Free Gareth: Lord of Rakes by Grace Burrowes Page B

have a care for your sister. Your liveliness could land you in a deal of trouble if you aren’t careful, and that would aggrieve her, unless I miss my guess.” The rebuke was delivered with a smile. Watching the exchange, Felicity was pleased some other adult had taken Astrid’s high spirits to task.
    The girl was only seventeen, God help her, but many a young lady became betrothed—or compromised—at that age.
    “Sir, thank you for your escort and your company,” Felicity said, offering another curtsy.
    He bowed in response and studied the head of a walking stick carved into the shape of a crouching dragon. “Perhaps we might encounter one another enjoying the park in future,” he said, touching the dragon to the brim of his hat.
    Felicity waited until they were out of the gentleman’s hearing. “Astrid, what could you have been thinking, telling him you might feel faint?”
    “I know I overstepped a little, but I felt as if with him, it was safe to carry on a bit. His eyes are beautiful.”
    “You aren’t going to develop a tendresse for him, are you?”
    “No,” Astrid answered, a frown puckering her brow. “I like him, Felicity, but he feels more like… a potential brother-in-law? A man whose company I can trust.”
    Astrid had chosen a fine time to have a grown-up moment. Felicity herself had had the same sense from Holbrook. He seemed absolutely steady to her. Completely beyond frivolousness or flirtatiousness. A serious, decent man. Not a fellow trolling for anything.
    “He was very charming,” Astrid volunteered earnestly, “and he did rescue you from that odious horse.”
    “Yes, he did,” Felicity said as they reached their doorstep. “I’ve never felt so helpless in my life, Astrid. I knew I had to move, but my limbs wouldn’t obey my mind. I could hear you calling my name, but it was as if I were dreaming. I still don’t feel completely myself.”
    “You must have…”
    Felicity joined in, laughing with her sister as they chorused together, “a nice hot cup of tea!”
    They went into the house, arms linked, exuding the good humor of sisters in charity with each other.
    ***
    “Please don’t hang over the balcony, Felicity.” Gareth passed her a pair of opera glasses. “I doubt you want all of Society to see you with your skirts over your head when I have to haul you back by your heels.”
    The lady had merely peered about at the assemblage, like any sophisticate would peruse the crowd, and yet, after the day’s events, Gareth needed to scold her on general principles.
    “My, but your lordship is grumpy tonight. I’m simply enjoying the spectacle created by the audience. Which reminds me: Why did you bring me here? I thought we had agreed discretion was absolutely necessary if my name is to be protected from scandal.”
    Fair question, which he’d had to ask himself after he’d sent his note on its way to her.
    “It might surprise you to know that, like most gentlemen, I keep my personal vices separate from other aspects of my life, including my more proper socializing. On occasion, I am asked to escort the sister of an acquaintance or my mother’s friends’ daughters to functions such as this. I do know how to behave, Felicity, and I know how to pay respectful addresses to proper young ladies.”
    To his own ear, his words held a faint but detectable note of defensiveness.
    “I can well believe you are a proper escort when the need arises, Gareth, and I meant you no insult, but what I was asking was this: Why on earth would you bother to escort me ? I am seeking anything but respectful addresses, and in no manner can I be considered proper in your eyes.”
    He looked over at her, seeing a pretty, self-contained young woman attired at last in a manner suitable to her station, and his irritation abated not one bit. The real answer to her question, that he’d brought her to the theatre largely to indulge a desire to give her pleasure, was something he did not entirely