It probably should have brought heat crowding her cheeks, as Oliver’s nearness had. But it didn’t. It just left her feeling awkward and ready to go home.

He proffered an elbow. “I believe we’ve been paired for the meal. If I may lead you to our table?”

Others, she saw now, were meandering toward the cloth-covered tables. Four small ones were set up around the edges of the clear space.

She rested her fingers lightly on his arm. “Yes. Thank you.” They walked a few steps before she realized she should probably say something to start an actual conversation. “Lottie mentioned you’re interested in science? She didn’t know what branch has garnered your interest.”

“Paleontology, primarily.” He beamed down at her, perhaps as happy as she to be able to talk about something other than who was seen flirting with whom at a dinner party. “My family seat is in Oxfordshire, and I stumbled upon a fossilized bone when I was just a boy. It’s since been identified as a Megalosaurus. I’ve been intrigued with dinosaurs ever since and have led many an excavation throughout the area.”

“Fascinating.” Prehistoric animals had never really interested her as much as living ones did. She preferred being able to observe them in their natural habitats than simply guessing at their musculature and skin and patterns of movement. But she would have been intrigued to discover ancient remains in her own garden, without question. “I had the opportunity to view the skeleton of the Scelidosaurus once.”

“I’ve seen it several times. And I was just talking with Lord Scofield about the fossils on display in the British Museum. Isn’t that right, my lord?”

Libby looked up to see to whom he was talking and offered a small smile to the older man approaching the same table they were, a woman on his arm who, given the scarlet hair that matched Lady Emily Scofield’s, must be his wife. And they her parents.

“We’ve some of the most remarkable examples in the empire there.” Lord Scofield smiled, pride in his eyes.

“Lord Scofield has the honor of presiding over the board of trustees for the museum.” A bit of his awe at this seeped into the viscount’s voice. “Lord and Lady Scofield, please allow me to introduce my companion for the evening. Lady Elizabeth Sinclair.”

To her utter amazement, Lord Scofield’s eyes lit with recognition. “Lord Telford’s sister?”

“Yes, my lord.” Because Lord Willsworth held her chair for her, she sat, a second behind Lady Scofield, who deserved the first honor. “Do you know him?”

He laughed, a jolly rumble in his stomach. “I saw him just last week. Had an energetic conversation with him when we dined together at Sheridan House.”