Page 18 of Lady Liar (A Series of Senseless Complications #5)

A s the duke’s carriage trotted down the road to meet with them again at the Serpentine, Lady Verity said, “Let’s be off,” and spurred her horse across the green.

Henry did not know what he had been expecting when the duke mentioned a gallop. He’d thought it might be more of a trot, as there were ladies involved. That was not the case.

Lady Verity and Lady Winsome spurred their horses into an ever-faster gallop. Good God, it was like they were at a race at Newmarket. He had a bit of trouble keeping up.

Skirting round trees and bushes, everything went by in a blur. At one moment, Lady Verity galloped underneath some low hanging branches, ducking and just barely clearing them. Mercifully, they began to slow as they approached the Serpentine.

“That was lovely,” Lady Winsome said, breathing hard as she reined in her horse.

Lovely? It was downright hair-raising.

“It is not the Dales, of course, we could go so much further if we were there,” Lady Verity said, working to catch her breath, “but it is nice to allow our horses to stretch their legs.”

Henry could only wonder what their rides looked like in the Dales.

His horse was heaving in air after that little adventure.

For that matter, he was too. They had stopped by the side of the carriage road waiting for the duke, who was just taking the turn south.

It was not too overcrowded, it being just a little of the early side.

In an hour, it would be positively mobbed.

Both ladies had jumped off their horses without waiting for a block. He supposed ladies from the Dales were sturdier than he’d been expecting. It was rather attractive. He dismounted too. The duke’s carriage rumbled to a stop, and the duke and his passengers clambered out of it.

“I thought we might have a picnic of sorts,” the duke said.

One of the grooms was already untying a folding coaching table from the back of the carriage. Another brought out a basket and began to unpack it of jars of lemonade, a ham, a jar of mustard, rolls, and biscuits.

“Nowhere to sit, but that’s the park for you,” the duke said. The grooms poured lemonade into glasses and handed it round.

“You are quite the horsewoman, Lady Verity,” Henry said.

He was pleased to see a faint blush. The second blush of the day. Certainly if a lady blushed over a compliment, it must mean something well.

“We all are,” Lady Winsome said.

“I’m not,” Lady Valor said. “But that is only because my pony likes to walk. She gets nervous to go fast.”

Henry assumed the real case of it was that Lady Valor got nervous to go fast. He could hardly blame her. He’d fox hunted all his life, which was always a rather mad dash, but he’d been on very few rides like the one he’d just been on.

“Lord Wembly?”

A carriage had slowed to a stop and he heard his name called. He turned and found Lady Lilith leaning out her carriage window.

“Lady Lilith,” he said with a bow. He did not know what had brought her here but was hoping she would not stop long.

“Goodness, what have we here?” she asked, looking over at the table with the picnic items.

She’d backed him into a corner. There was really nothing else to do but introduce her. “Lady Lilith, the Duke of Pelham, the Ladies Verity, Winsome, and Valor, and Mrs. Right.”

He still was not certain how to introduce Mrs. Right, as he did not understand the connection.

“Your Grace, ladies, Mrs. Right,” Lady Lilith answered. “You’ve made yourself very comfortable in the park, what a charming idea.”

“You are welcome to stop, if it suits you, Lady Lilith,” the duke said.

It seemed it did suit, as Lady Lilith was out of the carriage in a flash. She approached the party and said, “This day is one coincidence after the next. I just encountered Lord Munson on the road and he told me he was coming from the duke’s house.”

“I do not know where all those young bucks came from,” the duke said. “Dashed inconvenient to have my drawing room littered with them.”

“Well, they are all very keen to hear from our lady scientist,” Lady Lilith said. “It was all Lord Munson could talk about. Lady Verity, you are becoming quite the celebrity.”

“I’m sure not,” Lady Verity said.

“Goodness, yes. I even heard about it from Lord Westerby last evening. He is a long-standing member of The Royal Society, so I would take that as high praise. I am not scientific-minded myself, so I was a bit lost on the whole thing.”

