A Shocking Proposal in Richmond Lord and Lady Henslow were a prominent couple amongst the upper echelons of the ton, and much admired for the gala picnic which they held at their Richmond estate each season. Today looked to be another great success, for the guests who surrounded the buffet tent were already agog. Her ladyship's French chef had somehow managed to roast a pig the size of a beer barrel, and was presently engaged in carving the beast al fresco with swift, showy flashes of his kitchen knives.

Suddenly, one of the knives slipped on a bone, glinting dangerously in the sun. A collective gasp arose. Lord Nash pa.s.sed on by the tent and the unlucky pig. It would not do to meet his Maker by means of an exhibitionistic Frenchman-not when one had been expected by one's family to die a hero's death at the hands of a bloodthirsty sultan.

He strolled toward to the top of the stairs, which led down the lush lawns of Henslow House. They rolled out like carpets of emerald beneath the sun, each a littler lower than the last. One of the lower terraces held a bowling green to one side, whilst the opposite flank was set with tables and chairs trimmed in white-and-yellow bunting. Below it all lay the Thames, which here appeared to be a glistening, pristine waterway, rather than the almost fetid, roiling surge which it became but a few miles downstream.

Amidst a gaggle of ladies below him, Nash could see his hostess, floating like a pink balloon in a sea of pastel muslin. Lady Henslow's ample girth made her unmistakable in the crowd. Nash set off in her direction. He rather liked Lady Henslow. His stepmother's elder sister, Lady Henslow had always fawned over his young sisters, Phaedra and Phoebe. She had enlisted the influence of her husband, an ardent Tory, in a.s.suring Tony's swift rise to power. And to Edwina, she provided a sisterly shoulder to cry on. For all those things, Nash was grateful to Lady Henslow. But none of them, he inwardly admitted, was the reason he had come to her picnic.

But Lady Henslow had espied him and was wading from the pastel froth of her guests, her face aglow with delight. "Nash, do my eyes deceive?" she said, reaching up-very far up-to set her palms against his cheeks. "I never thought to see you here."

Nash took one of her hands and carried it to his lips. "My dear, it is a pleasure," he said, bowing low. "I see you mean to outshine the season's debutantes. That shade of pink greatly becomes you."

Lady Henslow's eyes twinkled. "And I see you keep to your racy Continental habits, my boy," she returned. "No proper Englishman would let his lips actually touch my hand."

Nash raised both eyebrows. "Alas, madam, it is gloved," he said. "You have cheated me of a long-antic.i.p.ated pleasure."

At this her ladyship guffawed most indelicately. "Be honest with me, my boy," she said. "What brings you slinking around before nightfall? Surely not my little affair?"

Nash gave a muted smile. "May I not call upon my stepaunt when the mood strikes me?"

"Certainly, you may do," said her ladyship. "But the mood has not struck you these last twenty years or better. You are up to some sort of intrigue, Stefan. I know it. Just remember-there will be no pigeon-plucking at my picnic. Some of these lads are just down from school and green as gra.s.s."

Nash gave a muted smile. "I only pluck pigeons who are old enough to know what they are about, ma'am, and fool enough to deserve it."

Lady Henslow laughed again. But just then, she was called away to some crisis in the buffet tent-a severed finger, most probably. Nash snared a drink from a pa.s.sing footman and continued his amble down the terraces, all the while aware of the not infrequent stares and whispers which came his way. He ignored them and paused to speak to those few gentlemen whom he knew. But the truth was, London society, even the very best of it, was cleanly cut into two halves. There were those in the ton's inner circle, and there were those who moved along the darker fringe. Nash was clinging to the ends of the fringe.

Nash looked about at the crowd, seeing no one under the age of twenty whom he knew. No, the gentlemen-and the women-with whom he a.s.sociated were older and harder, and they recognized one another by their cynical eyes and jaded expressions. They were not apt to be seen at afternoon picnics. Indeed, they were not apt to be seen much before midnight.

