Page 35 of The Duke In My Bed (The Heirs’ Club of Scoundrels #1)

Upon the heat and flame of thy distemper Sprinkle cool patience.

The girls talked nonstop as the chaise rumbled along the streets.

They pointed at horses, other carriages, the occasional mule and cart, and various shops.

Bray was beginning to think they’d never been on an open carriage ride before.

He had never seen anything like it. Everything they passed excited them, and they wanted to make sure everyone else saw it, too.

There was a comfortable chill to the sunny spring air, and the sky was a fair shade of blue. It was a perfect afternoon for a ride in the park with a beautiful young lady fitted close to his side—and three highly strung youngsters stuffed into a too-small carriage with them as well.

Miss Sybil was like a squirming worm baking in the hot sun on a muddy riverbank.

She couldn’t sit still on Miss Prim’s lap.

Miss Sybil was constantly jumping up to point at something, and Miss Prim would pull her back down.

If she stepped on the toe of his shiny boot once, she had done it ten times.

And he had no idea why she couldn’t keep her hands still.

She knocked his hat off while pointing to a milk wagon loaded with containers, and twice she’d elbowed him while turning to talk to her sisters.

She even placed her hand on his knee a time or two, not that at her age she understood how inappropriate the gesture was.

Miss Lillian was having trouble containing Miss Bonnie’s excitement, too. He could never have dreamed that little girls wriggled so much.

The only good thing about the lively jaunt was that Miss Prim fit snugly against him, though there was no chance at conversation between them. He felt the warmth of her inviting body. That helped soothe his impatience concerning the constant chatter and movement of the girls.

The mild weather had brought out an enormous number of people to Hyde Park for the afternoon. Bray maneuvered the horses in line behind a fancy, black-lacquered barouche trimmed in gold that was queuing at the east entrance to the park.

“Is there a princess in that coach, Your Grace?” Miss Bonnie asked.

“Probably not,” Bray answered.

“May I hold the ribbons?” Miss Sybil asked him, and immediately reached for the strips of leather.

Bray quickly shifted them to the hand out of her reach before saying, “The horses are much too skittish for a young lady like yourself to handle. I should keep control of them.”

“I’m strong. Louisa said I was strong.”

Obviously Miss Sybil liked to touch things. “No doubt you are, but you will keep your hands to yourself, and I will keep control of the horses.”

“I’m hungry and thirsty,” the youngest girl said.

“Now, Bonnie,” Miss Prim said. “You can’t start complaining. You wanted to come, knowing there was no time to pack a basket.”

“What’s that for?” Miss Sybil asked, pointing to the horses’ riggings.

Frustration caused Bray to grit his teeth, and he inhaled another deep breath, wishing for quiet. “That’s what holds the horses to the carriage,” he said in a voice much calmer than he was feeling at the moment.

“What’s that for?” she asked, pointing to the riggings again.

“That’s enough questions, Sybil,” Miss Prim said kindly. “And please sit still.”

Bray gave Miss Prim a hint of a smile. He didn’t know how she stayed so calm when he was going crazy.

Somehow she must have known he was near the end of his patience with all the noise, jumping around, and questions.

He would much rather shoot himself in the foot than be on a chaise with three excitable girls ever again.

The traffic eased, and they soon rode past the entrance.

Bray guided the horses out of the queue of slower carriages and onto the deeply rutted pathway that wound around the perimeter of the grassy openness of the park.

Not a fourth of a mile down, Bray looked up and saw Lord Sanburne and Mr. Mercer on horseback and riding straight toward him.

He swore silently.

Much to his consternation, they somehow recognized him among all the bonnets and the two parasols.

They moved their mounts to the side and waited.

Lord Sanburne would expect him to stop and chat, as it was the polite thing to do, but Bray wasn’t in the mood to be polite today.

When the carriage approached, the men took off their hats, getting ready to greet Miss Prim and her sisters, but Bray surprised them.

He didn’t slow the horses. He gave the stunned gentlemen a brief nod as he passed and kept right on going.

A little farther into the park, he looked at Miss Prim and said, “It’s crowded this afternoon. Do you think you will recognize them from a distance if you see them?”

“I’m certain I’ll know Gwen’s parasol without us having to get too close. I helped her choose what to wear today.”

“Are we trying to find Gwen?” Miss Lillian asked.

Bray and Miss Prim looked at each other, realizing at the same time their mistake in mentioning the reason for the ride.

