distance from London. Once in the Lakes, once in the New Forest.”
“Does this upset you?”
Ash bent to remove his spurs. “Yes, if I’m to be honest. One should know these things. What if I’d taken a notion to court the woman when Sycamore was off gaining his disgust of Oxford?”
What a horrid thought. “Jonathan thought I wanted to blackmail him at first. Thought I would demand money for the return of his father’s letters.”
Ash set one spur on the table and leaned forward to remove the other. They were little blunt silver nubs, more decoration than anything else. A high-strung horse would notice them, though, and demand a very quiet leg from the rider lest the rider be unseated.
“How old were you when you learned your mother had strayed, Della?”
“Quite young, too young. Mama had not been gone long, and it was like losing her all over again. We expect our parents to be first and foremost our parents, but they were and are people separate and apart from their roles in our lives.”
“Lady Fairchild said Papa started taking his walking tours to deal with his grief.”
Miss Catherine passed out of sight into the maze, Chastain at her side. “But your father was still going on those walking tours long after he remarried. Perhaps he found the habit salubrious generally. I wish Miss Catherine had not allowed Chastain to lure her into the maze.”
“You truly loathe the man,” Ash said, regarding her. “Are you afraid of him?”
What did Ash know or suspect? What would Ash think if Della told him the truth? “Yes, Ash, I am afraid of him. He is not honorable. He took a bad decision on my part and turned it into a disaster. Mrs. Chastain has warned me against him, and when William came upon me in the library earlier this week…”
Ash was watching her closely, both spurs now gripped in his hand. “You met him in the library?”
“I did not meet him. I sought to venture forth without bothering you for an escort, merely to find a book. I was between two sets of shelves when Chastain came upon me. He blames me for the fact that his parents and in-laws have put him on a tight financial leash and further blames me for the fact that he and Clarice are married at all.”
“And you did not think to tell me of this encounter?” Ash sounded annoyed, possibly angry.
“I am telling you now. I see no benefit to heated confrontations, more talk, or more scandal. All I wanted was to quietly retire to Kent, and now all I want is to quietly travel with you to Dorning Hall.”
A shiver of dread passed from Della’s nape down her arms. That she could have a spell while sitting on a sunny terrace and talking with her husband was unthinkable. She began counting her breaths, purposely slowing her exhalations, and mentally reciting the alphabet backward.
“This bedamned house party,” Ash muttered. “I wish we had not come here.”
Z, Y, X, W… “As do I. Shall we leave?”
“We can’t leave. Chastain will say we quarreled, or that I caught you flirting with him, or he found me making advances to his wife. He’ll say you were unwell and imply your indisposition was the result of carrying his child.”
V, U, T, S… The shiver came again. “I can envision France rebuilding her fleet in secret and invading English shores. I can imagine plague laying half of London low and the air becoming unbreathable, a coal mine collapsing on my head… But for a man to lie in such a fashion, to invent malicious falsehoods… What sort of heart indulges in such meanness?”
Mrs. Tremont’s brother, a charming fellow with a sly wit, ambled onto the terrace with the young Marquess of Tavistock. Their heads were bent close as his lordship gestured in the direction of the stables.
The older fellow snapped off a yellow chrysanthemum and tucked it into Tavistock’s lapel. Tavistock grinned, which made him look about eleven years old, and they disappeared onto the path that led to the paddocks.
For some, this house party was merely a house party. For Della, it was becoming a circle of hell.
“Chastain is losing at the cards tournament,” Ash said, “and he’s pulling Tavistock into debt with him.”
R, Q, P, O… “Perhaps Chastain will leave early.” Though Della knew better than to hope for that miracle.
“We have little more than a week yet to endure. We’ll manage.” Ash spoke as if fortifying himself rather than