Page 12 of Romancing Daphne

“Miss Lancaster,” James began the introductions, “may I make known to you Mrs. Bower and Miss Bower.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” she offered.

“Mrs. Bower, Miss Bower, may I present Miss Lancaster, sister of the Duchess of Kielder.”

That never failed to both impress and terrify people. Miss Bower’s eyes widened, though in a way that somehow only made her more pretty. Hermother’s may very well have done the same, but her face was not visible.

“Lord Tilburn,” Mrs. Bower said, “I did not realize you were at all connected to Her Grace’s family.”

“The duke and I belong to the same political party and the same club,” he said. “Now that Miss Lancaster has made her bows, I am pleased to be given the opportunity of knowing her better.”

Daphne recognized it for the polite explanation it was but cherished it just the same. She hoped he really was pleased at the acquaintance. She herself was elated.

The same scenario repeated a few times. Some of the individuals theyspoke with were already known to her; others were new acquaintances. Someof her trepidation over the coming Season abated over the course of their ride. She would recognize a few faces in the crowd, at least.

They had completed half a circuit of the park when a rider on horseback slipped into her line of vision, keeping pace with James’s carriage. Thoughshe did not see the rider’s face, Daphne felt certain she knew him. Sheattempted to watch the stranger surreptitiously.

“I did not wish to alarm you,” James said,“but that man has been following us for some time, hovering nearby every time we have paused to greet someone.”

The man in question looked very briefly in their direction. That fleeting glimpse was enough to identify him.

“Good heavens,” Daphne whispered. Her face heated in an instant. She might as well confess.“That is Johnny from the stables.”

“One of your stable hands?”

“Yes.”

“And does the man on the horse just ahead of us look familiar as well?” James asked.“He has done a remarkable job of following us, considering he is in front and not behind.”

Though she could not see who was riding, Daphne knew the horse. Fanny’s barely veiled look of guilt told Daphne her growing suspicions were entirely accurate.

“How many others are there?” Daphne asked under her breath.

Fanny hesitated. Slowly she raised both hands.

“Seven?”Daphne’s shock added unintended volume to her words.

She turned her face forward, keeping her expression neutral by sheer willpower. Adam was having them followed? A maid in the carriage was to be expected if a young lady did not have a mother or sister or companion with her, but to commission the entire stable staff to keep an eye on them was the outside of enough. She began calculating in her head. The two mounted men. She suspected the“vendor” they’d passed earlier was likewise a spy Adam had sent. Four others lingered somewhere in the vicinity.

“This is a decidedly new experience for me,” James said.“I have driven out with young ladies on any number of occasions but have never once been stalked.”

Humiliation closed swiftly in on Daphne. She refused to break down in front of him twice in the course of a single carriage ride. Yet her embarrassment threatened to overcome every effort to conceal it.

“I am sorry,” she managed to say.

An awkward and heavy silence fell between them.

The tiny tiger perched on the back of the carriage in front of them glanced back at them a few times. By the second look, Daphne recognized the Falstone House knife boy.

“A flower for your lady?”

Daphne turned at the sound of a voice thick with a lower-class London accent. A girl, probably only a year or two younger than herself, held up an assortment of nosegays as she kept pace with the slow-moving carriage. Hyde Park traffic never was likely to set any speed records during the busiest times of the Season.

“As much as I would like to give the lady a flower,” James said,“I do not dare allow my horses the opportunity to run off with us by giving them less than all my attention.”

The girl nodded in approval. Daphne very nearly rolled her eyes. No sooner had the flower seller slid back from the carriage than James turned questioning eyes to Daphne.

She sighed.“She is a chambermaid at Falstone House.”

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