“Well, you never know,” Miss Prim said to her sister. “We might see her, since we’re both out for a ride today.”

“I want to see her, too,” Miss Bonnie echoed before Miss Prim once again had to calm the girls.

Sanburne and Mercer weren’t the only fellows they passed as they rode the grounds of the park and looked for the curricle with Miss Gwen and Mr. Standish in it.

They received waves from other children in the park, a few laughs from three rakes on horseback, and an occasional surprised stare because of the overloaded chaise.

Bray could handle the many gawkers. They didn’t bother him, but if only the girls would stop talking for a little while and let him have silence.

Bray felt another stab of impatience, and his hands tightened on the reins. He was wishing like hell he’d told the girls an emphatic no when they asked to come—when off to his left, he saw Seaton and his family spreading a blanket for a picnic.

He pulled hard to the left and guided the horses over to where Seaton was standing by his carriage.

“You remember meeting Miss Prim last night?”

Surprise shone in the old man’s eyes. “Yes, of course I do,” he said, and took off his hat to greet her.

Bray then introduced the other girls, and Seaton spoke to them them warmly in turn before Bray set the brake and said to Miss Prim, “Wait here. I’ll be right back.”

Bray jumped down, and he and Seaton walked a few feet away from the carriages.

With a twinkle in his eyes, Seaton said, “After knowing you for more than ten years, you still manage to amaze me.”

“Sometimes I amaze myself,” Bray mumbled. As in why in the hell had he agreed to allow the younger girls to come with them today?

“Last night you danced with almost every young lady at the ball but Miss Prim, and now here you are today with her and all her sisters in the park. In a carriage that’s much too small for the group of you, I might add, in case you hadn’t noticed.”

Oh, I’ve noticed all right, Bray thought, but said, “Well, not all her sisters.”

“ What?”

“Never mind.”

“Tell me, how did you manage to slight her last night and then end up in the park with her today?”

“I have no idea,” Bray grumbled, and realized how true that statement was. “All I know is that I don’t have your experience or patience with children, Seaton. You don’t seem nearly so tense as I feel right now, and it looks as if you have more children with you than I do.”

“I’ve been blessed with a lot of grandchildren in my old age.” Seaton smiled, but to Bray it looked more like a grin that said, You deserve exactly what you are getting.

“You do look uncommonly rattled, Your Grace.”

“You don’t know the half of it,” Bray said, and rubbed his temple. “So are you just spending the afternoon in the park?”

“Yes, there’s a puppet show that will be starting in about half an hour over there where they are setting up that tent. My wife and I thought the grandchildren would enjoy it.”

Bray’s breath hitched as an idea came to him. “Do you think she would mind if Miss Prim’s sisters watched the puppet show with you and your family?”

Seaton’s eyes narrowed, studying over his answer before saying, “No, I don’t think she would, and we have plenty of food for them to share our picnic.”

“Good,” Bray said abruptly, and clapped him on the shoulder before he could change his mind. “Go tell her. I’ll bring the girls over. And, Seaton, I owe you.”

“I’ll collect one day.”

“I have no doubt.”

Bray waved to his friend, and walked back to the carriage in much brighter spirits than when he’d left.

“How would you young ladies like to see a puppet show?” he asked.

“Yes!” they all screamed at once.

“Well, it just so happens this is your lucky day to be in the park. There’s going to be one in about half an hour.”

The sisters squealed, clapped, and jumped up and down again.

“Careful, girls, you’ll scare the horses,” Bray said. “Come, Miss Sybil, you get down first. You can play and have refreshments with the Seatons and their grandchildren and then watch the puppet show with them while Miss Prim and I ride for a little longer.”

Bray reached for Miss Bonnie and helped her down, too, but when he reached for Miss Lillian, she remained sulking in the seat, her arms tightly pressed to her chest.

“I don’t want to stay with them,” Miss Lillian said. “I don’t know them. I want to go with you.”

It surprised Bray that she objected.

“I don’t care if I don’t know them,” Miss Sybil said. “I want to see the show.”

“Me, too,” Miss Bonnie piped in.

“Lillian,” Louisa said, but Bray touched her arm, and when she looked at him, he indicated for her to let him handle this.

“You are the oldest, Miss Lillian. The younger girls want to see the puppets. You must stay with them and be responsible much in the same way Miss Prim has always been responsible for you.”

Her bottom lip quivered. “I don’t want to. There are boys. I’ve never played with boys before.”