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Taking two fur lap robes from the footman, Sebastian handed them to the ladies.
“Pay no mind to Rosalind,” Juliet said apologetically as she spread one over her legs. “She hates rising early.”
“I’d never have guessed.” Sebastian climbed in and squeezed himself in between the two women, then took the reins. If Knighton were smart, he’d stay abed a long time.
As they set off, Juliet tugged her lap robe over to cover his legs, too. The solicitous gesture warmed him far more than the fur. He decided at once that sharing a sleigh with Juliet might be worth Lady Rosalind’s grumbling.
Especially when it put Juliet in such high spirits. Despite the cold, she threw back her hood as the sleigh set off, lifting her face to the brilliant blue sky with a crow of delight. “Ah, fresh air!” Her cheeks flushed with pleasure. “I do so love being out in the early morning.”
It was hard to resist her infectious enthusiasm. Even Lady Rosalind managed a small smile at Sebastian. “My sister was always one for the country, my lord. If not for her desire to marry, I think she would’ve been perfectly content to abandon Knighton House in London for our family’s moldering old estate at Swan Park.”
“Most assuredly.” Juliet laughed, emitting little puffs of frosty air. “Oh, Rosalind, how could you not find this invigorating, you who like all things strong and bracing?”
“I only like them later in the day, dear heart, when I’m awake enough to enjoy them. Besides, this isn’t strong and bracing—it’s just cold. I’d much rather be back in my warm bed with my husband.”
“I daresay he’d rather have you there as well,” Sebastian remarked.
“Not this morning. I doubt he’ll even notice I’m gone.” Her eyes sparkled with sudden humor. “I kept him up quite late, you see. He needs time to recuperate from the different sort of ride he took last night.”
“Rosalind!” Juliet exclaimed. “I can’t believe you’d speak of such things, and before his lordship, too!”
“I was merely informing you that I followed your orders yesterday,” Lady Rosalind told her sister smugly.
“My orders! What are you talking about?”
“You did tell me to apologize convincingly to Griff, didn’t you? So he wouldn’t suspect what we were up to? And considering my husband’s love of certain activities—”
“That’s quite enough!” Juliet cut in with a blush. She refused to look at either one of them. “I’m sure we all take your meaning. Your inappropriate, improper—”
“Have I embarrassed you, dear heart?” Lady Rosalind teased. “I didn’t mean—”
“Yes, you did,” Juliet grumbled. “It’s your favorite pastime. Though one would think that after all these years the sport would pale. Or that as a married woman, you’d have learned some sense of propriety.”
“Propriety is highly overrated, dearest, especially for married women.” Lady Rosalind winked slyly at Sebastian. “Don’t you agree, Lord Templemore?”
“Oh no, you won’t draw me into this family spat,” he protested, though he envied them their easy, familial teasing. He’d scarcely had the chance to get to know his own relations. Well, that situation wouldn’t continue, no matter what he must do to get his brother back.
“She’s only trying to provoke me, you know,” Juliet complained. “She likes making me blush.”
He cast her a sidelong glance as he guided the sleigh down a hill. “I can’t blame your sister for that—even I like making you blush. Especially when you do it so prettily.”
That deepened her blush to crimson, and he smiled. He couldn’t help it—he found her blushes enchanting. And downright provocative. How had she run the gauntlet of London society and still managed to retain her refreshing innocence? That and her new flirtatious manner provided her with a lethal arsenal of female attractions. All he wanted to do was get her alone so she could use him for target practice.
“So that’s the way of it, is it?” Lady Rosalind eyed him with keen interest. “My sister—”
“Oh look, what’s that?” Juliet broke in, pointing to a modest Palladian villa in the distance.
What an obvious ploy to change the subject. Sebastian shook his head, but decided to let her off the hook. For the moment. “That’s Foxglen, Uncle Lew’s estate. We’ll pass it on our way.”
“Has his family always lived so near?” Juliet asked.
“Since before either of us was born.” Sebastian drove them along its outskirts. “The Pryces and Blakeleys have been neighbors for over a century, but oddly enough, it took my parents to join the two families in marriage.”
He sighed. “Unfortunately, it looks as if the Pryce branch of the family will end with Uncle Lew. He didn’t marry until late, you see, and then they had only a few years together before my aunt fell ill. So they never had children. Now Uncle Lew says he’s past the age to marry, which is absurd, even if he is fifty. And since he seems intent on remaining a bachelor and there are no male heirs, he’s said he’ll leave Foxglen to me.”
“Which is why you don’t mind letting him use your house in Bath, I suppose,” Lady Rosalind remarked.
“Letting?” Sebastian laughed. “My refusal wouldn’t make a whit of difference, I assure you. My uncle would merely find a way to insinuate himself into the household, and before long they’d be thinking he owned the place.”
