“Is that a word?” Because really, he had to ask. After thepurview incident, she had no right to be using improper vocabulary.

“If it’s not, it should be,” she announced.

Sebastian had all sorts of pithy replies to that, but unfortunately they all involved the revealing of his secret identity, such as it was. But as he was constitutionally unable to allow the comment to pass without sayingsome thing to needle Olivia, he turned to Miss Winslow and said, “This is her first time.”

“Her first…?” Miss Winslow twisted back toward Olivia, her face delightfully confused.

“As a chaperone,” he clarified, taking her arm. “She’ll be trying to impress you.”

“I heard that!”

“Of course you did,” he said agreeably. He leaned a little closer to Miss Winslow and whispered in her ear, “We shall have to work hard to be rid of her.”

“Sebastian!”

“Hang back, Olivia,” he called out. “Hang back.”

“This doesn’t seem right,” Miss Winslow said. Her lips made quite an adorable frown, and Seb found himself pondering all the ways her pout might be melted into something a tad more seductive. Or seducible.

“Hmmm?” he murmured.

“It’s not as if she’s a maiden aunt,” she said, following that with: “Lady Olivia, please. You must come forward and join us.”

“I am quite certain that is not what Sebastian wants,” Olivia said, but Seb noticed that she had quite the spring in her step as she came abreast. “Do not worry, Seb,” she said to him. “Lady Vickers gave me her newspaper. I shall find a tidy little bench to sit upon, and the two of you may meander about all you wish.”

She held out the newspaper, clearly intending for him to carry it, so he did. He never argued with females unless it was absolutely necessary.

They made their way to the park, chatting about nothing in particular, and true to her word, Olivia immediately found a bench and proceeded to ignore them. Or at least to do a cracking good job of pretending to ignore them.

“Shall we take a turn?” he asked Miss Winslow. “We can imagine this is an extremely large drawing room and walk the perimeter.”

“That would be lovely.” She looked back at Olivia, who was reading her newspaper.

“Oh, she’s watching, don’t worry.”

“Do you think so? She looks quite engrossed.”

“My dear cousin can most certainly read the newspaper and spy upon us at the same time. She could probably paint a watercolor and conduct an orchestra, as well.” He cocked his head toward Miss Winslow in salute. “Women, I have learned, can do at least six things at once without pausing for breath.”

“And men?”

“Oh, we are much too lugheaded. It’s a miracle we can walk and talk at the same time.”

She laughed, then motioned down at his feet. “You seem to be succeeding admirably.”

He pretended to be amazed. “Well, look at that. I must be improving.”

She laughed again, a lovely, throaty sound. He smiled over at her, since that was what one did when a lady laughed in one’s presence, and for a moment he forgot where he was. The trees, the grass, the entire world just slipped away, and all he saw was her face, and her smile, and her lips, so full and pink, curved so deliciously at the corners.

His body began to thrum with a light, heady feeling. It wasn’t lust, or even desire—he knew exactly how those felt. This was different. Excitement, perhaps. Maybe anticipation, although he was not sure for what. They were merely walking in the park. Still, he could not quite shake the feeling that he was waiting for something good.

It was an excellent sensation.

“I think I rather enjoy being rescued,” he said as they strolled sedately toward Stanhope Gate. The weather was fine, Miss Winslow was lovely, and Olivia was now well out of earshot.

What more could a man want in an afternoon?

Except possibly the after noon part. He squinted up at the sky. It was definitely still morning.

“I am so sorry about my grandmother,” Miss Winslow said. With great feeling.

“Tut tut, don’t you know you’re not supposed to mention such things?”

She sighed. “Really? I can’t even apologize?”

“Of course not.” He grinned down at her. “You’re supposed to sweep it under the rug and hope I did not notice.”

Her brows rose dubiously. “That her hand was on your…er…”

He waved a hand, although the truth was, he was rather enjoying her blush. “I can’t remember a thing.”

For a moment her face was perfectly blank, and then she just shook her head. “London society baffles me.”

“There is no sense to it, certainly,” he agreed.

“Just look atmy situation.”

