"No one else seems to be here," Lady Frances observed, happily settling close by Lord Malmsey on the blanket. "This place is so peaceful and enchanting."
Juliana pulled off her gloves as she sat down by them. "Corinna would love to come here and paint."
"I can obtain a ticket for her entrance," James said. He took glasses of wine to the ass and his companion, then lowered himself to the ground by Juliana.
"What is the purpose of the garden?" Lord Malmsey asked.
James swallowed a bite of bread. "Doctors and apothecaries can visit to obtain cuttings of medicinal plants. But mostly it's used for educational and training purposes. Hundreds of medical and apothecary students visit every year as part of their studies."
Juliana waved a chicken leg toward a white alabaster statue of a man holding a scroll, dressed in a fancy robe and a full, old-fashioned wig. "Who's that?"
"Dr. Hans Sloane, a former president of the Royal College of Physicians. In the late sixteen hundreds, he visited Jamaica and brought back a cinchona tree, having learned that the bark could be used to make quinine to treat malaria. Later, when the Society of Apothecaries was at risk of losing the garden, he bought the land and leased it back to them for only five pounds a year—they still pay the same price now."
"What an unusual rock garden," Lady Frances said, squinting toward it since she wasn't wearing her spectacles.
"The oldest in all of England, or so I've been told. It was built to provide a habitat for foreign plants that grow best in rocky soil. The white stones are from the Tower of London, the black from a volcano in Iceland, and that giant-clam shell is said to have been brought to England by Captain Cook."
"You seem to know everything," Juliana said, smiling over the rim of her wineglass. "We don't need a demonstrator, do we, Amanda?" She turned toward the bench. "Amanda?"
Amanda was gone. As was Castleton, the ass.
"Where did they go?" Juliana asked.
"I don't know," Lady Frances mused. She turned to Lord Malmsey. "Theodore, would you help me look for them?"
"With pleasure, my dear." Belying their age, the two rose agilely to their feet, and Lord Malmsey tucked Lady Frances's hand in the crook of his arm. "Shall we, my love?"
Juliana's jaw dropped open as she watched the older couple walk off. "I cannot believe it," she muttered when they were out of earshot.
James drained the rest of his wine and started putting the remains of their dinner back in the basket. "You cannot believe what?"
She looked up at him, a little frown between her brows. "I cannot believe Aunt Frances asked Lord Malmsey to go off alone with her. She's always been so shy. And I cannot believe everyone left us again."
Her eyes looked greenish, which was no surprise. After many hours of observation and analysis, James had finally puzzled out the mystery of Juliana's changeable irises: They were more blue when she was happy or aroused, more green when she was worried or angry. Right now he guessed she was rather distressed, which put their hue in the latter range.
The distress was a good sign. It wouldn't be long now before she figured out she'd be much happier with him than with Castleton. If his plans for this evening were realized, her eyes would be blue before he was finished. Deep, deep blue.
"Everyone will be back soon," he said. "Lady Frances and Lord Malmsey will find the others."
"They aren't looking for them. They're off somewhere kissing."
"Really?" he said, reaching a hand to help her rise. "I guess we should go look for Castleton and Lady Amanda ourselves, then."
"Yes, we should," she said. "You're supposed to be with Lady Amanda."
Having seen where her friend and the ass had gone, James led Juliana along a path in the opposite direction, which, happily, was the direction he wanted to take her. Trees lined both sides of the meandering gravel walkway, their leaves shimmering and fluttering overhead. The sun was dropping toward the horizon, making the walled garden shady and romantic.
The ambiance couldn't have been better.
"I don't see them," Juliana said after they wandered a few minutes in companionable silence. "I cannot imagine where they might have disappeared to."
"Me, neither," James said, taking her hand. She'd left her gloves on the blanket, and her fingers felt warm in his, especially compared to the air. Juliana was wearing a rather thin dress, and with the sun setting, it was getting a bit chilly. "Maybe they're in this greenhouse," he suggested, leading her off the path. "They might have gone inside to warm up."
"This greenhouse is warm," she said when they entered. Due to the abundance of glass, it was nearly as light inside as out. "It feels wonderful in here."
"I understand this was the first heated greenhouse in all of England," he told her, "and maybe the first in the whole world." He coaxed her between the rows of plants toward the back wall. "Hans Sloane wrote about this greenhouse back in 1684, marveling about the cleverness of putting ovens beneath the floor." Stopping before a door marked PRIVATE, he reached for the knob.
"What are you doing?" she asked. "I don't think we're supposed to go in there."
"Maybe Castleton is in there with Lady Amanda."
"I think not." Still holding his hand, she pulled him away from the door. "Amanda would never go into a room alone with him. She's much too reserved for that."
"She was in a room alone with me," he reminded her. "Lord Billingsgate's library. She even tried to kiss me."
Her cheeks flushed a becoming pink. "That's because she wants to marry you."
Thinking it was too bad Lady Amanda didn't want to marry the ass instead, he reached again for the knob. "Maybe your aunt and Lord Malmsey are in there," he suggested, "kissing."
The pink deepened. Her eyes were back to blue-green. She pulled on
