An Earl In Want Of A Wife. Laura Martin

pulled herself together.

      ‘You have to tell me more,’ she said.

      ‘It was a duel. I was second for a good friend of mine. We were young and foolish at the time.’

      ‘And someone shot you?’ Lizzie asked, thoroughly intrigued.

      ‘It’s nowhere near as glamorous as it sounds.’ Daniel leaned in closer and dropped his voice. ‘In fact, it’s really rather painful.’

      Daniel edged closer to her and Lizzie didn’t protest. Sitting here by the Serpentine with Daniel felt right somehow, as if this was what her entire life had been leading up to.

      ‘The man who was aiming at my friend had terrible eyesight, he might as well have closed his eyes and fired. The shot missed its intended target and clipped me instead.’

      Daniel must have seen how Lizzie’s eyes were roving over his body, trying to figure out where he had been hit.

      ‘When we’re somewhere less public I’ll show you the scar.’

      Lizzie’s eyes widened and for a moment she hoped it was somewhere on his chest or abdomen. She desperately wanted to peel back his crisp white shirt and run her fingers over the muscles beneath. At the thought of doing something so intimate she felt the blood rush to her cheeks and she coughed to try to cover her embarrassment.

      ‘Now it’s your turn again,’ Daniel said with a smile that Lizzie knew would set any woman’s heart racing.

      Suddenly there was a shout and a commotion over by the Serpentine. Immediately Daniel was on his feet, rushing towards the water, with Lizzie following quickly behind.

      The small boy they’d been watching only minutes before had tumbled into the murky waters and was now thrashing about. It was obvious he couldn’t swim and it was too deep for him to touch the bottom. His petrified nanny was trying to reach him from the bank, but his thrashing was just causing him to get further and further away.

      Lizzie watched as Daniel shrugged off his jacket, kicked off his boots and jumped into the dirty water. He touched the bottom easily, the water coming up to his waist, and he quickly waded out to where the boy was thrashing. Firmly he grabbed him and lifted him clear of the water, saying something soothing that Lizzie couldn’t quite hear. She was reminded of their first meeting when she had almost been trampled by his horse and the way he’d soothed the petrified beast then.

      Daniel’s words must have done the trick as the boy calmed down and allowed himself to be carried to the bank and back into his nanny’s arms.

      Lizzie could only look on as Daniel pulled himself out of the water, clothes stuck to his muscular legs and torso. His shirt was almost see-through and it outlined the contours of his chest and abdomen in quite a scandalous way. Lizzie felt the heat rising in her body and forced herself to look away, worried that otherwise she would become mesmerised. He smiled at her and shrugged, as if this kind of thing happened every day, then turned his attention back to the boy. Quickly he checked he wasn’t injured and then left him to be hustled home by his nanny.

      ‘That was remarkable,’ Lizzie said as Daniel made his way back towards her.

      ‘I couldn’t just sit by and let him drown.’

      Lizzie shook her head in agreement but knew that not many gentlemen would actually jump into the Serpentine to rescue a strange boy.

      ‘You must be frozen.’

      Daniel shrugged again, but Lizzie could tell the wet clothes were making him uncomfortable already.

      ‘Perhaps we could begin to head back,’ he suggested.

      Lizzie nodded, motioned to the maid who was sitting a couple of benches away, and they started to walk back through the park.

      ‘I won’t take your arm,’ Daniel said with a smile.

      Lizzie found herself smiling back. There was something quite irresistible about the man walking next to her. He might have an agenda and he might be pursuing her for all the wrong reasons, but she couldn’t quite find it in herself to dislike him.

      They walked in a companionable silence back through the park for a few minutes, gaining odd looks from other members of society who were out taking their afternoon strolls. Daniel nodded in greeting to many but didn’t stop to engage them in conversation. Lizzie supposed he must be feeling rather cold now. Even in the pleasant afternoon sunshine walking around dripping wet couldn’t be very good for your health.

      ‘I’m sorry we’ve had to cut our outing short,’ Daniel said, looking down at Lizzie with a smile.

      Despite all her reservations Lizzie was sorry, too. She’d been enjoying herself. She’d almost been able to forget it wasn’t she that Daniel was really courting, but Amelia. She’d enjoyed his lively conversation and she’d enjoyed the small insights he’d given her into his life.

      ‘Maybe we could do this again sometime soon,’ he suggested.

      Lizzie found herself nodding, even though she knew she shouldn’t encourage him. It would be so much easier if she never saw him again, if he disappeared from her life and she never had to reveal that she wasn’t Amelia Eastway, but her penniless cousin. Even though she knew this Lizzie found herself agreeing with him.

      ‘That would be lovely.’

      She glanced up at his face and found him smiling at her, and just for a second she thought she saw a flicker of desire. She almost laughed. No matter what had happened in the Prestons’ garden she knew Daniel didn’t really desire her. She’d seen the quick way he’d dismissed her on their first meeting and she knew she wasn’t the sort of woman men fantasised about.

      ‘Please don’t feel you have to escort me home,’ Lizzie said as they neared the edge of the park. ‘You must get back to your house and get out of those wet things.’

      Daniel considered a moment, as if weighing up his gentlemanly duty against his discomfort.

      ‘Only if you promise to let me call on you again tomorrow,’ he said with a devilish smile.

      ‘People will talk,’ Lizzie warned him.

      ‘People will always talk. By this evening there’ll be ten different versions of what happened down by the Serpentine, each more ludicrous than the last.’

      Lizzie knew it was true. Already half of society would know that she had spent the afternoon with the Earl of Burwell. She cringed a little. This would make it all that much worse when she had to reveal her true identity to the world.

      ‘Either you agree to my calling on you tomorrow, or I’ll insist on walking you home now. You’ll be responsible if I catch a fever and spend weeks delirious and at death’s door.’ He said it with a grin on his face and Lizzie knew she wasn’t going to be able to resist.

      ‘I would very much welcome you calling on me tomorrow, my lord.’

      ‘I told you to call me Daniel.’

      ‘Daniel.’ Lizzie uttered his name quietly, nothing more than a whisper between her lips. It seemed too intimate, too informal, but she felt a wicked little chill down her spine as she said it.

      ‘And I shall call you Amelia,’ he murmured in her ear.

      It was enough to force Lizzie back to reality. For a moment she’d allowed herself to live the fantasy, to believe that it was her Daniel wanted, but just the mention of Amelia’s name made all those dreams come crashing down.

      She pulled away slightly but forced herself to smile, even though she feared it would look like a grimace on her face.

      Daniel looked at her intently for a few seconds, then turned away, as if he sensed she needed a moment of privacy to compose herself.

      ‘Lord Burwell, whatever has happened to you?’

      Lizzie turned to see an attractive young woman gliding towards them. The newcomer looked Lizzie