placed a hand on his arm, stopping him until they were several feet in front of us. When Louisa finally turned her face to Daniel and spoke, I clasped my hands behind me in satisfaction.
“Well done,” Lord Williams commented.
He couldn’t have known what had transpired. “Excuse me?”
He indicated Daniel and Louisa.
Perhaps he understood more than I gave him credit for. I shrugged and followed after them. “There was a simple misunderstanding.”
He kept pace with me. “I would that all misunderstandings were so easily rectified.”
“Yes, indeed,” I muttered. Though his presence didn’t quite qualify as a misunderstanding.
“Miss Rosthorn appears to be a very amiable friend.”
“She is the best sort of friend.”
“Does she have siblings?”
His question made me stumble, but I quickly recovered my footing. “Yes. An older brother.”
Lord Williams nodded as though I had confirmed something.
“Are you acquainted with her brother?”
“No, we have never met.”
That was a relief.
His question gave me pause, though. If Lord Williams had siblings, people who depended on him, I could use them as another reason against his marrying me. Certainly our union would be frowned upon by any relatives.
“Do you have siblings, my lord?”
“I have asked that you call me Gregory.”
“And I refuse.”
He sighed. “No, I do not have siblings.”
“Cousins aside from Mr. Northam, then?”
“None.” He glanced at me.
It was as though his life had been orchestrated to be as unhelpful as possible. “Does Mr. Northam know of your being here?”
His brow furrowed. “I should hope not.”
Now we were getting somewhere. “Then you are not so very close?”
“I do not have the rapport with him that you appear to have with your siblings and friends. Though we do converse on many matters, there are some confidences that are best left unshared.”
Had he really not shared the engagement with his own family? What possible motivation could he have for omitting such information? “You are rather like siblings, then, as there are many things I would not share with either Daniel or Alice. Do you support each other in your decisions, as siblings should?”
He tilted his head. “What are you driving at?”
“Oh, nothing.” I smiled. “Only, I do hope Mr. Northam is like a sibling to you. I could not imagine life without the little contests and irritants that siblings provide.”
He looked at me sharply. “What contests?”
I frowned at his reaction. Daniel and I had numerous ongoing competitions, little games started as children that we had never seen fit to outgrow. The best games were played in public, awarding extra points when we pinned the other to some promise or errand by making the request in the company of others where a refusal was impossible. Such as Daniel forcing me to speak with Mr. Lundall alone or his ensnaring me into the game of lawn bowls with Lord Williams. “Everything. Anything. A game of chess, a wager on who could throw a rock farther, whether you would stop and help our coachman. . . .”
His expression eased, but a brow rose. “You wagered on whether or not I would help?”
“Of course.”
“Did you win or lose?”
“I lost.”
“I am sorry to have cost you a win.”
I shrugged. “It was no great loss.”
After a brief pause, Lord Williams said, “My cousin has always been a great admirer of competition. Sometimes he is a little too enthusiastic.”
“Cuts of cloth,” I muttered.
“I beg your pardon?”
“It seems you two were cut from the same cloth. I would say you are a little too enthusiastic about some things.”
“Such as?”
“Well, you were rather insistent regarding a game of bowls together.”
“Yes, and I believe I was labeled a cheater because of that game.”
I shrugged and grabbed a leaf off a tree. “You should not worry yourself about it. You have obviously endeared yourself to my family.”
“But not to you.”
I laughed. “Surely you do not care what I think of you.”
“I believe it is customary to care what one’s intended thinks of one.”
I shrugged. “I don’t care what you think of me.”
“Yes. I know.”
I turned and studied him. Was he mocking me again? He didn’t seem to be in earnest, yet the taunting smile was absent from his expression. “You cannot object, nor be surprised. Our circumstances are not customary in the least.”
“As you remind me at every opportunity.”
I refocused on my leaf. “There is a solution, of course.”
“Flowers, gifts, kisses. That sort of thing?”
I stopped, aghast that he’d suggest anything as intimate as kissing. “No. Of course not.”
“No?” The smile was back.
I narrowed my eyes. “I want nothing of the sort from you.”