Dangerous in Diamonds - Madeline Hunter [62]
Celia assumed the very worldly expression that she could at times. Five years ago, when Celia joined The Rarest Blooms, Daphne had found that expression disconcerting. Sometimes she still did.
“Putting him off is easy enough to effect,” Celia said.
“It is?”
“What I have in mind will not work forever, but it should at least delay a determined assault. Instruct your man to take me home. While we ride, I will tell you what to say to Castleford today.”
Daphne presented herself at Castleford’s door a little after five o’clock. The captain of the guard handed her over to a minion at once, and the footman escorted her through the house’s first level.
They emerged at the other side on a low terrace that overlooked the gardens. There, in the middle of the flowers and plantings, on a circle of lawn, stood a large tent. It bore a striking resemblance to the pavilions that Castleford had erected on his river barge. The ones in which their friends had enjoyed marital bliss.
The man was not being subtle. Daphne tried hard to fortify her defenses as she walked the meandering path that took her to that tent.
A flap had been fastened open. She peered inside and let her eyes adjust to the dim light. She noticed the thick netting that circled the top of the tent walls, allowing in air. She could not miss the table and chairs, or, up against the tent’s billowing walls, the wide chaise longue decorated with many pillows and looking like a sultan’s bed in this setting.
Castleford came forward to greet her.
“I thought the day should not be spent in a study,” he explained. “It is far cooler out here, and since we are not alone inside, proprieties are being maintained in the strictest sort of way.”
She laughed. They were not being maintained even in the loosest way, and he knew it.
He was in dishabille again. Not as bad as when he received her in a morning coat, but there was nothing formal in his attire. No frock coat covered his shirt and waistcoat, and his cravat had been tied into the most casual, loose knot. He appeared every inch the dangerous rogue he was. She decided that he had planned that, to put her at a disadvantage again.
Wine and lemonade waited on the table. She chose some of the latter and accepted a comfortable chair with its back to that sultan’s bed.
“You are shameless,” she said. “Really, you are.”
“See how well you have come to understand me? It has been years, I believe, since any woman has known so well what she has in me.”
“Oh, I know what I have in you. If you have some notion that I am going to play a role today in some fantasy about a seraglio, please disabuse yourself of that idea.”
His eyes narrowed thoughtfully. Mischievously. “Is that a scold?”
“No!” She veered back in alarm, lest he conclude he had leave to grab her now.
He did not laugh at her reaction, but it amused him.
“Are you sure you would not like some wine?”
“I am very sure that I would not like some wine. This is not a social call. You wrote about needing to talk about the property, so I am here. A business meeting was needed, you indicated in your letter.”
“Did I? Yes, quite right.” He folded his arms and stretched out his legs. She wondered if he took that pose when meeting with the prime minister or prince regent. Probably.
“Let me see.... Mr. Edwards writes that the examination of the property continues at a pace, and thus far nothing of note has been found. He says it should not take more than another fortnight or so.”
“Another fortnight or so? I think these men you sent are enjoying too much country air at your expense, if it takes that long.”
“It must be done methodically and carefully, or it will have to be done over. That would leave you here in London for months. We don’t want that, do we?”
“I am beginning to think this would all have been decided faster if I never came up to town. It is now sounding as if it will be months before I know my fate.”
He studied her. He looked at her so specifically that she stirred, even though there was