A Lord Rotheby's Holiday Bundle (104 page)

“
Keep your voice down.
You’re attracting an audience. The last thing she needs is more
gossip.”

Oh, good gracious. “The last thing I
need,” she said quietly, so as not to worsen the headache that was
rapidly building, “is the two of you having a discussion about me
as though I am not seated here between you.”

She tried to open her eyes, but then
fluttered them shut again when the blinding sunlight pierced
through the slits. Jane must have flinched from the pain, because
Lord Eldredge—having been lodged firmly against her left
side—shifted slightly and raised her parasol into position to block
the harsh rays of the late afternoon sun. At the same time, the
duke jumped up from where he’d been settled against her right side
to stand and block the light. Their combined efforts left her with
little to support her, and she slumped over before straightening
herself.

Somerton frowned down at her, assuming
his usual, stiff bearing. “Miss Matthews, when you’ve recovered
sufficiently I’ll return you to Hardwicke House in my curricle.” He
scowled at Lord Eldredge, seemingly goading him to challenge his
edict. “Mama will wish to look after you after your fainting
spell.”

“
I can certainly escort her
home, Your Grace. There’s no need for you to go to such trouble.”
Then Eldredge apparently turned to Jane, his eyes wide as though
he’d only just remembered she was present and could make her own
decisions. “If, of course, you would prefer that,
ma’am.”

“
You would have her walk so
soon? I’d thought better of you than that. Clearly, I was mistaken
in my impression.”

She almost huffed in
response, but thought better of it and decided to show a touch more
decorum. “Why thank you, Lord Eldredge, but if it’s all right with
the two of you, I would much prefer to continue our stroll.
It
is
, of course,
the reason we are out to begin with, isn’t it?”

The duke looked as though he wanted to
argue with her further, so she sent him the same look his mother
seemed to have perfected with him, an
I-dare-you-to-challenge-me-on-this-and-promise-you-will-fail-in-your-endeavors
sort of look.

After a short stare-down, he frowned.
“Very well. I have more business to attend, as it is.” He climbed
up into his curricle again before giving Lord Eldredge the full
heat of his glare again. “You are responsible for her health and
safety until such time as she is returned to my home. I trust
you’ll give me no reason to call you out.”

Call him out?
Good gracious, what
was
it with these men?
“
Your Grace
—” she
couldn’t resist placing the emphasis on the fussy title— “I’m
certain that is the most asinine comment I’ve ever heard you
utter.” Jane ignored his slack jaw and kept going before she lost
the little bit of nerve she’d mustered. “I’ll be perfectly fine.
Good day to you, sir.” She punctuated her words with a brisk nod
before turning her back to him and facing Eldgedge again. “My lord,
shall we begin again? I do believe His Grace was just leaving us
for matters of far more import.”

When she regained the viscount’s arm,
he snapped to attention. “Of...of course, Miss Matthews.” He
inclined his head to the duke and then they were off.

The horses’ hooves guiding
the curricle down the lane sounded behind them within moments, and
Jane finally began to breathe again. The
nerve
of that man. Ooh, he certainly
knew how to rile her temper. Blast. She hated letting him see how
he’d gotten the better of her.

In silence, she and Lord Eldgedge drew
nearer to the others meandering through the wooded areas of Hyde
Park. Before they came within earshot of anyone though, her
companion finally rediscovered his voice. “Ma’am, do you think it
was wise to speak to His Grace in such a manner?”

Jane’s eyes nearly popped free from
her head. Thankfully, he couldn’t see her mortification. Gracious,
what a bumbling idiot she could be. She had gone and firmly planted
her foot in her mouth again, hadn’t she? But it might be better to
pretend ignorance, at least for the moment. “How do you mean, my
lord?” When she turned to him, she batted her eyelashes in what she
hoped was a passable impersonation of a disconcerted young
miss.

His eyes widened in abject
bewilderment. “Why, you called him
asinine
. I daresay, I have never
heard a woman—nay, anyone—speak so plainly to the duke
before.”

“
Oh, dear. Have I just
proven my gaucherie?” Perhaps if she had, then Eldredge might
forget his silly infatuation with her and find some more suitable
lady.

“
Well, no.”

“
No?” Jane’s hope plummeted
to bury itself beneath her feet and halfway to the
Orient.

“
No. It may have
been...well...a bit rash to speak with him so, but I wholeheartedly
agree with your assessment. I only wish I had had the gall to say
so myself, rather than allow a lady to fight my battles for
me.”

Several riders upon horseback trotted
along the walkway they were traversing, and Lord Eldredge gently
guided her to the side so they couldn’t come too close. He was
being entirely too thoughtful, taking care of her fears before she
had a chance to let them gain a head.

“
I would hardly say I
fought your battle, my lord. More spoke my mind when I would have
done better to bite my tongue.” She sighed. “I’m afraid it’s a bad
habit I’ve developed and cannot seem to break.”

“
There are worse habits you
could have,” he said with a laugh.

“
Indeed.” Oh, good
gracious. She simply
must
find a way to divert Lord Eldredge’s attentions,
but it seemed everything she did only caused him to develop a more
insistent
tendre
than before.

They walked along for several more
minutes without speaking. Several groupings of fashionable people
wandered around them, talking and laughing and gossiping in the
warm afternoon sun amongst the landscaped walkways as canopies of
trees draped overhead.

Rotten Row loomed in the distance,
abounding with riders and carriages. Near the entrance to the Row,
a young girl rode her mare alongside a gentleman, likely her
father. The girl was riding sidesaddle, with her foot barely
reaching the stirrup to keep her steady in the saddle.

“
She is awfully young to be
learning to ride, isn’t she?” Jane murmured, turning her enquiry to
her escort.

