Improper Miss Darling

‘Yes, it was, rather. So I met Lord Bickerson and told him I’d do the painting, and that if he didn’t like it he didn’t have to pay me.’

‘Very noble of you.’

‘Not really. Bickerson knew I’d never done a commission before. He had already engaged an established artist before Tom even mentioned my name. So giving me a chance wasn’t much of a risk on his part. It was something he did as a favour to his son. And if it turned out I wasn’t any good, he’d still have a painting from someone else and all I would have been out was the cost of a canvas and some paints. But, as luck had it, he was delighted with the painting and paid me what I considered to be a very fair sum. More importantly, he recommended me to Lord Huston—’

‘Viscount Huston?’ Emma asked on a gasp of surprise.

‘That’s right. And when Huston saw what I’d done for Lord Bickerson, he hired me to paint a portrait of his wife and another one of his two young sons. After that, I received a commission from a titled gentleman, followed by one from a lady who wished me to paint her portrait as a gift for someone.’

Emma smiled. How wonderful to hear that Ridley was enjoying success in his new career. Why, then, the faint echo of regret in his voice? ‘So you are now an established artist with enviable credentials and a growing list of clients,’ she said.

‘Indeed. But Linette tells me you have improved immeasurably since I left,’ he said in an overly hearty voice. ‘When are you going to show me some of your work?’

‘Are you mad? After showing me that delightful painting of the little girl with the kitten in her arms? Not a chance. I paint for my own pleasure. Not for your eyes or anyone else’s!’

But someone else had seen her work. Lord Stewart, the morning he had come upon her painting down by the pond. He had complimented on her ability and told her that her work was impressive. High praise indeed from a man like that.

Good thing she’d known better than to believe him.

On Wednesday morning, Emma donned a plum-coloured riding habit with a matching bonnet and had Jenks saddle her mare. It was a glorious morning for a ride. The sky was a bright sapphire-blue with a few white clouds drifting by like tufts of cotton. Dark-green hedges crisscrossed lighter green fields dotted here and there with clumps of golden buttercups and white-and-yellow daisies. A painter’s palette of colours! Unfortunately, caught up as she was in her study of the world around her, Emma failed to notice the approaching rider until he was close enough to speak. ‘I suspect your artistic eye is seeing all this in a vastly different light than those of us who cannot tell blue from turquoise.’

The voice was teasing, lighter in tone than it had been the last time they’d spoken. Nevertheless, Emma couldn’t suppress a frisson of awareness at hearing it. ‘You surprise me, Lord Stewart. The fact you know there is a difference leads me to believe you already know more about colour than you are willing to let on.’

His smile widened. ‘I always try to exceed a lady’s expectations.’

‘But since I have none, there is nothing to exceed.’

‘Come now, Miss Darling, surely you have some expectations of the man who will soon be your brother-in-law.’

‘Really? I thought you were doing everything you could to prevent that from happening.’

He shrugged. ‘If neither party is willing to cry off …’

‘Then you have not succeeded in changing your brother’s mind?’

‘No more than I suspect you have succeeded in changing your sister’s.’

‘Ah, but I have not tried,’ Emma informed him. ‘There have been so many other things to occupy my time. Fittings for new gowns. Paying calls on all the people who are desperate to hear details of my sister’s upcoming nuptials. Meetings with Mr Tufton to talk about the ceremony.’

‘Ah, yes, the dedicated vicar.’ Lord Stewart did not smile. ‘I wonder if he is taking as much of an interest in all of his parishioners as he seems to be taking in you and your family.’

Emma cursed the warmth that flooded her cheeks. She did not blush prettily. Patches of red stood out on her cheeks like droplets of blood on snow, resulting in her chin and forehead appearing all the more pale. ‘It is part of his job to get to know the people of this parish, my lord. And since Linette is to be married in his church, he is spending time with her to familiarise her with the ceremony. As well, he and my father discuss matters of philosophy and religion. The time he spends with Ridley and myself is minimal.’

‘If you say so.’ He didn’t meet her eyes, but Emma could sense his annoyance and for the life of her she couldn’t imagine why.

‘You haven’t answered my question as to what you expect of me as your brother-in-law,’ he said, reverting to their earlier topic of discussion.

Wondering why it mattered, Emma lifted her shoulders in a shrug. ‘Only that you are good to my sister and mindful of your obligations to her. Although,’ she said, hoping to lighten the mood, ‘I suppose if you were to occasionally take your mother and two sisters-in-law to lunch at some hideously expensive but exceptionally good restaurant in London, it would not go amiss.’

‘Hideously expensive but exceptionally good,’ he mused. ‘That would have to be the Clarendon. A pricey ticket, but worth it under the circumstances. Have you ever eaten there?’

‘No, though Ridley may have. He has a taste for the finer things. What would you suggest?’

‘Many believe their Coquilles St Jacques to be without equal and their crêpes Suzette better than those served at the Hôtel Le Meurice in Paris. Personally, I prefer the langoustine d’anglais, followed by a tender fillet of beef, and to finish, either a chocolate soufflé or crème brûlée