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D iana had made plans to take part in the afternoon promenade through Hyde Park with Lucy and Izzie.

This was Lucy’s suggestion, as she liked nothing better than feeding the ducks.

As Izzie was married, she could serve as their chaperone during outings such as this one—a great irony, considering Izzie was by far the most likely of the three of them to flaunt society’s rules.

Diana arrived at Astley House and was admitted by the butler, Yarwood.

In the yellow parlor, she was surprised to find not only Lucy and Izzie but Harrington as well.

Although she had been hoping to speak with him, he had never accompanied his sisters on one of their afternoon outings before.

Indeed, in the short time she had known him, he rarely seemed to be at home when Diana came to call on the twins.

Lucy sprang to her feet. “Harrington has volunteered to escort us to the park. Won’t that be splendid?”

He had stood upon Diana entering the room and now shifted nervously from one foot to the other. “Who knows when they’ll ship me out again. I figure I’d better spend time with my sisters while I can.”

Lucy beamed, but Izzie’s shrewd gaze traveled from Harrington to Diana and back again.

Diana inclined her head. “How delightful.”

Diana had come in her brother’s landau, an open-topped carriage that was perfect for the afternoon promenade.

They piled in, with Lucy and Diana taking the forward-facing seat and Izzie and Harrington settling opposite them.

There had been rain that morning, but now it was clear and cool.

Diana had dressed for the weather by pairing her white muslin gown with a Kashmiri shawl the color of apricots.

Diana wanted to ask how Harrington’s conversation with Lord Kinwood had gone, but as soon as the carriage door closed, he asked, “So, Izzie, when is your next book coming out?”

Izzie obligingly provided an update on her latest Gothic novel for the Minerva Press. It involved a young, orphaned woman who unexpectedly inherited a cottage. Naturally, this cottage was in the shadow of a ruined abbey that was not as abandoned as it seemed.

Diana, who had already read Izzie’s story, sat back, pulling her shawl more tightly around her shoulders.

They soon arrived at the park. Rotten Row was the most tedious part of Diana’s day. Failing to acknowledge an acquaintance was unspeakably rude and would generate a firestorm of gossip. Did you hear that Lady Diana cut Mrs. Mapplethorpe this afternoon? Why, yes—and right in the middle of Hyde Park!

She might have a reputation for being an ice queen, but even Diana wasn’t that rude.

As usual, everyone who was anyone wanted to show off their acquaintance with the sister of a duke, and so, Diana braced herself to acknowledge everyone in the park.

“Mrs. Hurst,” she said, nodding cooly. “Miss Reynolds. Lady Newcombe.”

Her coachman was under strict instructions to keep the landau moving, so at least she was spared from having to stop and chat.

But they’d only made it halfway down Rotten Row when a plague of fortune-hunters descended upon them.

Unlike the social-climbing ladies, the fortune-hunters were on horseback, making them more difficult to shake.

“Lady Diana,” Piers Pelham-Strangeways said, touching the brim of his hat. “May I say how lovely you look in that color?”

She was saved from having to answer by a bouquet of daffodils, which was thrust in her face. “Lady Diana,” Winston Fitzherbert trilled, “would you do me the honor of accepting this very small token of my esteem?”

He was immediately interrupted by Humphrey Montague. “Lady Diana, dare I hope that you will be attending Lady Stanhope’s ball this evening, and that I might secure the promise of a dance?”

The three of them began talking over one another. Diana slumped down in her seat, unable to get a word in edgewise, which was probably for the best, as the only words she wanted to utter were sod off .

Across the carriage, she caught Harrington’s eye. The corner of his mouth was twitching.

He turned to the first of her suitors. “Pelham-Strangeways! It’s been an age. Say, how’s your rash?”

Mr. Pelham-Strangeways stiffened in his saddle. “I beg your pardon?”

Harrington grinned. “You know, the one on your—” He cleared his throat, making a circular gesture just above his own lap.

Mr. Pelham-Strangeways gave a nervous chuckle. “You seem to be confused, Astley.”

Harrington leaned forward. “Oh, no. I remember it like it was yesterday. We were down at that gaming hell… What was it called again?” He tapped his chin as if deep in thought, then snapped his fingers.

