The Wicked Lord Montague. Carole Mortimer

that the garden party was once again to take place at Castonbury Park had quickly spread throughout the village in the two days since Giles Montague had told the vicar of his decision. Not that Mr Seagrove had spread that news himself. No, he would only have needed to mention the arrangements to Mrs Crutchley, the wife of the local butcher, for that to have occurred.

      Mrs Crutchley had been in charge of arranging the flowers in the church for the Sunday services since the death of Mrs Seagrove, Lily having been considered by that lady as far too young to take on such an onerous task. As such, Mrs Crutchley also put herself in charge of orchestrating the floral decorations each year for the well-dressing ceremony.

      One word from Mr Seagrove to this garrulous lady as to the change of venue to Castonbury Park for the celebrations after the ceremony, and that knowledge had spread quickly throughout the whole village. Indeed, everyone Lily had chanced to speak with in the past two days had talked of nothing else but the prospect of an afternoon and evening enjoying the Duke of Rothermere’s hospitality.

      Everyone except Lily, for reasons she had not shared with anyone this past year….

      But if she was to be forced to suffer a day in the company of Lord Giles—and it seemed that she was—then she really must have a new gown in which to do it! ‘Yes, I believe I will take this material, after all,’ she announced firmly as she stood up decisively, turning to admire the arrangement of ribbons in the window as Mrs Hall cut the appropriate amount of fabric. ‘I believe I would like this also.’ Lily had plucked a long length of dark green ribbon from the display and now handed it to Mrs Hall to be included in the package, knowing the ribbon would make a fine contrast to the lighter green of the material, as well as giving the gown a festive look for the well-dressing.

      ‘Is that everything?’ Mrs Hall proceeded to wrap and tie Lily’s purchases in brown paper after her reassuring nod.

      ‘You will send me the bill, as usual?’ At which time Lily would no doubt learn that there would be none of her allowance left with which to make any other purchases, either this month or the next!

      It would be worth going without, if only to show Lord Giles that she could be just as elegantly dressed as any of the fashionable women he might know in London, Lily told herself as she walked briskly back to the vicarage, her parcel clutched tightly to her chest. Giles Montague enjoyed looking down his arrogant nose at her far too much—

      ‘You are looking mightily pleased with yourself,’ drawled that gentleman’s superior voice. ‘Can it be that you are on your way to an assignation, or have perhaps just left one …?’

      Lily was frowning as she turned sharply to face Lord Giles.

      ‘I am finding your habit of appearing out of nowhere most irritating, my lord!’

      He made no reply as he raised dark brows beneath his tall hat, once again the epitome of the fashionable gentleman, the tailored black jacket and plain grey waistcoat he wore today very much in the understated elegance of the most stylish of gentlemen, like the cane he carried of black ebony tipped with silver.

      Lily’s chin was high as she met that mocking silver-grey gaze. ‘And in answer to your question, I was neither on my way to an assignation nor leaving one, but merely visiting one of the shops in the village.’

      Giles’s expression was deliberately noncommittal as he looked at Lily Seagrove between narrowed lids, noting the flash of temper in those moss-green eyes and the colour in her cheeks as she answered his query. Quite why he felt the need to constantly challenge this particular young woman he had not the slightest idea, but the result, he noted—those flashing green eyes and the flush in her cheeks—was more than pleasing to a gentleman’s eyes.

      His mouth thinned with displeasure at the realisation that it was more than pleasing to his own eye! ‘You have completed your purchases, and are now on your way back to the vicarage, perhaps?’

      ‘I am.’ She tilted her chin, as if daring him to challenge her claim.

      Giles nodded tersely. ‘As I am on my way to visit with your father, I shall walk along with you.’

      No ‘please’ or ‘may I,’ Lily noted irritably, just that arrogant ‘I shall.’

      But it was an arrogance she knew from experience it would do no good to challenge. Just as she knew it would serve no purpose for her to enquire as to the reason he intended visiting with her father; it would certainly be too much to hope that Giles Montague was finding the annual celebrations at Castonbury Park too much of a bother, after all.

      ‘By all means, my lord.’ Lily nodded graciously before continuing her walk without sparing a second glance to see whether or not Giles Montague fell into step beside her.

      Which was not to say she was not completely aware of his tall and dominating presence beside her as he easily matched his much longer strides to her shorter ones. Or the speculation with which several of her neighbours eyed them as they passed, even as they curtseyed or bowed in recognition of the man at her side.

      Lily had no doubt those curious eyes continued to watch the two of them as they strolled along the village street towards the vicarage. ‘His Grace is a little better, I trust?’ After several minutes of suffering what she knew would be the avid speculation of her neighbours, Lily felt self-conscious enough to feel forced into making some sort of conversation. She turned to glance up curiously at Giles Montague when he did not immediately reply. A frown had appeared between his eyes, his mouth had become a thinned line and his jaw was tight. All of which Lily found most unreassuring. ‘My lord?’ she prompted uncertainly.

      Lily’s long friendship with Edward had resulted in her having spent a considerable amount of time at Castonbury Park itself, and so she had often chanced to meet the Duke of Rothermere whilst in Edward’s company. She had come to know His Grace as a pleasant and charming man, one who was capable of showing a fondness for his children. He had a genuine affection for Lily’s father which had included Mrs Seagrove when she was alive and, as a consequence, Lily too. Certainly there had never been any sign in either His Grace’s speech or demeanour towards her to imply that he considered her as anything less than the true daughter of Mr and Mrs Seagrove.

      Unlike the grim-faced gentleman now striding along so confidently beside her!

      But that did not infringe upon Lily’s regard for the Duke of Rothermere. The poor man had suffered so these past years, losing first Lord James and then Edward, that it was no wonder he had withdrawn from the world to become but a shell of his former robust and charming self!

      ‘You are alarming me with your delay in making a reply, my lord,’ she said.

      In truth, Giles was not sure what to say in answer to Lily’s query. ‘My father seems much the same in physical health as when I arrived three days ago.’

      Which was to say his father was both frail in stature and looking so much older than his sixty-odd years. The duke did have periods when his vagueness of purpose did not seem quite so noticeable, when he appeared to listen attentively as Giles told him of the work he had instructed to be carried out about the estate. But it had quickly become apparent to Giles that it was a feigned interest.

      This was worrying enough in itself, but was made all the more so because the legalities of his father’s successor were still in a state of flux. His brother Jamie had been swept away in a Spanish river, and his body never recovered. It was not an unusual occurrence admittedly—so many English soldiers had died during the years of fighting Napoleon, never to be seen or heard of again by their families. But, in the case of the heir to the Duke of Rothermere, the lack of physical evidence had resulted in a delay with regard to the naming of Giles as the duke’s successor.

      His father’s strangeness aside, there was something not quite … right about the current state of affairs at Castonbury Park, and now that he was here Giles fully intended, before too much more time had elapsed, to find out exactly what it was.

      Perhaps he would know more when he’d had a chance to thoroughly review the estate account books which Everett, the estate manager, was having delivered to him later today.