Page 35 of One Perfect Dance
A sideways glance from those blue eyes hinted that she was teasing him, emboldening him to reply, “I was trying to keep your favor, Regina, and that of your cousin. She did insist that I address you formally except in private. Are Lord Kingsley and young Geoffrey to be admitted to our conspiracy of friendship?”
She pursed her lips in thought, sending a bolt of desire that had him shifting slightly to ease the fit of his trousers.
“I shall consider it,” she said. “Had you truly already planned to buy a carriage when you invited me to drive with you?”
Ash had to pay attention to the team for a moment, when they took exception to a dog that darted out of an alley, barking.
Once he had them well away from the noise, he said, “I had not thought of it. I went home and threw myself on the mercy of Rex’s brother-in-law, who took me to Tattersalls this morning. He offered to let me borrow something, but the rest of what I told your son was quite true. It made more sense to have my own rig. Rex is also looking for a carriage—something his wife and children can use to get around. Your son would be pleased to know he is considering a high-perch phaeton for his own use.”
The horses had settled enough that he was able to look away from them to aim a question at her. “Would you have preferred to drive out in a more fashionable style?”
Regina shuddered. “No, thank you. I am far too small to get up into one of those things without a ladder.”
Ash had a brief vision of lifting the lady from the ground up into one of those ridiculous vehicles. He would have to apply his hands to places he should not be thinking about. Not, at least, while driving through the streets of London in tight pantaloons with never a bed in sight. And not without an indication from the lady that she favored him as more than a childhood friend and a storyteller.
He turned in through the gates of Hyde Park. He had better find a new topic of conversation, preferably one that didn’t heat his blood.
“The brothers Deffew are of Geoffrey’s opinion about my choice of carriage,” he told her. “They were at Tattersalls and surprisingly friendly.” He chuckled. “At least until Dilly—David, I mean—made some insulting remarks about Rex and his wife without realizing that my friend was standing right behind him.”
“Dilly, Elijah?” Regina said with a chortle in her voice. “True. He is not the brightest candle in the hall.”
So much for Dilly’s suggestion he had some claim on the lady. Ash had not believed him, but he was pleased to have it confirmed. She would not speak of a man she planned to marry with scorn, even such gentle scorn.
He turned out of the slow line of carriages into a quieter lane, where they could move at a steady walk and have less risk of being overheard. “I used to call him Daffy-Down-Dilly when I lived with them. In my mind, I mean. It was a minor and unspoken rebellion.”
She tucked her hand into his arm and smiled up at him. “Ah. The country name for the daffodil, or narcissus as it is more properly called. A man in love with his own reflection, and foolish enough to waste away while admiring it. And his older brother? What name did you have for him?”
“Mouth Almighty,” he admitted, helpless to do other than return the smile. “He spoke as if his every pronouncement was handed down from on high, on tablets of stone.”
The chortle became a full laugh, but she sobered. “They were not nice to you, were they? The Deffews? When you lived with them?”
Ash shrugged. “It is ancient history, Regina.” He volunteered another nickname. “I used to call the major Major Defect.”
“Gideon, who generally had a kind word to say for everyone, found Major Deffew below contempt.” She lowered her lashes to look down at her hands. “You may have heard that the major is believed to have died at the hands of the same highwayman who shot and crippled Gideon.”
She still wasn’t meeting Ash’s eyes. Something about that brief account bothered her. Grief for her husband, Ash supposed.
She cast her gaze up into the trees they were passing. “As for his sons, I believe the younger one is merely a fool, while the older is a villain. When we were in town, before Gideon’s accident, he used to insist on being polite to them, showing no open enmity, for he said that snakes bite when they feel threatened. I do likewise now I have returned to Society.”
She sighed. “Though I wish Dilly would take the hint from my repeated refusals of his pr– invitations, and turn his attentions elsewhere.”
What began with “pr”? The word that came to mind was proposals. Plural, as in more than one. Repeated, which implied at least three.
The carriageway had looped around to rejoin the more fashionable and therefore busier route that they’d escaped.
“Look,” Regina said. “Speak of the devil and smell brimstone.”
Sure enough, Mouth and Dilly Deffew rode towards them side by side—Mouth on a solid-looking bay and Dilly on a flighty chestnut that Ash could tell, even from a distance, was all show and no substance.
Dilly saw them first, his reaction communicating itself to the horse, so it danced sideways, fighting the bit. While Dilly was distracted getting the beast under control, Mouth saw Ash and Regina. His eyes narrowed, but he nodded in welcome. “Mrs. Paddimore. Ashby.”
Ash returned the nod, as did Regina. As they came abreast of the brothers, Mouth turned his horse to fall in beside them, as did Dilly a moment later.
“So, this is why you wanted a phaeton,” Mouth accused.
Dilly had a complaint. “I say, Mrs. Paddimore. I have asked you to drive with me I don’t know how many times.”
Regina ignored him, instead addressing Mouth. “How is your son, Mr. Deffew? May I hope his condition is improving?”
