“Oh, I—Yes, of course. Hopefully it will help,” she ended lamely, glancing nervously about and relieved to see that they were not alone on the terrace. She was less relieved when he began to lead her to the stairs down into the garden, however.

“Oh, my lord, I don’t think we should venture far. My sisters will worry,” she said anxiously, dragging her feet.

“We won’t go far,” he assured her soothingly, urging her along. “There is a bench just there and I thought you might do better to sit quietly for a bit and breathe deeply. It might make you feel better.”

“Oh.” Lisa bit her lip and glanced from the house to the bench he was gesturing to. It was close enough she could see it, but it was in shadow. It was possible he planned to knock her out and cart her off, or simply drag her off as the man last night had tried to do. Although it would mean getting her over the wall surrounding the large gardens. But the man last night hadn’t seemed worried about dragging her out a window and down a tree.

Come to think of it, how the heck had he thought he would accomplish that? She wondered about that suddenly and found herself halfway to the bench before she managed to shift her thoughts to the problem at hand. But it mattered little. She couldn’t come up with a single thing to make him turn back toward the house. Lisa supposed she would just have to hope he didn’t have any nefarious plans and that she was returned safely to the house . . . and before Robert returned from talking with Richard and Daniel.

It was a lot to pin her hopes on, Lisa acknowledged unhappily as Pembroke led her the last few feet to the bench.

“Here we are,” Pembroke murmured. “Please sit and we shall just enjoy the night air for a bit. It is nicer this way anyway. We can better talk. Although, of course, it means losing out on the chance to hold you in my arms,” he admitted wryly as he settled beside her and then added, “But then perhaps I can do both.”

“Er,” Lisa said uncertainly and then cut herself off on a gasp of surprise as he suddenly turned to slide his arms around her and draw her against his chest.

“Relax,” he said soothingly. “I am just going to hold you while we sit here. After all, it is really not that different to my holding you on the dance floor, is it?”

Lisa stared at the shoulder she was pressed against, her eyes wide. It certainly was different. On the dance floor he would never dare hold her this closely. Nor would he let his hands roam over her back so freely as he pressed her tight to his chest.