“The Fishwife’s Tit, that’s the one! You’d had…

well. A few drinks, by the look of things.

And you said it had been plaguing you ever since?—”

Mr. Pelham-Strangeways’s voice was shrill. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re obviously thinking of someone else. Good day, Lady Diana.”

Harrington turned to her next suitor. “Fitzherbert, you old dog! I was thinking about you the other day.”

Fitzherbert’s eyes were darting around. “Were you?”

Harrington’s smile was genial. “I was! My brother told me about the fascinating wager you recorded in the betting book at White’s?—”

“Oh, dear!” Fitzherbert cried. “I have suddenly recalled a pressing engagement.” He dropped his daffodils so hastily that they tumbled to the floor of the carriage. “Lady Diana, a pleasure, as always.”

Harrington turned to Humphrey Montague. “Monty! Fancy bumping into… Say, where are you going?”

They were doomed to wonder, because Mr. Montague had wheeled his horse around and was hying himself back toward Rotten Row.

Izzie beamed at her brother. “How I’ve missed you.”

Diana murmured her agreement. Indeed, Harrington was an exceptionally useful fellow to have around. Why, he had vanquished her suitors in one minute flat!

He was handsome, amusing, and he valued her opinion. To say nothing of the fact that he was one of the few men of her acquaintance whom she did not find irritating. To be sure, he was not regarded as much of a catch, as he was a second son and not in possession of a fortune.

But what did she care about that? She had fortune enough to last them a lifetime. She was the rare woman who could afford to choose a husband for his lively wit and finely turned leg.

As Harrington leaned down to listen to Lucy, Diana could not help but allow her gaze to sweep from his broad shoulders to his flat stomach and below.

His legs were clad in skintight breeches, and Diana could not help but observe that there was no soft flesh there to tremble, in spite of the jostling of the carriage.

Clearly, army life was not without its advantages…

They reached the banks of the Serpentine, and Diana ordered the coachman to stop. Harrington hopped down and handed his sisters out of the carriage.

As he helped Diana to the ground, he whispered, “I need to speak to you.”

The corner of her mouth turned up. Even better. “I was hoping to speak with you as well,” she murmured. “How did things go last night with Lord Kinwood?”

“Better than I could have hoped.” His brown eyes were bright in the dappled sunlight beneath the trees. “Thanks to you. You see?—”

“Hurry up, you two!” Suddenly, Lucy was there, seizing their arms and tugging them forward. “I thought we were going to walk by the water.”

Diana shot Harrington a look. Later . He inclined his head in understanding. Lucy did not seem to notice that anything was amiss.

Izzie, on the other hand, was watching them with great interest. Diana detected no disapproval in her gaze; her expression was one of keen anticipation.

Which was arguably more frightening than if she had been furious about the prospect of Diana flirting with her brother, given that this was Izzie.

Striving for an air of nonchalance, Diana accepted Harrington’s proffered arm, and the four of them made their way toward the banks of the Serpentine.

Lucy broke off to admire a pair of swans. Izzie trailed after her twin, but not before casting Diana a speaking look.

After a moment, Diana leaned toward Harrington’s ear and whispered, “So, did Lord Kinwood ask about the canal?”

He nodded. “Just as you said. He wanted me to sponsor the bill in the House of Commons! Made it sound like he was doing me this tremendous favor.”

Diana hmphed. “The utter gall.”

“But I was able to put him in his place with the numbers you gave me.” He gave her a crooked smile, and time seemed to slow. “I can’t tell you how grateful I?—”

“What are you two talking about?” Lucy, who had abandoned the swans, was peering at them curiously.

“Nothing,” Harrington said a little too quickly.

“Walk with me, Lucy,” Izzie said firmly, striding over and hooking her arm through her twin’s.

“Oh!” Lucy cried as Izzie propelled her forward. “But I?—”

Izzie leaned in and hissed something in her sister’s ear. Lucy stiffened, then glanced over her shoulder at Harrington and Diana, her mouth a perfect “O.”

She said nothing more as Izzie marched her along the banks of the river.