.
Lacey wasn't sure how many shocks she had left to deal with. She'd already had to recover from Davis’ ridiculous behavior and how Robert had turned out to be the man whose waist she was now clinging to. She supposed she had always thought of Lord Dellfield as a rather avuncular man, bluff and good-natured, perhaps a bit hot-headed and impulsive but quite her favorite opponent to play in distance chess.
She had not been expecting... this.
Now as they rode toward the house and the lowering thundercloud of her mother's disapproval, Lacey wondered if she should just tell her rescuer to keep riding, but then, of course, he pulled to halt right in front of the very unwelcoming welcoming party on the step. He dismounted first, lending her a hand in a very gentlemanly fashion to help her down. She was barely on the ground before her mother stepped forward.
“Mother—”
“Just what in the world do you think you are doing, Lacey? Poor Lord Exter has told me all about what you did, you impetuous child!”
“Mrs. Naylor was meant to be with us, but she went back, and—”
“Don't you dare malign Mrs. Naylor for this. She was acting appropriately. It was you who...”
As her mother continued to rail at her, Lacey's mind flashed to one inescapable conclusion. Her mother had planned her encounter with Davis, who was trying to smooth his anger behind some semblance of calm and failing. There was something dark in his gaze, something possessive, and she shook it off. No, right now, she had to concentrate on the fact that her mother had set all of this up.
She knew it was true in a flash, like she knew when Robert had made a fatal error that would allow her to take the game. Her mother had put her in that horrible situation, and now there was no one to get her out of it except herself and her wits.
“Mother!” Lacey interrupted sharply.
“What in the world is it, you dratted child?”
“Mother, please. I do not wish to quarrel in front of my fiancé.”
Her mother and Davis turned to Robert so very quickly that Lacey was surprised their necks didn't snap. She turned to him as well, slightly apart from them and tried frantically to meet his eyes. He looked fascinated, as if this was the finest thing he had seen off Drury Lane, but he sobered slightly when they locked gazes.
Please. Please help me.
In the back of her mind, she realized this was the second time she had begged him for his help in as many hours, but again, Robert responded as if he were an angel sent from above to protect her personally.
“Yes. Lacey and I are engaged. We are deeply in love.”
Davis scowled, stepping forward. “What does this all mean, Miss Welton? Why have I been led to believe that you would accept my suit if this man was already engaged to you?”
Because you were a terrible pest who would not go away, and you tricked yourself?
“Because... because I didn't realize for a long time that Lord Dellfield, that is, Robert, was in love with me. I had no idea.”
Her cheeks burned with the daring of telling such a bald-faced lie right out in front of her home, but once she had started, Lacey had no choice but to continue. “We've written to each other for so long. I thought it was all games to him, but it turned out to be something much deeper.”
Robert cleared his throat, and for a moment, she thought he was going to expose her for the liar that she truly was.
“I didn't even know when we started to fall in love. There was something so sweet about how gracious she was after she lost a match, how very fascinated she was with everything I was doing in London. I fell in love, and I came to ask her in person, finally, if she will be my bride.”
“This is most irregular.” Constance stared at Robert, regarding him as if he were some kind of mythical animal. Lacey supposed she didn't blame her mother. As far as she knew, her daughter's main hobbies were distance games of chess, caring for animals, and roaming the hills around Baling House. She couldn't have expected this fine-looking Londoner to figure into any of this.
Robert stepped forward, and Lacey was stunned by the sheer amount of charm he could bring to bear. He looked every inch the contrite nobleman as he swept low and bowed to her mother as humbly as if she were a queen. Even as Davis fumed, he never took his gaze from Constance's.
“I must beg your forgiveness. Passion lit by post is passion still, and I have acted rashly. I wanted to come, to announce myself properly and begin a real courtship, but when I saw Lacey, I could not resist. Please, let me beg your pardon, as I am, after all, the Earl of Dellfield and should act it. Let us begin again.”
Lacey could almost hear her mother's mind clattering like an abacus. A title, good clothes, and good manners might go a long way toward resolving her mother's fury with her.
“Well, I suppose we can at least start from a place of friendship. We shall put you up here at Baling House, and we shall see what comes.”
Davis looked as if he had been stung, and he turned to Constance in shock.
“But what about—”
“And, of course, Lord Exter, you shall stay as well. There is nothing decided, after all, nothing concrete.”
It was a long way from saying that she would give away all of Lacey's books if she didn't obey, and Lacey breathed a soft sigh of relief.
“Now come in, Cook has prepared luncheon for all of us, and I must see if we can find an extra place for Lord Dellfield.”
As they moved into the house, Lacey felt something in her relax for the first time in what felt like a long time. She was safe for now. Then, as she looked at Robert's broad back, she wondered how long this feeling could last.