“
What was that, Miss
Matthews?” he replied, glancing about distractedly before turning
to engage a group of passersby. He never focused his gaze in the
proper direction.

His lack of attention was maddening,
particularly in a gentleman so intent upon convincing her to marry
him. Not that she truly had a right to be annoyed with him, since
she often lost track of what he was discussing, but that was beside
the point. “That girl. Over there.” Jane pointed in the direction
of Rotten Row where the riders all congregated.

Just then, however, the girl’s horse
was spooked by some unknown movement nearby and took off at a
breakneck run. Lord Eldgedge was involved in a conversation with
some other gentleman, and he didn’t see the girl and her horse
dashing wildly through the park.

“
Oh, dear. Oh, drat, drat,
drat.” Jane removed her hand from Eldredge’s arm and took a step
toward the girl and her horse. Then she stopped. What on earth was
she thinking? Jane couldn’t do anything about that beast any more
than the girl could.

“
Goodness,” Lord Eldredge
said, finally coming up alongside her. “Someone ought to control
that horse.” He shook his head. “That girl’s not ready to handle
it.”

The monstrosity turned in their
direction. Walkers dashed to either side of the lane, hurtling
themselves out of the way.

At the screams of the girl and various
ladies scattered throughout the park, the gentlemen riders finally
took notice. They headed neck-or-nothing toward her, but there was
simply no way they could reach her in time.

The horse reared back and nearly threw
its young rider from the saddle. Nearly and not actually, only due
to her small, booted foot being stuck in the stirrup. She hung
upside-down, flopping about at the side of the creature as it
rushed onward.

Panic clutched at Jane’s chest. “Oh,
no. No, no, no.” Someone had to help that girl. She would be
dreadfully hurt if she wasn’t helped down from that beast, and
soon.

Lord Eldredge tugged at Jane’s arm,
trying to pull her off to the side of the walkway and out of the
wild animal’s path. “Come, Miss Matthews. We must move clear.
Quickly.” He gave her one more tug, more forcefully this
time.

“
But that girl!” She took
another cursory look about the park, fidgeting with the folds of
her gown. No one would reach her in time.

No one.

No one but Jane.

She wrenched herself free from the
viscount’s grasp and rushed toward the animal, even as it ran
full-speed in her direction.

“
Miss Matthews,” Eldgedge
called out. His voice seemed distant and hollow as he stayed where
he was, safely ensconced behind a hedgerow.

But she had to ignore him. She had to
do something. Bloody useless men.

The horse charged straight for her,
but Jane didn’t slow. In fact, she might have even gained in speed,
in trying to reach the girl in time. Just when she and the horse
were about to run headlong into each other, it stopped and reared
back again, whipping its head back.

Its nostrils flared wide with deep,
snorting breaths. Jane fought to catch her own breath while she
raised her hands up for it to smell. “There you go, girl. It’s all
right. Calm down.”

She could have been speaking to
herself. Or perhaps she was.

Once it stopped prancing, she gingerly
reached up and took hold of the saddle to hold the beast
still.

“
Sweetheart? Miss, are you
all right?” Jane couldn’t move around to free the girl’s ankle
until she was sure the horse wouldn’t charge her again.

It sniffed at her, but seemed much
calmer. So she moved to the side, smoothing her hands along the
horse’s sweaty flanks as she went.

The girl had fainted, likely due to
fear. Smart girl. She couldn’t imagine what had gotten into the
child in the first place to convince her to mount the beast. Jane
lifted her weight with one arm and used the other to untangle her
ankle from the stirrup.

The horse nickered again. “We’re
almost done here. Do please cooperate with me for just a moment
longer.”

Drat, the buckle on the girl’s boot
was caught. It wouldn’t budge. And the horse, while it had calmed
considerably, was growing agitated with her attempts at freeing the
girl. Once again, it pranced about and whinnied in displeasure at
her awkward handling of it, whipping its head back and looking as
though it was planning to rear back at any moment. Good gracious,
what had Jane gotten herself into?

“
Please. Oh, please just
come free.”

She almost had the ankle
loose after untwisting the stirrup, when a thunder of hooves came
barreling down upon them. It frightened the horse, and then
it
did
rear back,
ripping the young girl free from Jane’s arms. The child flopped
against horseflesh again.

“
Laura!” called out a
panicked male voice from somewhere behind Jane.

The horse grew continually more
agitated by her awkward handling and danced about, making it ever
more difficult to accomplish her task. Finally, Jane freed the
girl’s ankle and fell backward to the ground, holding the girl safe
in her arms and landing hard on her derrière. Her tail bone stung
like too many bee stings all in one place.

The girl’s escort and his companion
reached them, both men jumping down to the ground. One grabbed the
reins of all three horses. The other took Laura from Jane’s
trembling arms and rocked her back and forth. “My girl. My sweet
girl.”

“
I do believe she’ll be
perfectly all right, sir,” Jane said as she tried to pull herself
into a sitting position. “It only seems to be a bit of a fainting
spell. There should be no permanent damage.”
Dear lord, please let this child be all right.

Somehow, a crowd had gathered all
around them. A number of ladies fished through their reticules
until one of them came out with hartshorn and pushed it forward
amidst the none-too-hushed commentary swirling all around their
small group.

“
Did you see how she saved
that girl?”

“
Stopped the horse right in
its tracks. Truly amazing, if you ask me.”

“
Miss Matthews, are you
quite all right? Let me through please!” This last, of course, came
from none other than Lord Eldredge. “I must see to Miss Matthews
immediately, thank you.”

Jane, however, was far more concerned
about the health of Laura, so she neglected to answer him
immediately. Some things were more important in life than rushing
to answer a dandified gentleman who would allow her to do what he
should have done instead.