his black hair brushed along his neck, the silky ebony strands tempting her to reach out and capture them with her fingers.
She smoothed a hand over her waist, as if she could chase away the butterflies that had taken flight within her belly. “I haven’t ridden in so long.”
“Are you nervous?” he asked, his expression inscrutable as he looked down at her.
“Just a bit,” she admitted with a bashful smile. “I hope I don’t make a fool of myself.”
“I’m certain that’s not possible. But if it were, I will be close at hand to keep you from making a cake of yourself.” The words were dry, but the arch in his brow was teasing.
Before she could reply, he put his hands around her waist and lifted her easily into the saddle. She tried to ignore how her stomach flipped at the sensation.
As she adjusted her skirts, Alicia paused when she noticed Inverray had not stepped away. He stood close, gazing up at her with an odd expression on his face.
When she raised her brows, he took a step back and coughed into his hand. “I do beg your pardon.” Without another word, he turned to his bay and mounted with easy grace. “Let’s be on our way.”
They were silent for several minutes as they made their way toward the park. The sun shone brightly upon them, as if promising only good things. Alicia longed to believe its promise, but she knew better than to hope on intangibles.
A million questions she wanted to ask clamored in her mind, but at that instant, she could not grasp one. The moment seemed oddly intimate, the two of them riding along together in the soft morning light while the rest of Mayfair still snoozed in their beds.
“That really was a terrible proposal.”
She looked at him askance. “Is it fair to call it a proposal when the question wasn’t even asked?”
A long sigh hissed from his lips. “It was not well done of me. I’m known for my stoicism, and yet in that moment I was anything but. I offer my sincere apologies.”
The earnestness in his voice made her chest feel tight, especially when she was not being earnest herself. But now was not the time to reveal her work, and perhaps if she stopped antagonizing him about the proposal, they could determine a plan to go forward.
Alicia pulled back on the reins until her mount came to a stop. It took Inverray several more steps to realize she was no longer riding by his side. Angling his horse about, he came to a stop before her, his head cocked in question.
“There’s nothing to apologize for, my lord. It was an accident, and neither you nor I are at fault.”
Inverray nodded slowly, and the stiffness of his manner told Alicia he remained unconvinced. “Surely I could have come up with a better way to deflect from the predicament than announcing a sham engagement.”
Nibbling on her bottom lip, Alicia considered what to say. “It was a situation neither of us expected to be in, and we did not have more than a heartbeat to come up with a believable excuse. I heard some of the unfair assumptions that were whispered, and your timely excuse stopped those whispers in their tracks.”
The marquess didn’t respond, and when Alicia turned to look at him, she was surprised to see a ruddy hue to his cheeks. Had she embarrassed him?
