Page 60 of Starlight and the Duke
Now at ease with each other, they had fun finding the last items and were smiling when they returned to the terrace.
He saw Fiona standing there with a score sheet in hand and talking to another couple who had reached her just ahead of them. She was logging their finds on the sheet, obviously having taken on the role of hostess in Cherish’s absence.
Had Cherish suddenly taken ill? Was there a problem concerning the child she carried?
“Is everything all right?” he asked, immediately approaching Fiona.
She nodded. “Yes, all’s well. Cherish just dashed off to attend to everything else planned for today. You are the second couple to return, and I see you have found all the scavenger hunt items. Congratulations.”
He arched an eyebrow.
Eloise politely thanked Fiona.
“There are refreshments waiting for you on the tables set up in the corner,” Fiona said, eyeing him with curiosity.
Of course, she wanted to know his thoughts on Eloise. He would give her an earful when they had a moment alone.
“Grab yourselves a shady spot while waiting for the others,” she said, still staring at him.
Rob escorted Eloise to one of the tables currently in the shade. “Care for a lemonade? Tea? Something a little stronger?”
She shook her head. “I’m fine. Lady Shoreham keeps looking our way.”
“Does she? I hadn’t noticed.” But of course he had. His hope was that Fiona felt the mistake in giving him up to someone else, the entire impossibility of their being happy with anyone other than each other.
“She must be curious to see how we are getting along,” Eloise remarked.
“Yes, I suppose.”
“Ah, but there’s Pershing. He seems to be wandering down the wrong path again.” She nibbled her lip a moment. “Would you mind terribly if I went after him?”
Rob laughed lightly. “Not at all. Have at him.”
In truth, Pershing might do well under the management of a strong-willed wife like Eloise. She may not want him in her bed or indeed anywhere near her. But she was going to protect him even from a distance in order to maintain the benefits of her marital status.
And Pershing was sorely in need of a protector.
“Thank you. Wish me luck,” she said, and scampered off.
Rob poured himself a lemonade, needing the refresher as the afternoon wore on and the wind began to die down. He studied Fiona, curious to see her expression when she realized Eloise was chasing after that drunken sot.
This was another thing he adored about Fiona, how open she was. One had only to look at her eyes or the purse of her pretty lips to know what she was thinking. No wiles. No schemes… Well, only well-intentioned schemes of a romantic nature meant to bring about a happy result. She would never plot anything malicious.
Her eyes widened and her mouth gaped open as she watched Eloise and Pershing. Then, with a shake of her head, she turned to look at him.
He smiled at her and shrugged.
She seemed utterly confused.
He drank the last of his lemonade and marched over to her. “A problem, Fiona?”
Gad, she looked so lovely with that big-eyed, befuddled stare. “Why is Lady Eloise with Pershing and not you?”
He could not suppress a chuckle. “Do not blame me. I did my duty, but it turns out she wants a useless waste of a husband like Pershing.”
“What? How is that possible? Has she taken complete leave of her senses?”
“There is an odd logic to her choice. She wants a husband that she can ignore and yet still control at will.”
