Page 21 of More or Less a Countess
She tugged at her arm to free herself from his grip. “Perhaps another time, my lord.”
“Very well, but you never showed me your sketch. May I see it?”
She darted a nervous glance out the carriage window, but no one appeared, and after a moment she turned back to him and practically tossed her sketchbook into his lap. “It’s nothing so extraordinary, I assure you.”
“Oh, I’m sure you’re being far too modest, Miss Somerset.” He flipped open the book to the first page. “Now, this sketch here, for example. I could tell at once it’s a headstone. You’ve perfectly captured the, ah…rectangular shape of it. What else have you drawn?”
He turned the pages as slowly as possible, pausing with each new sketch. He exclaimed over every straight line and every creative bit of shading until Miss Somerset looked as if she were about to tackle him to the floor of the carriage, wrench the book from his hands, and beat him over the head with it.
“Very nice, indeed,” he announced as he handed the sketchbook back to her at last. “You’re kind to indulge my curiosity.”
She’d been keeping one eye on him and the other on the front of the house, and now she turned and snatched the book out of his hands. “Of course, my lord. I wish you a good afternoon.”
She threw open the carriage door and scrambled from her seat, but before she could dash up the drive and vanish through the front door, he leapt down to follow her. “Wait. I’ll escort you to your door.”
“No!That is, no thank you, Lord Dare. Goodbye!” She tossed an anxious look over her shoulder as she darted toward the stairs, then disappeared into the house, closing the door behind her with a decisive thud.
Nick chuckled as he watched her go, then climbed back into his phaeton, took up the ribbons, and rolled down the drive with a grin still on his lips. He might not have succeeded in his quest to meet her grandmother, but he’d managed to jerk Miss Somerset from her complacency, and she was rather amusing when she was in a panic.
The day hadn’t been an utter loss, after all.
Chapter Six
“Oh, just go, why don’t you? Go on!”
Violet peered through a crack in the door, her heart thumping with panic when Lord Dare’s carriage continued to linger in the drive. Contrary man! He knew very well she wished to get rid of him, and he’d chosen to make it as difficult as possible.
Tell him all about the plague, indeed.
But then he did seem the sort of man who’d do whatever he could to cause trouble, just on principle alone, and he was far more persistent than any dissolute rake had a right to be. He should have grown bored with his chase days ago, when she hadn’t fallen into a passion and lifted her skirts for him as Lady Uplands had done.
What was the matter with the man? She couldn’t account for his behavior in the least. The visit to the burial grounds alone should have been more than enough to frighten Lord Dare away, but he hadn’t even raised an eyebrow when she’d suggested they dig up the skeletons! And now here he was, demanding he be permitted to call on her again tomorrow.
It wasn’t fair. She’d reconciled herself to never having a gentleman fall in love with her, but she’d thought she could at least rely on her ability to repel them at will.
“Violet?” Hyacinth was hurrying down the stairs. “There you are. I was just searching for you in the attics. Have you been outside? Whose carriage is that going down the drive?”
Violet slammed the door closed and threw herself against it. “I—what carriage? I didn’t see a carriage. You’re imagining things, Hyacinth.”
It wasn’t a convincing denial, especially when Violet’s voice rose to a squeak at the end, but it was the best she could do under the circumstances.
“Am I, indeed?” Hyacinth folded her arms over her chest. “I have a far more vivid imagination than I realized.”
Violet’s brain scrambled for something to say, some plausible excuse, but after the panic with Lord Dare her wits had deserted her. She let her head fall back against the door in defeat.
Why in the world were her grandmother and Hyacinth back so soon? It was hardly past tea time. Violet thought she’d have hours yet before they’d arrive home, but here they were, and now she was going to get caught having been out alone with a notorious rogue after claiming she had the headache.
After a long moment of silence, Hyacinth sighed. “I’m aware you’re up to something, Violet, but I haven’t time to wheedle it from you now. Grandmother wishes to see you at once.”
Oh, dear God. If she couldn’t fool Hyacinth, she didn’t have the smallest hope of fooling her grandmother. “Me? Why should she wish to see me?”
Hyacinth paused on the last step and gave Violet a narrow look. “Whatever is the matter with you? You look quite wild.”
“I—nothing at all. I just…why are you back from Iris’s so soon? And what does Grandmother want?”
Hyacinth stared at her for another moment, a frown creasing her brow. “Eddesley sent a message to Grosvenor Square, asking us to come home at once, so here we are. You’d better go up this minute, Violet. Grandmother is upset, and—”
Dread pooled in Violet’s stomach. “Upset? But it was just a carriage ride, Hyacinth! Why, I hardly said two words to him the entire afternoon. There’s nothing at all to be upset about—”