Lord Westerby. He’d been afraid that was where all this talk was coming from. But why did the fellow see the need to talk about it? Henry should not have mentioned it to Westerby. This was all his fault.

Lady Winsome said, “Nobody has any cause to talk about it. It is early days and there is nothing to say.”

Lady Verity nodded solemnly.

“I will second that opinion,” Henry said. “No good can come of speaking about initial investigations. I am sorry Lord Westerby has put this about.”

“Fish eyesight, was it?” Lady Lilith asked.

“I expect it does not matter,” the duke said in a decidedly stern tone, “as we have all concluded it would not be wise to talk of it just now.”

“I don’t even know why anybody would want to talk about it,” Lady Valor said. “Lady Lilith,” she went on, holding up Sir Galahad, “is this the most tremendous dog you’ve ever seen in your life?”

“Tremendous?” she asked, laughing. “He might be on the small side of things for tremendous.”

Clearly, Lady Lilith did not perceive the importance of Sir Galahad.

As far as Lady Valor was concerned, her little pug was the most tremendous dog who had ever roamed the earth on four short legs and peril to the person who did not perceive it.

Though, Lady Lilith seemed to be finding herself rapidly apprised of it.

Lady Valor glared at her, held Sir Galahad close, and went to stand by Mrs. Right.

Lady Lilith pretended she did not notice the snub. She said, “Mrs. Right, I do not believe we’ve met anywhere.”

Mrs. Right snorted. “No, we would not have,” the lady said. “I’m the duke’s housekeeper.”

Housekeeper? But she was dressed otherwise and had no keys jangling at her waist as his own did. She had been seated in the drawing room and had come in the carriage, which his own definitely did not. She was tasked with getting rid of the butler. How could she possibly be the housekeeper?

“Mrs. Right is the best lady living,” Lady Valor said, “and she thinks Sir Galahad is tremendous.”

“Of course I do, love,” Mrs. Right said.

Then there she was calling one of the duke’s daughters “love.” She sounded more like their mother. But then, it was Henry’s understanding that the duke’s duchess had died long ago. Perhaps she had acted as their mother?

Under Lady Valor’s stare, Lady Lilith finally decided she ought to depart. Nobody seemed over-sorry to see her go.

*

Verity hardly knew where to look. Lady Lilith had just departed. If she were to be believed, people all over Town were somehow aware of the stupid thing she’d said about inquiring into whether fish could see when they were out of the water.

When all those gentlemen had arrived to the house, they’d brought flowers and compliments, and it had all felt rather odd, but she’d not had any reason to be alarmed.

It was her understanding that flitting from house to house was a primary entertainment for young gentlemen.

She supposed they would like to come into the duke’s house to have a look round it.

Toward the end, just before she went abovestairs to change into her riding habit, some of them had asked about her scientific experiment.

But she had really assumed that Valor had said something about it while she was out of hearing.

She had answered very briefly that she did not care to discuss it.

But perhaps that was why they had come. Perhaps they had come to confirm the preposterous story of a lady studying whether or not fish could see out of water. How did they know about it? Did Lord Wembly put it about?

“Wembly,” the duke said, “Walk Verity down to The Serpentine. She particularly likes the view.”

Lord Wembly nodded and held his arm out.

Verity laid her hand on it, hoping it was not shaking.

What was he to say about all this? Would he ask her more questions about it?

She wanted the whole idea to go away—was she to be asked about it everywhere now?

Why had she ever invented it in the first place?

They walked under the shade of the plane trees to a bench near the water’s edge.

The serpentine was quiet and mostly occupied by ducks traveling this way and that.

They seemed to have a purpose in their traveling, though Verity did not know what it was.

Maybe she should look into it and add it to her stupid list of things she was not actually looking into!

She could barely speak. She was not certain what she waited for, but no words occurred to her.

“Tell me about the Dales,” Lord Wembly said.

Verity was entirely startled. She’d been certain he would mention the fact that her ridiculous fish idea was talked of. “The Dales?” she asked.

“Yes, what’s it like? I’ve never been, but for us living south of it, the north carries a certain mystique.”