Page 40 of A Marquess to Save Her
With that, she was gone.
“It seems Lord Langton is the most eligible bachelor right now,” Wessex said up ahead in the hunting trail, and the other bachelors laughed.
“Indeed. Lady Catherine joined the hunting party just to spend time with him,” another one of the gentlemen said. “Sneaky, I say.”
“Isn't Lord Langton already courting Lady Louise,” another gentleman said.
“I am certain Lord Langton is only spending time with her out of boredom. No one would court Lady Louise with the aim of marrying her. Not after what she did when she got jilted,” someone said.
“Indeed. I have never seen a more desperate lady in my life,” someone said.
Annoyed, Callum rode faster until he got to the young gentlemen in front.
“I could not help but hear what you all have to say about Lady Louise,” Callum said. They all looked ashamed, and Callum could tell they did not know he would hear them. “I find Lady Louise to be a pleasant lady and I am courting her in earnest,” Callum said.
“I…I had no idea. I apologize,” one of the gentlemen said.
Callum nodded before riding off into the woods, his foxhound in tow. He could never stay silent if he ever heard something say anything terrible about Louise.
Callum and the other gentlemen combed the woods for hours, hunting animals, from birds to ducks, and Callum even killed a pheasant, which impressed everyone. By the end of the hunt, they met with the ladies by the river to rest.
“Welcome back, Lord Langton,” the annoying voice that Callum now recognized to be Catherine's said, “I heard that you killed a pheasant. Isn't that just terrific?”
“Lord Langton is no doubt the best hunter this season,” one of the gentlemen said.
Catherine clapped, giddy. “Isn't it something that Lord Langton killed a pheasant when I followed the hunting trail?” Catherine said loudly.
“Hear, Hear!” Felington said, “Lady Catherine is no doubt Lord Langton’s lucky charm.”
“Is that so?” Callum said.
“Yes, My Lord.”
“But I have been killing pheasants ever since I knew how to handle a shooting gun,” Callum said.
Catherine faltered a little, but the giddy smile on her face soon came back when she spotted Callum's foxhound.
“Are you not a lovely little hound?” She said, stooping to take a close look at the hound.
Bark!The dog leaped up and barked at Catherine.
She gasped and fell back. “Get that beast away from me. Get it away from me, Lord Langton,” she shrieked in fright.
“Lady Catherine, I assure you, this hound means no harm,” Callum said as he petted the dog. Eyeing the dog suspiciously, Lady Catherine rose to her feet and slowly retreated. “Well, I have to thank you for helping me get rid of her,” Callum said to the dog, patting him on the head.
After this, he got some refreshments and sat under a big tree, away from the hunting trail, while enjoying the landscape's view.
“...he does not seem to like me.”
Callum heard Catherine's voice and looked around to inquire. A shrub of grass was in the way, and he could not see properly who it was that Catherine was speaking to.
“Believe me, Lady Catherine. Callum is absolutely smitten by you,” a voice that Callum immediately recognized as Felington's said.
Callum crept forward to see them. Catherine and Felington were deep in a conversation while Catherine's chaperone stood some feet away.
“Emily told me the same thing. However, it does not seem as though Lord Langton is so interested in me... especially as he has been spending all of his spare time with Louise.”
“Lady Catherine,” Felington said, “Langton has absolutely no interest in being with Lady Louise. In fact....”
