The Duke And His Four Wards

Chapter 4.1 (Part 2)

   "Not riding today?" asked Felix.

   "No. Lady Hillsborough felt we should not entirely desert the matrons."

   Felix smiled. "True enough. It don't do to put people's backs up unnecessarily."

   Margaret turned to stare at him. "Your philosophy?" Amelia had told her enough of her guardian's past to realize this was unlikely.

   Felix frowned. Miss Margaret Fleming was a great deal too knowing. Unprepared to answer her query, he changed the subject. "Where's Sophia?"

   "Lord Daniel took her up some time ago. Maybe we'll see them as we go around?"

   Felix suppressed the curse which rose to his lips. How many friends was he going to have left by the end of this Season? Another thought occurred. "Has she been seeing much of him?"

   A deep chuckle answered this and his uneasiness grew. "If you mean has he taken to haunting us, no. On the other hand, he seems to have the entrée to all the salons we've attended this week."

   He should, he supposed, have anticipated his friend's duplicity. Daniel was, after all, every bit as experienced as he. Still, it rankled. He would have a few harsh words to say to his lordship when next they met. "Has he been...particularly attentive towards her?"

   "No," she replied in a careful tone, "not in any unacceptable way."

   He looked his question and she continued, "It's just that she's the only lady he pays any attention to at all.  If he's not with Sophia, he either leaves or retires to the card tables or simple watches her from a distance."

   The description was so unlike the Daniel Hammington he knew that it was on the tip of his tongue to verify they were talking about the same man. A sneaking suspicion that Daniel might, just might, be seriously smitten awoke in his mind. One black brow rose.

   They paused briefly to exchange greetings with Lady Humphrey, then headed back towards the barouche. Coming to a decision, Felix asked, "What's your next major engagement?"

   "Well, we go to the first Almack's balls tomorrow, then it's the Farringdon's ball the next night."

   The start of the Season proper. But there was no way he was going to cross the threshold of Almack's. He had not been near the place for years. Tender young virgins were definitely not on his menu these days. He did not equate that description with Miss Fleming. Nor, if it came to that, to her sisters. Uncertain what to do for the best, he made no response to the information, merely inclining his head to show he had heard.

   Margaret was silent as the curricle retraced its journey. Felix's questions had made her uneasy. Lord Daniel was a particular friend of his—surely Sophia was in no real danger with him? She stifled a small sigh. Clearly, their guardian's attention was wholly concentrated on their social performance. Which, of course, was precisely what a guardian should be concerned with. Why, then, did she feel such a keen sense of disappointment?

   They reached the barouche to find Sophia already returned. One glance at her stormy countenance was sufficient to answer Felix's questions. It seemed Daniel's plans had not prospered. Yet.

   As he handed Margaret to the ground and acknowledged her smiling thanks, it occurred to him she had not expressed any opinion or interest in his week-long absence. So much for that tactic. As he watched her climb into the barouche, shapely ankles temporarily exposed, he realized he had made no headway during their interlude. Her sister's affair with his friend had dominated his thoughts. Giving his horses the office, he grimaced to himself. Seducing a young woman while acting as guardian to her three younger sisters was clearly going to be harder than he had imagined.