“I know. It’s a shame. But it’s the way things work. If I don’t want you, and my uncle doesn’t want you”—here he watched her, trying to gauge whether this was a disappointment—“neither will anyone else.”

“No, I understand that,” she said. “I find it monstrously unfair—”

“Agreed,” he put in.

“—but I do understand it. But still, I suspect there are all sorts of nuances of which I am completely unaware.”

“Oh, absolutely. For example, our performance here in the park—there are all sorts of details that must be played precisely right.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

He adjusted his position so that he was more directly facing her. “It’s all in how I look at you.”

“I beg your pardon?”

He smiled down at her, gazing adoringly at her face. “Rather like this,” he murmured.

Her lips parted, and for a moment she didn’t breathe.

He loved that he could do this to her. Almost as much as he loved that heknew she didn’t breathe. God, how loved being able to read women. “No, no,” he admonished. “You can’t lookback at me like that.”

She gave a dazed blink. “What?”

He leaned another inch down and mock whispered, “People are watching.”

Her eyes widened, and he could tell the exact moment her brain snapped back to attention. She tried to be surreptitious as she looked to the left and then to the right, and then, slowly and with the utmost confusion, back at him. But really, she had no clue what she was doing.

“You’re quite bad at this,” he told her.

“I am utterly at a loss,” she admitted.

“Probably why you have no idea what you’re doing,” he said smoothly. “Allow me to edify: We are in the park.”

Annabel raised a brow. “I’m aware.”

“With about a hundred or so of our closest acquaintances.”

She turned her head again, this time toward Rotten Row, where several small groups of ladies were pretending not to look at them.

“Don’t be so obvious,” he said, giving a nod of greeting to Mrs. Brompton and her daughter Camilla, who were smiling at them in thatI acknowledge you but perhaps we should not converse sort of way.

Annabel meant to get annoyed; really, who looked at another person like that? But then she couldn’t help but congratulate herself for having successfully interpreted a multifaceted expression.

However rude it might be.

“You look annoyed,” Mr. Grey said.

“No.” Well, maybe yes.

“You do understand what we are doing,” he verified.

“I thought I did,” she muttered.

“You may have noticed that you have become an object of speculation,” he said.

Annabel fought the urge to snort. “You could say that.”

“Why, Miss Winslow, do I detect a hint of sarcasm in your voice?”

“Just a hint.”

He looked about ready to chuckle but did not. It was a common expression for him, she realized. He saw humor everywhere. It was a rare gift, that, and possibly why everyone liked to be near him. He was happy, and if one could be near a happy person, perhaps it would rub off. Happiness could be like a head cold. Or cholera.

Catching. She liked that. Catching happiness.

She smiled. She couldn’t help it. She looked up at him, because she couldn’t quite help that, either, and he looked down, his eyes curious. He was about to ask her a question, probably about why she’d suddenly started smiling like a loon, when—

Annabel jumped back. “Was that a gunshot?”

He didn’t say anything, and when she looked at him closely, she realized he’d gone terribly pale.

“Mr. Grey?” She placed a hand on his arm. “Mr. Grey? Are you all right?”

He did not speak. Annabel felt her eyes widen, and even though she knew he could not possibly have been shot, she found herself looking him up and down, half expecting to see blood.

“Mr. Grey?” she said again, because she’d never seen him like this. And while she could not claim an extensive acquaintance, she knew that something was terribly wrong. His face was still and taut, and his eyes were somewhere else.

They were right there in his head, looking at a spot beyond her shoulder, and yet it was as if he wasn’t there at all.

“Mr. Grey?” she said again, and this time she gave his arm a little squeeze, as if she might wake him up. He jumped, and his head snapped in her direction. He looked at her for several seconds before she thought he actually saw her, and even then he blinked several times before saying, “My apologies.”

She did not know what to say to that. There was nothing he could possibly need to apologize for.

“It’s that bloody competition,” he muttered.

She knew better than to scold him for his language. “What competition?”

“Some stupid shooting contest. In the middle of Hyde Park,” he snapped. “A pack of idiots. Who would do such a thing?”