Chapter 13 #2
He leaned closer again. She became painfully aware of the small space still separating their lips. For one dangerously suspended moment, Diana realized just how easily he could close it. How easily she might let him.
She knew she should want to stop him, but the truth was that she did not entirely wish to.
Then–
“Well now.” Lady Salford’s voice cut cleanly through the moment.
Both of them turned.
The hedge behind them rustled as several figures appeared from the garden path. Emma and Martin emerged first, followed closely by Lady Salford, who surveyed the scene before her with unmistakable amusement.
“My dear boy,” Lady Salford said with composed innocence, her voice carrying across the small clearing beside the hedges as though she had stumbled upon nothing more remarkable than two people admiring the shrubbery. “I hope we are not interrupting anything… important.”
Diana felt the heat rush instantly to her face.
The moment she turned toward them, she found Emma standing just behind Lady Salford with an expression of unmistakable delight, her eyes bright with curiosity as she looked from Diana to Alexander and then back again.
Martin stood slightly behind them both, clearing his throat politely into his hand, though the faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth suggested he was not nearly as comfortable as he pretended to be.
Diana stepped away from Alexander at once.
The movement was quick enough that the distance between them reappeared almost immediately, though she remained painfully aware of how close they had been only seconds earlier. The corner of the garden suddenly felt far less secluded now that it had acquired an audience.
“We were merely retrieving the ball,” she said quickly, lifting it slightly as though the small wooden sphere might serve as undeniable proof of their innocence.
Lady Salford regarded the ball with thoughtful interest.
“Of course you were,” she replied, nodding slowly as though this explanation had fully satisfied her.
Her eyes moved from Diana to Alexander with an assessing calm that suggested she had noticed far more than Diana would have preferred.
After a moment, her lips curved with unmistakable satisfaction.
“Lovebirds do tend to wander.”
“Grandmother—”
Alexander’s voice carried warning, but Lady Salford merely waved one dismissive hand through the air as though brushing aside an unnecessary objection.
“Yes, yes,” she said breezily. “Do not look so scandalized. We were young once as well.”
Emma laughed outright at that.
The bright sound echoed lightly through the trees as she stepped forward, clearly enjoying herself far too much. Her gaze flickered toward Diana with gleaming curiosity before she clasped her hands together.
“Well then,” she said cheerfully, “have you decided the winner yet?”
Diana immediately lifted the ball again.
“My shot traveled the farthest,” she announced, her tone carrying just enough pride to make the statement sound convincingly confident.
Beside her, Alexander folded his arms across his chest. “She missed.”
Emma’s brows lifted. “Ah.”
She glanced between them with open interest, clearly delighted by the disagreement now unfolding before her.
Martin rubbed his chin thoughtfully as though considering a matter of great importance.
“That does complicate matters,” he said.
For a brief moment, the four of them stood in the shade of the hedges, the sunlight filtering through the leaves in shifting patterns across the grass while the question of victory hung in the air like a minor legal dispute awaiting judgment.
Lady Salford solved the matter almost immediately. “Diana wins.”
Alexander turned his head toward her.
The movement was slow, his expression perfectly composed, though the faint narrowing of his eyes suggested he suspected exactly how this decision had been reached.
“On what grounds?”
Lady Salford lifted her chin with firm dignity.
“On the grounds,” she said decisively, “that I prefer her argument.”
Emma clapped her hands with enthusiasm. “I agree.”
Martin nodded at once, clearly unwilling to oppose such a verdict. “As do I.”
From across the lawn, Benjamin’s voice carried faintly through the garden air. “Whatever ends the argument fastest!”
Diana bit back a laugh.
Alexander looked from one conspirator to the next in silence, his gaze lingering briefly on each face as though evaluating the depth of the betrayal.
Then he exhaled slowly. “I see,” he said at last, his tone filled with dry resignation, “that I have been outnumbered.”
Lady Salford smiled with immense satisfaction. “Quite thoroughly.”
The tension dissolved almost immediately after that.
Emma was still laughing softly while Martin shook his head, and Lady Salford looked deeply pleased with the outcome she had orchestrated.
The small group began drifting back toward the open lawn together, their footsteps rustling lightly across the grass as the conversation returned to cheerful chatter.
Diana walked beside them, still smiling despite herself. Yet as she fell into step once more beside Alexander, her awareness shifted immediately.
The others continued ahead, their voices blending into a comfortable murmur of conversation, but Diana found that her thoughts had become unexpectedly quiet. Because even now, she could still feel the faint warmth of his earlier touch lingering against her wrist.
The sensation remained like the ghost of a memory beneath her glove, subtle yet impossible to ignore.
She kept her gaze forward as they walked, though she could sense him without looking, the steady rhythm of his stride matching hers across the grass.
Her mind returned unwillingly to the moment beside the hedges. To the way he had stepped closer and the heat in his voice when he had asked his question.
Do you find me seductive?
Diana inhaled slowly.
The air smelled faintly of cut grass and summer roses drifting from the nearby beds, yet the memory of his closeness lingered far more vividly than the pleasant garden scents around them.
Her pulse fluttered again at the thought, though she kept her expression composed as the group rejoined the others near the Pall Mall arches.
Benjamin waved cheerfully as they approached.
“Well?” he called. “Has justice been served?”
Lady Salford lifted her chin triumphantly. “Diana is the victor.”
Benjamin nodded immediately. “Excellent. I supported her all along.”
Emma laughed again. “You supported whichever outcome allowed you to avoid another round.”
“That,” Benjamin admitted freely, “is also true.”
The conversation carried on easily after that, the earlier competition dissolving into friendly teasing as the group gathered once more around the lawn.
Yet Diana remained aware of the man walking beside her. Because even though Alexander said nothing more as they returned to the game, that same faint spark traveled once more through her body.