“She is enjoying herself.” “A little.” #3
He did not hurry. That somehow made the thing more final. He crossed the lawn with the composed expression of a servant carrying out an instruction that required no explanation.
Rowland looked once at Selina.
The hatred in his face was no longer disguised.
She had seen irritation from him before, and contempt, and the pleasure he took in frightening somebody who could not immediately answer him. This was simpler.
Then he bowed.
“Your Grace.”
Selina inclined her head.
She gave him nothing else.
He crossed the lawn without haste, which was perhaps the last thing he still controlled. People made room for him without yet knowing why they were doing so. Mrs Ottley called after him from beneath one of the awnings, but he did not turn.
The footman followed at a discreet distance.
Selina watched until Rowland had gone far enough that his return would require a deliberate choice. Only then did she look at Lady Carbery.
Lady Carbery waited until he was out of hearing.
“I shall say nothing unless you require it of me.”
“Thank you,” Selina said.
“If you do require it, I shall remember his words.”
Her manner made it clear that this was neither an offer of gossip nor an invitation to discuss what she had heard. It was simply a promise to remember.
“That is why I asked you,” Lady Marwood said.
Lady Carbery gave the older woman a look suggesting that compliments were no more welcome from her than from anybody else, then returned towards the terrace.
Within a few steps she had re-entered the gathering and was received into a conversation as though she had done nothing more consequential than inspect the roses.
Lady Marwood remained beside Selina.
“I hope that was of some use to you.”
“It was. More than I expected.”
“I am glad of it.” Lady Marwood glanced towards the path by which Rowland had departed. “I doubt he will thank either of us for the afternoon.”
“No.”
Selina set her untouched lemonade on a passing tray. Only then did she realise how firmly she had been holding it.
“Then take care. Embarrassment does not always improve a man’s judgement.”
Selina looked at her.
“I shall.”
Lady Marwood studied her for another moment, evidently deciding whether there was anything further worth saying. Apparently, there was not.
Nathaniel was crossing the lawn towards them.
He had disentangled himself from Lord Fairburn at last and was coming at a measured pace that did not quite conceal how directly he had chosen his path.
Lady Marwood followed Selina’s gaze and smiled faintly.
“I believe I have detained you long enough. Your husband has spent the better part of twenty minutes enduring Fairburn on agricultural rents.”
“That was very generous of him.”
“Heroic, I should say.”
With that, Lady Marwood left her to meet him.
Nathaniel stopped beside Selina.
For a moment neither spoke.
“You stayed away,” she said at last.
“You asked me to.”
“I know.”
“I disliked every second of it.”
“I know that too.”
His expression suggested that twenty minutes with Lord Fairburn had not been the chief source of his discomfort.
He looked towards the gate through which Rowland had disappeared.
“Did he frighten you?”
Selina considered denying it. The answer would have been easy and, after the performance she had just given, almost habitual.
She found she did not want to.
“At one point I did not have to pretend.”
Nathaniel’s attention returned to her at once.
The change in him was small but immediate.
“What did he say?”
“Something I shall tell you in the carriage. I should rather not repeat it here.”
For a moment she could see the questions he did not ask. His gaze moved once over her face, searching perhaps for what she was not yet ready to give him.
He did not press her.
“Do you wish to leave?”
The simplicity of the question eased something in her.
“Yes.”
Nathaniel offered his arm.
She placed her hand upon it.
They turned towards the house together. Nobody stopped them. A few people bowed as they passed, and Nathaniel answered automatically. Selina was aware of the warmth of his sleeve beneath her fingers and of the fact that he had not once asked her to explain herself before she was ready.
They had gone perhaps six steps when he said, quietly, “I knew you were acting.”
Selina glanced at him.
His eyes remained ahead.
“I disliked watching it anyway.”
There was nothing in the admission that asked to be answered. He was simply telling her the truth, as she had told him hers.
“You did very well.”
“That sounds dangerously like praise.”
“It was.”
He considered this with more gravity than the remark required.
“I shall try not to become dependent upon it.”
“You should. The supply is uncertain.”
His mouth moved.
That nearly won the laugh she had withheld earlier.
They continued across the lawn. Behind them Lady Marwood’s gathering went on, bright and orderly beneath its awnings, while the fountain continued its inadequate work as though it had witnessed nothing at all.
Selina’s fingers tightened briefly upon Nathaniel’s sleeve.
He looked down at them, then at her, but still did not ask.
“Take me home, Nathaniel.”
He did.
***