Page 7 of The Heiress's Daughter
She and her partner rode in silence. Luckily Lord Frobisher didn’t seem to mind. He was a very comfortable sort of person, Clarissa decided, and seemed happy enough to let his wife be the life of the party, while he looked on. On the surface they seemed an unlikely couple, but it was clear theirs was a love match, and that they were very happy together.
Would a man ever look at her the way Lord Frobisher looked at his wife?
She sighed. Probably not. Lady Frobisher was everything that Clarissa wasn’t—pretty, lively, confident, slender and stylish. If Clarissa hadn’t been due to inherit a fortune, very few gentlemen would be interested in her at all.
Oh, stop it!she told herself sternly. That was no way to think. She was who she was, and she would be loved for herself—or not at all.
The street traffic thinned out and they rode four abreast for a while, and when they next re-formed into pairs Lord Randall was her partner.
“I’m very glad you were able to join us,” he said.
“Yes. Thank you for arranging it.”
“Oh, Maggie was delighted to help out. She’s always up for a bit of mischief.”
“Mischief?”
“Didn’t she tell you she was ‘rescuing the maiden from the seraglio’?”
Clarissa managed a laugh, though the description was somewhat mortifying coming from him. “Yes, but it’s not like that at all.” It wasn’t quite true, but she didn’t want to criticize Lady Scattergood. The old lady meant well, and Clarissa was her guest.
He didn’t respond, and when she glanced at him, he raised a dark eyebrow.
“It’s not,” she repeated. “Lady Scattergood is merely doing what she thinks is best.”
“And why is it best that I am not to be admitted to the house? One would think, as Leo’s best man…”
She felt her cheeks warm. She couldn’t possibly tell him what Lady Scattergood had said about him.Let a fox into the chicken house? Over my dead body!
“Single gentlemen are admitted, as long as they’re accompanied by a female relative that Lady Scattergood knows. And approves of.”
“I see. So a respectable aunt or grandmother is the key, eh?”
To her relief, he didn’t pursue the matter. Because she was sure Lady Scattergood would forbid him entrance even if he were accompanied by a respectable female relative.
A few minutes later they once again walked four abreast, with Addis in the rear, and then resumed their two by two. Clarissa was relieved to be paired with Lord Frobisher again; she found talking to Lord Randall…difficult. Just a glance or a smile from him scattered her thoughts and she quite forgot what to say.
Race’s cousin Maggie gave him a sideways glance. “She’s a nice enough girl, but not exactly scintillating company, is she?”
Race didn’t respond.
“So tell me, cuz, are you finally planning to settle down? Get yourself an heir?”
“Plenty of time for that,” he said easily. “My father didn’t marry until he was forty, which means I’ve got a good ten years of freedom before I need to concern myself with securing the succession.”
“Then what’s your interest in Miss Studley? You don’t need her fortune, I know—unless you’ve lost yours on ‘change.’ ”
“I’m doing a favor for my friend Leo, that’s all.”
“Keeping an eye on her while he’s on his honeymoon, eh? I see. So it’s duty rather than pleasure.”
He shrugged. “It’s always a pleasure to ride out on a fine day.”
“Well, you won’t get a ride out of her,” Maggie said, snickering naughtily.
Race snorted. “You have a wicked mind. Miss Studley is completely respectable—as she should be,” he added with a mock quelling look at his mischievous cousin. Maggie had become more outrageous since her marriage, relishing the freedom a married woman had, compared with the restrictions an unmarried young lady was subject to.
Maggie laughed, entirely unquelled. “Well, I didn’t think a plain, plump, dull little innocent would be your style at all.”
