“I am but a pale shadow of my brother’s grace and good manners,” Lionel said. Phin wanted to elbow him in the ribs for laying it on so thick. “But if you will excuse me,” Lionel went on, “I see an old friend whom I haven’t spoken with in ages. I’ll leave the two of you to stroll the Serpentine alone,” he finished with a particularly teasing look, then marched off as though he hadn’t a care in the world.
“I like him,” Lenore said, turning in unison with Phin to watch Lionel walk away. “He’s cheeky, as you Brits say.”
“My dear, you have no idea,” Phin agreed with a broad smile. He turned to Lenore, drinking in the sight of her dark-haired, pale-skinned beauty. She wore a hat with ridiculously ostentatious plumes that covered her just enough to preserve her complexion but didn’t carry a parasol, like too many of the ladies in London had taken to doing. Her walking dress was white with accents of green that matched her eyes and a silhouette that highlighted her excellent figure. The result was that she seemed so much more open and welcoming rather than, essentially, arming herself with fashion to keep men away. “Would you care for a stroll, Miss Garrett?” he asked.
“That is why I am here, Mr. Mercer,” she replied.
When Phin offered his arm, she took it. Together, they made their way into Hyde Park, traveling the paths that men and women had walked for generations in their efforts to get to know one another—and everyone else in London who had come to see and be seen.
“It is a fine day, is it not, Mr. Mercer?” Lenore opened the conversation as they reached the edge of the Serpentine. “I enjoyed October in England very much last year, and I suspect I shall enjoy it just as much, if not more, this year.”
“Are Octobers not as picturesque in the savage and untamed West, where you come from, then?” he asked, hoping to discover much more about her background.
She laughed. “Wyoming is not half as savage as it was only a generation ago,” she said. “Why, Haskell, the town I am from, is a burgeoning metropolis these days.” When he expressed surprise, she grinned and went on with, “It is. We have several churches, a school, a slew of mercantile endeavors, a cracking town hall, and even a fine hotel. Yes, and saloons and brothels too. We’re not all heathens. Although the population of cattle still outnumbers that of humans by about twenty to one. And there do seem to be more drunken brawls than in London.”
“You might be surprised,” Phin said with a wry grin, deliciously amused by her banter.
“Haskell has far more church socials and baseball games as well,” Lenore went on.
“Alas, all London has to provide is cricket and society balls,” Phin said with a sigh. “It would seem we are falling behind our American cousins.”
Lenore laughed. The sound was so free and unfettered that it filled Phin with the sort of excitement he usually only felt when seeking out ways to research the stories he wrote for Nocturne. In fact, if Lenore expressed even the slightest hint in being a willing research partner, he was certain he’d have enough stories to fill a dozen issues within a fortnight.
“I’m surprised you left your progressive home in Wyoming,” he said, looking for a way to tease the truth about her engagement to Freddy Herrington out of her. “Weren’t there enough suitors there to satisfy you?” He accompanied the question with a look of blatant heat as a way to gauge Lenore’s knowledge and openness to wickedness.
She met his look with a coy smile that had his cock straining against his trousers in a way that ran the risk of being obscene. Lenore Garrett was game, all right.
“What is it you lot say about Dollar Princesses?” she asked in return. “That we’re only interested in marrying a title so that we can lord it over our friends back home?”
“That does seem to be what they say,” Phin answered.
A moment later, he realized she’d evaded his question completely.
“And that’s why you’re here?” he asked, attempting to steer her back into talking about her past and her interests. “To marry a title?”
“I’m engaged to Freddy, aren’t I?” she countered him, her lips tense as she teased him with a half-smile.
Damnation, she was good. He could see in the glitter of her blue-green eyes that she was going to lead him on a merry chase to get even the littlest bit of information about her past.
“So that is why you’re engaged to Freddy,” he said in return, arching one eyebrow.
She flushed so deeply and so suddenly that Phin was certain there was even more to the story of her and Freddy’s all-too convenient engagement than he’d guessed at.
“Oh, look,” Lenore said, picking up her pace as they walked. “I believe that’s Lady Beatrice and Lady Diana coming this way.”
Sure enough, Lady Beatrice Lichfield and Lady Diana Pickwick were walking several yards ahead. There was no way to avoid stopping to talk to the two society ladies, especially since it was clear they had all seen each other. Lady Beatrice waved to Lenore.
“How perfect that we’ve run into each other,” Lady Beatrice said as they met and stepped aside so that the other walkers wouldn’t run into them. “Diana and I were just saying that we need to invite you to the musicale as well.”
“There’s a musicale?” Lenore asked, smiling from Lady Beatrice to Phin. “What fun.”
“The May Flowers are hosting a musical event on Friday to benefit some of the fledgling women’s clubs that have come to our attention,” Lady Diana explained. “The more we can support our sisters fighting for the causes surrounding
