Towsett scuttled away.

*   *   *

“Well, how did it go last night?” Rose drew her horse up level with George’s. It was not long after dawn, and Hyde Park was deserted, except for Lily and Rose and their husbands and Kirk, the groom employed to attend them. It was a regular Rutherford family ritual, to ride out together first thing in the morning, and then eat breakfast at Ashendon House, regardless of who was married now and where they lived.

This morning the men rode in one group, while Lily and Rose rode either side of George, catching up on the gossip. “Did you finally get through to the pushy little squirt?”

“I didn’t get the chance,” George said. “But—”

“I saw him arrive,” Lily interjected, “and he made a beeline, straight for George—who promptly dived into the ladies’ withdrawing room.”

“Oh dear.” Rose tried not to laugh. “Were you stuck there for long?”

George pulled a face. “Long enough to pin up six hems.”

Rose laughed. “And did all six have to be repinned?”

“What do you think? I’ve never been any good at that stuff.”

“So what happened with Lord Towsett?” Rose asked. “I thought the plan was to get him alone and have it out with him once and for all.”

“It was. I slipped into the conservatory, and I had a bucket of Lord Peplowe’s stinkiest fertilizer all ready to tip—accidentally of course—all over Lord Towsett.” The others laughed.

“But—I can feel there’s a but coming,” Lily said.

“Yes. I know he saw me—he was up on the balcony, keeping a lookout for me, and I saw him give a start, then hurry toward the steps.”

“But he didn’t come?” Rose prompted.

“Oh, he came, but he wasn’t the only one.” George slipped a sideways glance at Rose. “The duke got there first.”

“Which duke—?” Rose broke off and turned her head sharply. “No! You don’t mean Everingham, do you?”

“The very one.”

“Good heavens. He practically never attends balls. And he followed you into the conservatory? What on earth did he want?”

“To buy Sultan.”

Lily gasped. “You’re selling Sultan?”

“No, of course not, and I’d already told him so—but his grace the duke of arrogance thinks he can have anything he wants. I told him again that I wasn’t selling. I said he could offer me a million trillion pounds and it would make no difference.”

Rose chuckled. “He won’t like that.”

“He didn’t,” George said with satisfaction. “He stormed off in a huff.”

“But what happened with Lord Towsett?” Lily persisted. “I thought getting him alone and giving him a piece of your mind was the plan.”

“It was.” George so regretted that bucket of fertilizer. She had pictured his face as she dumped it on his smug head. “The duke sent him away. Towsett didn’t even realize I was there.”