Nash felt a little foolish, but he shook it off and moved on. On the last terrace, the crowd thickened considerably. Here, the ladies in pastel ruffles twirled their matching parasols as they clung to the arms of the dashing young beaus who took them down to promenade along the riverbank whilst doting mothers looked on. Suddenly, Nash wished to escape. He half turned on the step, but unexpectedly, someone touched his elbow.

"Stefan? You? At a picnic?"

He turned to see that Tony stood nearby.

"Remarkable is it not?" Nash murmured.

"I should say so," agreed Tony. "Aunt must be in alt. This will provide the ton with a week's worth of gossip."

Nash lifted his hat to the two gentlemen with his brother. "Mr. Sofford, Lord Ogle," he said with a bow. "I trust I find you well?"

Tony's political cronies were quite well, and apparently engaged in a rather animated debate about the Civil Rights of Convicts Act. After exchanging pleasantries, they went on to argue about banking, poaching, and something to do with the Catholics, though what, if anything, one had to do with the other, Nash could not have said. He was struggling mightily not to yawn when Mr. Sofford pointed up the steps.

"Ah, look!" he said. "Here comes Sharpe. He will know how the Whigs are expected to split."

"No doubt he shall," said Lord Ogle. "But on a more pressing point, gentlemen, who are the visions of beauty clinging to the fellow's arms?"

Tony set a hand above his eyes to shield the sun. "That sugarplum with the ringlets is his daughter, Lady Louisa," he answered. "And the slender lady with the dark hair is a cousin, a Mrs.-Mrs.-d.a.m.n, but I forget her name."

"Miss Neville," Nash supplied. "She is unwed and newly arrived from the West Indies."

Tony dropped his hand, and looked at Nash oddly. "Is she indeed?" he murmured. "And unwed? At her age?"

"Come, Hayden-Worth!" said Mr. Sofford. "She is hardly in her dotage. Besides, I hear she is possessed of a huge fortune."

"Heavens!" murmured Lord Ogle. "I wonder if there is any hope of dispossessing her of it?"

"I should have a care, if I were you," said Sofford quietly. "Her brother is Baron Rothewell. Have you met him?"

Ogle shook his head. "No."

"Well, you don't wish to," said Sofford. He looked as if he might say more, but the new arrivals were drifting down the terraced lawn now. When they reached the stairs above, Lord Ogle called out for Sharpe to join them.

Nash knew it the instant Miss Neville laid eyes on him. But to the lady's credit, she neither faltered nor blushed. In fact, he realized as the introductions were being made, she seemed almost glad to see him. Or perhaps mildly amused was the better term, for a strange little smile lurked at one corner of her wide, good-humored mouth, and there was a glint of something intriguing in her eyes.

And what eyes they were. How odd he had not noticed them before. They were an unusual color, a deep shade of blue, which was rimmed with silver-gray. Odder still, the look which was fixed upon him was steady-like a man's. Rather than casting her gaze downward or sideways in some silly effort to appear demure, she looked directly at him; not boldly, but simply eye to eye, as if she knew precisely what she was about.

"And how shall you vote, Lord Nash?" asked Miss Neville, drawing him back to the present.

Nash tried to pretend he'd been listening. "I rather doubt I shall vote at all, ma'am."

"But you should do, Nash!" grumbled Lord Sharpe. "We could use you on our side now and again, you know." The earl looked as if he was about to launch some tirade on n.o.blesse oblige, but Nash was saved by Lady Louisa, who tugged gently on her father's arm.

"Papa, the bowling!" she whined. "You promised we might watch. Mr. Sofford, are you not to play?"

"Gad!" said Sofford, tugging out his watch. "Is it time already?"

Lord Ogle bowed. "Good luck to you, old chap," he said. "Hayden-Worth and I are promised to Lady Henslow for archery on the east lawn."

"Miss Neville, are you a fan of bowls?" asked Nash.

