she was saying to hail Lady Jessica Archer and Rochford.
“You must tell me, Mr. Rochford,” she said, “what it feels like to be out on such a broad expanse of water in such a frail craft.”
“But it is not frail at all,” he told her. “And I have some skill at the oars. Lady Jessica was perfectly safe with me, I assure you. If this gentleman is planning to take you out—”
“Lady Jessica,” Gabriel said, turning to her. “I have been told on no account to miss the hothouses while I am here. Have you been inside them yet?”
“I have not,” she said, twirling her primrose parasol like an extra little sun behind her straw bonnet. “Am I about to?”
“Yes,” he said, offering his arm. “We will see you all later on the terrace for tea,” he told the others.
For a moment it looked as though Rochford was going to come with them, but Lady Estelle had not finished with him. Her feet firmly planted on the riverbank, she asked him a further question about the boats. At the same time, she threw Gabriel a blatantly mischievous glance and waggled her fingers at him in farewell.
That was one very interesting young lady, he thought.
He could feel the heat of Lady Jessica’s hand through his sleeve. He could smell her perfume, or was it soap? It was a warm, pleasant scent, whatever it was. He had noticed it last evening too when he had sat beside her on the pianoforte bench.
“Can you swim?” he asked her.
She looked at him in apparent surprise. “Well enough to keep myself afloat if a boat I am in should capsize within sight of land,” she said. “If that was what you were asking.”
“It was,” he told her. “All too many people think it wondrously picturesque and romantic to be rowed about on a lake or river without even considering the very real danger of drowning.”
“Is this your roundabout way of saying I looked both romantic and picturesque out on the water just now?” she asked. She was playing the haughty grand lady again. Or perhaps there was no playacting involved. This outer demeanor seemed to come naturally to her.
“No,” he said. “It is my way of saying I am glad you are able to swim.”
“My safety matters to you, then, does it?” she asked him.
“Since I intend to marry you,” he told her, “of course. I can hardly marry a dead bride.”
“Ah. That is still your intention, then, is it?” she said. “But are you not afraid Mr. Rochford will snatch me from under your very nose?”
“No,” he said.
“He is very attentive,” she said, “and very charming. Not to mention handsome.”
“I have a higher opinion of your intelligence,” he said.
“But he will be an earl one day,” she said.
“Perhaps.”
There was a brief silence before she spoke again. “And you, Mr. Gabriel Thorne,” she said. “What do you have to offer the daughter and sister of a duke? Will you be an earl one day?”
Was he mistaken or had she put a slight emphasis upon his first name?
They met Boris Wayne, one of Lord Molenor’s sons, and Adrian Sawyer, Viscount Dirkson’s son, at that moment. Each had a young lady on his arm—the very two with whom Gabriel had tried and failed to make conversation earlier. There was a merry exchange of greetings. The four of them were on their way down to the river to see if there were any boats free.
“We are going to see the hothouses,” Lady Jessica told them.
“I would not bother if I were you, Jess,” Boris Wayne advised. “We were just there and they are very hot inside and very full of people. Who wants to be jostled by the multitudes just for the pleasure of cooking as one gazes at row upon row of orange trees? We stayed for three minutes total.”
“Two,” the young lady on his arm said. And giggled.
“And a half,” her sister added—and giggled.
“There is a floral clock through there,” Adrian Sawyer told them, pointing to a high privet hedge to his right, “and an impressive fountain. And there is the rose arbor up beside the house. Someone told me there are a thousand blooms there, but I did not stop to count.”
The sisters thought that deserved another burst of glee.
“The air is cooler out on the river,” Lady Jessica said. “Enjoy the boats.”
The four of them went on their way, chatting and laughing.
“They were mute when I met them earlier with their mother and eldest