A Shopkeeper for the Earl of Westram by Ann Lethbridge

Author:Ann Lethbridge
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-08-12T17:57:04+00:00

Chapter Ten

‘Why are you so shaken, Harriet?’ Red asked, seeing the tension in her shoulders. It was unlike her to look so anxious. ‘I am sure pickpockets are a common occurrence in London. I feel fortunate to have recovered my watch.’

‘I am not so hen-hearted as to be upset by a pickpocket,’ she said. ‘Though I would rather it had not happened.’

‘Then what troubles you?’

‘To be honest, I feel uncomfortable lying to these people. Telling them I am your cousin, when I am nothing of the sort.’

‘What would you have me tell them?’

She made a sound of impatience. ‘I would sooner not tell them anything. We should not be going about in public.’

‘You mean we should remain locked up in our lodgings for two days, never setting foot out of doors?’

‘You can go about, if you wish.’

He sighed. She wasn’t wrong. He hadn’t expected to meet anyone he knew in Bath. Not that he really knew the Perry sisters, any more than he knew Lord and Lady Godfrey, but he had no doubt they had acquaintances in common. He had simply wanted Harriet to have a bit of fun while they were here. And he enjoyed her company. Enjoyed seeing her pleasure at these novel experiences.

‘If it does not trouble me, surely it should not trouble you?’ he said. ‘It is not as if you will be seeing any of them again, once we return to London.’

‘Lying does not trouble you?’ She sounded shocked.

The sign at the entrance to the maze proclaimed the benefits of the medical swing to be found at its heart.

He took her hand in his and gave it a little squeeze. ‘You take things too seriously, Harriet. In a day or two, we will both go back to lives full of duty and responsibility. Why not have a little fun? We are not harming anyone. Are we?’

A reluctant smile curved her lips. ‘I suppose not.’ She tugged her hand free. ‘I wager I beat you to the middle.’ She dashed between the hedges and he easily caught her up.

‘I think it better if we go together. I do not want you getting lost for hours.’

She laughed. ‘We cannot. Look.’ She pointed to a tall structure with a fellow sitting on top. ‘He is there to direct us.’

‘Good thing, too, I should think. Though I have a very good sense of direction and I am sure I can find the way.’

They passed a bench beneath the shade of a striped awning, a place for the lost to rest, no doubt. The next corner they turned led them to a dead end.

Harriet giggled. ‘So much for your sense of direction.’

He caught her by the shoulder, pulled her to him and kissed her thoroughly, until they were both out of breath.

Sweetly, she smiled up at him. ‘I suppose you got lost on purpose.’

‘Of course.’

Harriet giggled.

After a couple more wrong turns and stolen kisses, they found the grotto at the centre of the labyrinth.

The brightly painted swing in the shape

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