Last Dance in London (Rakes on the Run #1) - Sydney Jane Baily Page 0,41

so as not to make Miss Sudbury’s cheeks flare with guilt. It was a delightful trait, blushing so profusely, but not handy in polite company.

It was the countess who answered first while, he noticed with amusement, Miss Sudbury kept her eyes averted.

“We found the silliest fountain.” Then she glanced at her sister. “We also found a couple—”

Miss Sudbury coughed delightfully to stop her, but the countess shook her head.

“I’m sure the earl has seen the same before,” Lady Worthington said. “I fail to understand the lure of a chilly garden with gnats and scratchy plants and the very real fear of discovery. How do they even enjoy themselves out there?”

Miss Sudbury coughed again, sounding as if she were choking. He longed to pat her shapely shoulder.

“Are you all right, dear sister?” the countess asked.

“Perhaps one of those gnats got into her throat,” Jasper suggested helpfully.

His blonde minx shot him a quelling look.

“It hardly seems an appropriate topic, that’s all,” she said.

The countess stared hard at her sister. Then she frowned, maybe thinking Miss Sudbury had become an utter stick in the mud.

Jasper knew better. However, given her sister’s sudden reticence to light banter about backyard lovers in his company, he feared Lady Worthington might guess something had passed between them.

“The countess is correct,” he began, causing both sisters’ gazes to land upon him, one wary, one interested. “While I have strolled the garden a time or two, I have seen my fair share of amorous couples.”

And been one of them on numerous occasions, he made sure not to add.

“As Lady Worthington says, it seems an uncomfortable business.”

But often so exhilarating, he added to himself.

“On the other hand, sometimes desperate lovers grasp at any opportunity to be alone, knowing how difficult it is to get to know a member of the opposite sex in private. Nevertheless, a drawing room sofa, even stiff and hard-backed, is preferable to a stone bench or a patch of damp grass.”

Both women were staring at him, mouths agape. Apparently, he’d offered too much opinion on the matter. Giving a little laugh, Jasper shrugged. All he could think about now was how Julia Sudbury had offered herself to him in the dining room of her sister’s house, and how uncharacteristically he’d walked away.

After their garden encounter, he wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. She was ripe for the plucking. If not him, it would be some other undeserving rascal who might not know how to treat her gently and respectfully while ravishing her at the same time. He would be that rascal!

“Would you like to go riding in the park?” he asked Julia. “With a chaperone, naturally.”

Watching her carefully, he noticed interest spark in her eyes. She turned to the countess as if to ask permission before catching herself.

“Yes, my lord. That would be a welcome treat.”

“Do you have a suitable mount, not a carriage horse?” he asked, wondering if a vicar’s daughter could ride — at least something beside his hand, which she’d done admirably.

“Alas, no,” Lady Worthington said, not looking pleased at his pursuit of her sister. “And I’m not even certain Mrs. Zebodar can ride.”

Good. He hoped she couldn’t, for he could not pay off that woman to leave them alone. Of that, he was certain.

Thinking quickly, he offered, “I have a gentle mare in my stable. And I can bring along a chaperone.”

The countess arched her eyebrow.

“Come now,” Jasper said. “Your sister is not a child, and I am talking about a public ride.” Which, with any luck, he would turn into a private ride at his home for at least an hour — if Julia was willing. He had a feeling she would be. Her eyes were certainly alight at the notion.

Without awaiting her sister’s response, she nodded. “I thank you for the invitation and for loaning me one of your mounts. I accept.”

“On the first sunny day, then,” he offered. “Now, shall we dance?”

And he took her to the floor for one of the long country dances, leaving the countess staring after them. Lady Worthington’s power over her sister was no match for his, not when he could offer her kisses along with the rest of what would make Julia Sudbury cry out in delight.

To his dismay, he awakened the following morning to a steady downpour. Today at least, they would not ride.

JULIA WATCHED THE SKIES anxiously, wanting nothing more than to spend time with Lord Marshfield. She had relived his touch in her memory each night when trying to fall