“It’s not my place,” Helena began, but Daisy cut her off sharply.
“Bother. It is so. You work for me, but really with me, and I should look after you.”
The earl smiled to see the diminutive Daisy claim she was looking after her taller, older companion.
Leland didn’t. He stood watching Daisy, head to the side.
“She’s wonderful, isn’t she?” the earl asked him softly. “After all she’s suffered, still fresh as the daisy she’s named after.”
“So it would appear,” Leland said. “Ah, here’s Daffyd. Shall we go?”
They strolled away from the outdoor cafe.
“Wave ‘ta’ to Mama,” Leland told Daffyd. “She’s watching us go.”
“She’s watched us all night,” Daffyd grumbled, but nonetheless raised a hand in farewell.
“Nicely done,” Leland said. “You made her look away for the first time in an hour.”
“Why the sudden fascination with us, do you think?” his half brother asked.
“Us, or Mrs. Tanner? Or Geoff, or the fact that we’re all together? One never knows what interests her, or why, except for the fact that whatever it is, I’d bet that it’s something she thinks will benefit her. Never mind, she won’t follow us. She only spies if she can do it casually. I know a good place to watch the fireworks from,” he said more loudly to the earl and Daisy, who were walking ahead of them.
“Lead on then,” the earl said.
“No,” Leland said. “Let’s keep to protocol. An earl leads this pack. We trail behind. Mrs. Masters, take my arm, if you will.”
“Thank you, but it isn’t necessary,” Helena said.
“I must differ,” Leland said, offering her his arm. “This is a public place, and the public, as you know, comes in all guises. Once out of the charmed circle of torchlight, anything may happen. I like to playact as a hero, please indulge me.”
Helena put her hand on his arm and they paced down the path.
Leland had been right, Daisy realized. The paths were crowded with Londoners of all classes and conditions. The fireworks display was free, and always spectacular. But that wasn’t the whole lure. As with fairs and public masquerades, many came because of the rare chance for all the classes to mingle. It wasn’t only that the poor wanted a glimpse of the rich; some in the upper classes also enjoyed the opportunity to freely mix with those they never could meet socially in ordinary circumstances.
That accounted for the legion of prostitutes patrolling the grounds tonight in all their tawdry splendor. They weren’t the only ones looking for spontaneous employment: pickpockets were there, along with cutpurses. And there were those who were there in hopes of other, less obvious ways to make money from the event.
Footmen who had spent their quarterly wages on clothes were there, openly ogling unfortunate-looking wealthy young ladies famous for holding up the walls at Society dances. They were looking for a chance to pluck a wallflower off the wall, take a stroll down a dark lane with her, and then maybe for a ride up to Gretna Green and a walk down a different aisle. Fortune could smile on anyone here. Young, overly pomaded clerks were openly eyeing aging Society dowagers, and often being considered with interest in return.
Satisfying lust or making money wasn’t the only attraction. Saving it was, too. Young gentlemen who had gambled away their allowances sought shopgirls they might impress, and in return receive romance for nothing.
Families were there for a rare treat of an evening out. Vendors carrying merchandise on trays hung around their necks offered sweets and meat pasties, hot chestnuts, and flavored ices for their pleasure.
“Hands on pockets, gentlemen,” Leland said. “As the crowd thickens, so do the pickpockets.”
“Yes,” Daisy said. “And many we knew in the old days, eh, Geoff?”
“Too many,” he said. “Poor fellows. It’s a chancy occupation. If they get a gold coin instead of a penny, they hang instead of cooling their heels in Newgate.”
“Some of them,” Daffyd commented. “Some are lucky, like me. They get a chance to tour Botany Bay.”
“At least we won’t see anyone we know from there tonight,” Daisy said. “That’s a world away.” She stopped walking abruptly, and shuddered, her hand flying to her mouth.
She’d seen a shape of a man in the crowd that reminded her of a nasty fellow she’d known in Port Jackson.
“What is it?” the earl asked. The viscount and Daffyd tensed and looked at the crowd.
“Lord!” she said, her hand on her rapidly beating heart. “I could swear I just saw Oscar Wilkins. Tanner’s friend!”
“It’s because of what we were talking about,” the earl said.
“Aye,” Daffyd said. “Couldn’t be Oscar. He wouldn’t have wasted a second before he said hello. You’re traveling in good company now, Daisy, and he was ever one to seize the moment.”
“Well, he tried that already,” she said nervously. “Wanted to marry me when Tanner passed, could you believe? I said no and then had to shout it. He gave me the shakes just looking at him. I told him not to pester me again, and that I’d have the law on him if he came back to bother me. I could count on Lieutenant Lamb at the jail to chase Oscar if I asked him to, if only because he himself had a fancy for me.”
She saw Leland staring at her, bemused. Her chin went up. “There aren’t enough females in Port Jackson,” she explained. “A mare could get a marriage proposal if she wore a rose behind her ear.”
Leland looked at her, standing there, a slender figure glowing in the dim light, her skin pale as moonlight, her sunset hair sparked by torchlight. “My dear,” he said sincerely. “They could have had females from coast to coast standing three feet deep in rows, and still you’d have gathered proposals.”
Daisy heard the admiration in his voice, and her heart rose because of his praise. But she didn’t believe it, or him. “Maybe,” she said. “But remember I had money, too, after Tanner passed. That’s rarer than looks, wherever you are.”
“She doesn’t know,” the earl said with a touch of pride, “and won’t hear of it.”
“Know what?” Daisy asked suspiciously, afraid she was being mocked.
“You’re lovely,” the earl said, “and Lee here was only saying that.”
“That, and that you’re charming and clever, too,” Leland said. “A rare combination, in any country.”
Daisy tossed her head. Compliments annoyed as much as flattered her. They came too easily to most men to impress her. But Geoff seemed sincere. She wouldn’t have trusted what the viscount said if he’d told her her name was Daisy.
“Let’s move on,” Leland said in amusement, as though he knew what she was thinking. “Mrs. Tanner wouldn’t believe me if I told her she was standing on this path. And we must move smartly now because night’s falling, and the fireworks will soon be rising.”
Daisy put her hand on the earl’s arm and walked at his side again, just as she had in her dreams all the way to England. But now she couldn’t ignore the man who walked behind them. She wished she could. His presence addled her. When he was pleased, he was as easy to talk with as any female, and fun to be with. But now that she knew he liked women, he also made her feel like one-toward him. That alarmed her.
“Go toward that enormous tree straight ahead,” Leland said, “then down the lane to the left. It’s dimly lit and keeps turning, but keep on and we’ll be at the lake. The reflections in the water will make the fireworks look even more spectacular; the torchlight everywhere else will ruin the view. I know they don’t light up the sky, but they diminish the effect. It won’t be as crowded there, either, if anyone’s there at all. The lane doesn’t look as though it goes anywhere, but it leads straight to the water’s edge.”
“Trust you,” the earl said. “I wouldn’t have thought of it, but of course you’re right. How do you know about it?”
“I live in London,” Leland said simply.
“Yes, but I can’t picture you roaming the parks at night. I thought you spent most of your time with the
“I don’t spend all my time at high-minded
The earl laughed. “Lord, talk about common! How do you make the most common things sound salacious?”
“It’s his talent,” Daffyd said. “Close your ears, Daisy. Pardon him, Mrs. Masters. I don’t know how he does it,