"I fear I know little about it," she replied. "But I am sure I shall enjoy it."

Lord Sharpe laughed. "I daresay Xanthia would rather go shoot at something," he said. "Feel free, my dear, if archery is more to your liking?"

"Perhaps Miss Neville would instead favor me with a walk along the river?" Nash suggested.

Lord Sharpe looked hesitant.

"I should love a good walk," declared Miss Neville before Sharpe could refuse. "But a real walk, if you please, not a promenade. Louisa, shall we meet at the tent after the game?"

"Yes, of course," said Lady Louisa, obviously pleased to have her way.

Her father, however, looked less pleased. "Very well, then," he said. "You will stay near, Xanthia, will you not? In case-well, in case you are needed?"

Nash suspected his true meaning was something altogether less charitable. Miss Neville finally succ.u.mbed to a faint blush. Nash watched the group disperse to their various entertainments, and wondered what the devil he'd been thinking to suggest such a quixotic thing as a walk along the river. Good Lord, the woman was temptation personified-and she had no business being seen on his arm, even at such a benign affair as a picnic. But she had agreed, and she was not exactly green from the schoolroom. He might as well enjoy himself.

Nash let his eyes run appreciatively down Miss Neville. She had worn not pastel, thank G.o.d, but a dress striped in rich shades of blue and gray. Not a woman in a thousand could have pulled it off, but the gown beautifully emphasized her slenderness and height. "I do not think your cousin approves of me, my dear," he said. "Perhaps you ought to take in that bowling match after all?"

"Thank you, no," said Miss Neville, starting down the steps without him. "I mean to have that walk. Are you coming? Or shall I go alone?"

"Taking the air again, my dear?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"I believe you once said that if you wished for a breath of fresh air, you would have it, and d.a.m.n the consequences."

She looked up at him, her deep blue eyes narrowing against the sun. "I cannot imagine the consequence of taking a turn up and down an open path in the middle of the afternoon will amount to much, my lord," she returned. "Even if one is hanging off the arm of an unrepentant rake."

"Ah, that is good news." Nash smiled down at her.

"I beg your pardon?" she said again.

"It seems I have been elevated from dandy to rake," he said. "My masculinity is much rea.s.sured."

Her wide mouth twitched with humor. She extended her hand up to him. "Come along, Lord Nash," she said. "And kindly do not poke fun at my limited vocabulary."

True to her word, she set off downstream at a brisk pace as soon as they reached the path. Nash's usual gravitas was somewhat undercut by her long stride. "Miss Neville, I thought you meant to hang off my arm," he said when the crowd thinned. "You are moving as if all of London is afire, and you wish to watch it burn."

She slowed at once. "I do beg your pardon," she said, settling her hand just above his elbow. "But there are so many people here, and that makes the empty path beyond so very tempting."

"The social whirl holds no attraction for you?" he asked, matching his steps to hers.

"Not especially," she said. "At home in Barbados...well, society was not so rarefied as this. I feel a little out of place here."

"You do not look out of place," he said. "You look every inch a lady born to this life."

Her gaze moved over his face, quickly a.s.sessing him. "You mean that as a compliment, I am sure," she said. "But..."

"But what?" he encouraged.

"Frankly, I take little satisfaction from it," she said. "This sort of life has so little purpose."

"I see," he said quietly. "You would rather...what? Work for the betterment of the undercla.s.ses? Run a charity school? Knit stockings for the poor?"

She laughed lightly. "Lord, no," she said. "Not I!" But she offered no further explanation.

They walked in silence for a time, her hand lying light and warm on his arm. Nash found it surprisingly pleasant. On the river to their left, a pair of broad-shouldered scullers glided past, their oars glinting in perfect rhythm, the far boat ahead by half a length.

"What, then, would you rather do with your life, Miss Neville?" he finally prodded. "Retire to the country and raise a brood of children, perhaps?"

"No," she answered. "No, Lord Nash, I am already doing what I please with my life."

