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“It is. I was thinking I might take the landau if you do not need it?”

“It is yours.”

She looked up at him in surprise. “Is it?”

Seth smoothed his hand down his waistcoat, tugging at it awkwardly. “Yes. I thought that it would be required. It has been many years since a lady lived in this house, and my carriages are not designed for elegance.”

“Thank you, it is beautiful.”

He shrugged, scratching his chin as he glanced furtively at her. “In any case, the weather is fine. You should be able to travel with the roof down.”

“Well then,” she said, stroking one of the feathers theatrically, “perhaps I can wear these, after all.”

“It is so wonderful to see you!” Katie squealed, all but running to the carriage as Alicia climbed out.

Bridget followed behind her at a slightly more sedate pace as the two women embraced in the sunshine.

Alicia motioned for the coachman to wait and turned to her friends happily.

“You look so well,” Bridget said, her eyes narrowing immediately. “Have you managed to annul your marriage already? That is the only reason I can think of that you would look so cheerful.”

They set off along the pale gravel path as Alicia linked arms with them both.

“Not quite,” she said guiltily, heat rising up her neck at just how far from annulling the marriage she was.

If he had not stopped last night, I would be in no position to do so at all!

“So, how is the plan progressing?” Katie asked eagerly. “Surely he must be growing tired of you by now?”

Alicia watched some geese flying overhead, following their descent as they glided to the water’s surface.

At her silence, her friends turned toward her. She could not look them in the eye.

“What has happened?” Bridget asked.

“I think I have to put a stop to our plan altogether,” Alicia confessed.

Katie came to a halt as Bridget gasped in shock.

“What?” Katie sputtered, bewildered. “Why?”

“Because he has been wise to what I have been doing since the beginning!” Alicia said with exasperation. “Bridget, even thekitten has become friends with him. I believe she prefers him to me.”

“But what of the gossip and the inane chatter?” Bridget asked fervently.

“Heenjoysit. A few nights ago, I spoke with him about the Lorensen affair for thirty minutes. He asked at least a dozen questions! By the end of the evening, he had asked me so many questions that I was curious myself about the facts I did not know and wrote to my sister to ask her formoreinformation.”

Katie burst out laughing, and Alicia shook her head at her.

“It is quite useless.”

“And the dresses? Did you manage to make anything that shocked him beyond bearing?” Katie asked.

“Yes,plenty. One was not fit to be seen, and he liked that one best of all.”

“What do you mean, he liked it?” Bridget asked.

Alicia’s mind returned to the gloom of the library and the hot pleasure rushing through her body.