Regency Romance: A Race Against The Lord (A Historical Romance Book) (COMPLETED)

11

The maid delivered a note to Lydia the next morning. She looked at in puzzlement and when she opened it, she could not resist a small smile tugging at her lips.

Would you care to join me for a museum exhibition this afternoon?

"Please tell the duke that I would love to join him," she said, and she turned to her wardrobe. How long had the maids been sneaking in dresses without her awareness? It seemed filled from side to side with dresses in all shades. It still felt strange to be out of black, but Lydia could not deny how simply good it felt to see those shades of rose and buttercup and mint.

She hesitated over a blush pink walking gown and one in soft jonquil, but then she chose a green instead.

It has nothing to do with what Nicholas said yesterday, and everything to do with how much I like green, she told herself, but deep down, she knew it was a falsehood.

Nicholas was waiting for Lydia and Eunice in front of the house, ready to hand both of them into the carriage. Despite her resolve, Lydia could not help but sigh a little over how handsome he looked. Nicholas was dressed in the fashion of the ton, with tight biscuit-colored trousers, a snowy white shirt and a jacket of bold blue superfine wool.

"Well, what a picture we make," Eunice chirped happily, who herself was dressed in the ruffles of a good decade ago. "We shall turn heads all over the exhibition."

"You do look very handsome," Lydia offered, and Nicholas grinned.

"Do you think you could sound a little less grudging when you say that, Lydia?"

"It's Lady Lydia when we are in company," she said sternly, but she couldn't repress a grin of her own. "And no teasing me about calling you Nicholas in public either. I'm sure my reputation would not bear it."

"It's fine, we have Eunice with us. She is the very picture of propriety."

As a matter of fact, the very picture of propriety was peering out of the carriage in fascination, watching the world go by and paying not a moment's worth of attention to what was going on in the carriage.

Lydia sighed.

"I suppose that will have to do."

Lydia fully intended to go into the day with a pleasant attitude and with a willingness to fulfill her bargain with Nicholas. She knew he had his reasons for wanting her in the world and not worrying at her brother's investigation. She knew Nicholas had secrets, as did her brother.

Ever since her father died, however, it felt as if she was in the dark. She had once read of places in the far north where night could last for six months, and now she felt as if she knew what it was like to live in those distant climes. When Lydia looked at Nicholas, she also knew what it was like to see the first day of sunshine after that darkness.

The museum exhibition was lively and bright, full of people who had come to see marble statues brought all the way from Greece and Italy. Even before they came to the marbles, Lydia was taken aback by the sheer number of people of all ages and races in the gallery, how they all mixed companionably and with little regard for how they looked or who they jostled.

"Well, that's London for you," Nicholas said cheerfully. "The greatest city in the world, if you ask me. Don't tell me you are getting cold feet now, Lady Lydia?"

Carmody did not have more than two thousand people in it, and she suspected that the city block they were on hosted far more. She was feeling a little overwhelmed, but at Nicholas' teasing, she straightened up.

"No, your grace," she said. "I am only eager to see the art, of course."

"I see that."

They walked with due decorum, Nicholas leading the way and Eunice and Lydia arm in arm behind them. Lydia was not sure she had ever had a day that was solely designed for pleasure like this, and she felt oddly light, as if she were a bird fluttering from tree to tree.

"I think I saw you break into a smile back there," Nicholas said, stepping back to murmur in her ear. "It's not so bad being out and about, is it?"

"Not at all. If you had told me about the crush, I think I would have wanted to stay at home, but now that I am in it, well, it's very exciting, isn't it?"

"London has a great deal to offer. I am hoping to show you more of it as time goes on."

"Why?"

Nicholas looked surprised at her blunt question, and when he spoke again, she was startled to hear just a bit of shyness in his voice.

"Because seeing you in delight pleases me beyond all measure, Lydia."

Before she could express her surprise, he strode forward again, and Eunice was calling her attention to a clever marble statue of a rearing horse.

Surely, it will not be a terrible thing if I spend some time seeing London, even if it does not directly lead to my mission of discovering more about Benjamin's death. I'm sure this is fine.

Four young children ran by, exhilarated by their day out and pointing at all the sights. Behind them came their governess, exasperated but as pleased as her charges to be out in the fine day. The sight made Lydia smile, and suddenly, there was nothing wrong with the world at all.