Page 39 of Counting on Love

Chapter Eleven

The day was lovely, the sky bright blue, the clouds no more than threads, and sparse fall flowers were still in bloom. It was a good time to get outside and take the fresh air. So said everyone at breakfast. Everyone except Lieutenant Taverston, who had not been there. His absence should not have disappointed Georgiana, but it did: what would the man have eaten? Then she was ashamed of her own curiosity.

Five of them marched down to the stables. Georgiana’s riding habit was black with white frills, and Lord Taverston complimented it twice before they reached the gate. She thanked him without pointing that out.

Georgiana did enjoy riding so long as there was no galloping involved. She was a bit taken aback when she saw the spirited mount being led out for Lady Olivia, but thankfully her own horse and Alice’s were more docile.

Lord Taverston held her stirrup. He looked so handsome in his buckskin riding breeches and brown jacket, smiling his one-dimpled smile, that she could not help lightly frosting him. Wooing should be an effort, not a given.

They rode off across a grass-and-mud meadow: she and Lord Taverston to the front, the others behind. They followed a track to the lakeside. The surface of the water was still as glass and reflected the blue of the sky. She noted the boathouse, and that several large flat stones had been laid near the water.

“Do you swim from there?” she asked.

“We do, but only in the summer months. Crispin might still, but the rest of us are more sensible. We can take a boat out another day if you wish.”

She nodded. “I like rowboats.” Then, to move things along, she said, “My brother Charles does too. He’s a strong rower.”

“Charles is at school?”

“Yes. His first year at Oxford.”

“Does he like his studies?”

“I believe so, though he complains horribly.”

She made herself smile. It was an unfairness she had long made her peace with; if she had been permitted to go to Oxford, she would not have complained. She made do with the books her father allowed her to sneak from his library, books her mother would disapprove of. Charles used to discuss them with her, but their interests did not coincide, and now that he considered himself grown, his interests were more “important” than hers, in his opinion anyway.

She did love her younger brother dearly, even if she was envious. He had his faults, as all brothers must, but he was a good young man and smart. If he was getting into trouble at school, she suspected it was of the temporary variety. But she didn’t tell Lord Taverston any of this. Nor did she mention Randolph. He’d died while away at school. An accident was all she was ever told, though she had heard whispers he had fallen into a fire. But this was not a topic for today’s conversation. Besides, they had finished with siblings, and he was already beginning a brief history of Chaumbers and the village of Iversley.

“We should have brought a picnic!” Lady Olivia exclaimed, drawing up alongside them near the water’s edge. She managed her horse so keenly that Georgiana felt perfectly green.

“We just finished breakfast!” Lord Taverston laughed. “But yes, we can come again with a picnic.” He turned to her. “If you like.”

“I do enjoy picnics.”

“Well, if the weather remains mild, we’ll return another day.” He pointed away. “If we follow this path, it will take us to a fork. One path will lead to the village, and another continues around the lake.”

“Mama thought an excursion to the village on Saturday would be clever,” Lady Olivia said. “We can go to the shops—”

“Why don’t we let Lady Georgiana choose?” he interrupted, firmly but not unkindly. Even so, his sister looked chastened.

Georgiana said, “I am curious about the lake. Why don’t we continue along it?”

“All right,” he said, smiling. Evidently, she’d made the correct choice.

Georgiana glanced at Lady Olivia, who looked as though she felt out of place. She would have said something warm to draw her in, but Alice called, “Olivia, please come tell me if this is true. I think Mr. Taverston is telling me a Banbury tale.”

Olivia made a soft noise to her mount and returned to her group.

“Shall we?” Lord Taverston asked.

They continued. Behind them, merriment erupted. The two girls, who were already using one another’s Christian names, were giggling ferociously at something. Then Mr. Taverston’s deeper laugh rang out. Georgiana felt a surge of…resentment. Who said Mr. Taverston was not fun?

Lord Taverston continued to point out features of the landscape. It was all quite nice, nothing as grand as Sayles or as charming as Marbury, but she was not so spoiled that she could not recognize that other people’s homes could also be nice. A good thing, she supposed, if she was going to be Iversley’s countess.

The path narrowed. Their chaperones fell farther behind. Lord Taverston returned to the subject of Oxford. “I was merely a fair student. Obtained my gentlemen’s degree and was out in two years. Reg was the family scholar.”

“You skipped over Lieutenant Taverston.”