She stopped abruptly along the path, her gaze fixed on the scullers, but he sensed she was not really watching them. Nash glanced up and down the path. Though still well in sight of the house, they were the only guests this far downriver.

Finally, she cleared her throat, and resumed walking. "Lord Nash, did my brother tell you that we are quite wealthy?"

"I was made aware of that fact, yes."

She smiled faintly. "The barony, of course, brings my brother a good income. But we have other interests as well."

"Yes, you have plantations in Barbados, do you not?"

"But they are let now," she said. "And my brother is at present without an occupation. We own a business-Neville Shipping Company. Have you heard of it?"

"I do not believe so."

"No, I cannot think shipping is the sort of thing an English gentleman would much concern himself with," she mused. "But we Nevilles, you see, have no such compunction. In fact, one might say we are more or less in trade."

"Many gentlemen invest in such businesses, Miss Neville," he said. "I own several mines; Lord Ogle, a railroad-or a part of one. You need not speak as if you and Rothewell are running a haberdashery. Where is your charming brother, by the way?"

She smiled faintly. "Sharpe stepped in for him at the last moment," she answered. "Rothewell was much relieved."

"Yes, he seems a private, almost secretive sort of man."

"Indeed, very much so." Her strong blue gaze turned to him again. "And I have a secret, too, my lord," she said quietly. "May I depend upon you once again to keep my confidence?"

He laughed, though he wondered vaguely what she was getting at. "Pray tell me all your secrets, my dear," he answered. "I should love to have you in my power."

"Nash, do be serious," she chided.

Nash inclined his head. "Of course you have my word, Miss Neville," he said more seriously. "Pray what is this secret?"

Slowly, she leaned closer. "Neville Shipping is mine," she whispered. "Oh, it is family-owned-but my brother leaves the running of it to me. And it is a very profitable concern, if one knows the tricks of the trade."

"I see," he said quietly. "And you...know all the tricks, do you?"

A slow, mischievous smile curved her wide mouth. "I am very good, Lord Nash, at everything I do," she said. "Would it not shock these proper English ladies to know that tomorrow, whilst they are lying languidly in their beds at noon, awaiting their ladies' maids and their hot chocolate, I will already be at my grimy little office in Wapping, rubbing shoulders with sea dogs and stevedores?"

She sounded entirely serious. "Surely you jest?"

Miss Neville lifted one of her dark, finely arched brows, and spoke with surprising pa.s.sion. "Not in the least," she answered. "Indeed, were it left to me, everyone would be gainfully employed."

"Dear G.o.d!" he said. "Perish the thought, Miss Neville."

"I am quite serious," she insisted. "This insidious rot of living only to be served by others, this...this utter lack of drive or ambition-well, is it any wonder half the ton suffer from chronic ennui? Their lives have no challenge. No purpose."

"And your life does?" he asked. "I mean, I do not doubt you, my dear. But what is that purpose?"

Despite the bright sun, her eyes glinted with excitement. "Commerce," she said. "Enterprise. The thrill and the challenge of compet.i.tion-financial compet.i.tion. These are the things that move the world, Lord Nash, not the foolish intrigues of the ton, no matter how blindly they might think otherwise."

He chuckled quietly. "They will be crushed, my dear, to hear it."

Miss Neville lifted her slender shoulders beneath the rich fabric of her gown. "Oh, they will realize soon enough that the reign of upper-cla.s.s elitists is coming to an end," she said. "We are entering a new age, Nash. An age of progress and industrialization. And England will change-much as America has done-into a nation of self-made men and women."

They stood opposite one another now, his eyes intently studying her. "Good Lord," he finally said. "You are not just another pretty face, are you?"

"No, I am a businesswoman," she said with icy certainty. "And my allegiance is to the bottom line on Neville's financial statement, not some silly ideal of blue-blooded Crown and country."

He took her arm then and drew her near. "Careful, my dear," he murmured, his eyes drifting over her face. "Those words sound faintly treasonous."