The Scandalous Adventures of the Sister of the Bride (11 page)

“Maybe they just went home?”

“They can’t go home.” Teddy glared. “This is home!”

Delilah stared in confusion. “What?”

“Camille and Grayson have vanished.” Teddy counted the missing guests off on her fingers.
“As have Lord Stillwell and his wife and a handful of others I think, including .
. .” Teddy narrowed her eyes. “Sam.”

“You needn’t look at me like that. I haven’t done away with the man.”

“You obviously don’t like him.”

“Nonsense.” She waved off the charge. “We simply have a difference of opinion that’s
all.”

Teddy scoffed.

“Regardless, even if I detested him, I would not slit his throat and throw his lifeless
body in the pond.”

Suspicion glittered in Teddy’s eyes.

Delilah huffed. “Clearly, you are overworked and it has affected your mind. I could
never do something like that.” The very idea that she could dispatch the American
was absurd. Although, given her behavior around him, it was not entirely far-fetched.
“Not without help anyway.”

Teddy stared at her for a moment then smiled reluctantly. “And, as I am the only one
here you would trust to help you with such a thing, I suppose he’s safe enough.” She
paused. “Do you think you could find him and the others while I go on to the courts?”

“I think that’s well within my abilities.”

“And as quickly as possible would be appreciated.” Teddy nodded and moved away, pausing
at the first group of guests she encountered, appearing calm and smoothly efficient.
Delilah doubted anyone she spoke to would so much as suspect she was not in complete
control.

Delilah glanced around the terrace. There was only one way to find her missing sister
and the others. Delilah stopped a passing footman.

“William,” she said with a pleasant smile. “Lady Theodosia is attempting to usher
the guests toward the games but I fear we have misplaced Lady Lydingham and Mr. Elliott
and a few others. Have you any idea where they might be?”

“I really am not certain, my lady.” An uneasy look shaded William’s eyes.

“Your best guess, then.”

“Well.” He shifted nervously from foot to foot.

Delilah studied the young man closely. There was no reason for him to wish to keep
the whereabouts of Camille and Grayson and Sam from her. Unless . . . “It has arrived,
hasn’t it?”

“I’m afraid I don’t . . .” He winced. “Yes, ma’am.”

There was no need for further explanations. She didn’t doubt for a moment that the
servants were well aware of the debate at the dinner table. There were no secrets
at Millworth.

“Where?”

For a moment, she felt sorry for the poor boy, torn as he was between answering her
question and the avoidance of additional conflict in the household.

“I am not certain but I think, well . . .” He drew a deep breath. “The carriage house,
Lady Hargate. It was put in the carriage house.”

“Thank you, William.” She nodded and turned to go, then turned back. “Did you see
it?”

He nodded. “It arrived shortly before the first guests.”

“And? What did you think of it?”

“It’s not my place to say, ma’am.”

“Come now, William, I’m simply asking your opinion.” Goodness, did the poor boy think
she would disembowel him if he disagreed with her? “I promise I will not hold it against
you.”

“Of course not, ma’am. I never imagined . . .” William drew a deep breath. “It’s quite
the most exciting thing I’ve ever seen. Smaller than I expected. I have not seen it
run yet though and—”

She held up her hand to stop him. “I daresay you’ll get your chance soon enough. Thank
you, William.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He hesitated.

“Is there something else?”

“Begging your pardon, ma’am, for asking but . . .” The young man squared his shoulders.
“Some of us were wondering, well, hoping that perhaps Mr. Russell’s man, the one who
arrived with the vehicle, might possibly give us rides in it. Not now, of course,”
he added quickly. “But when we’re not otherwise engaged.”

No doubt everyone in the household would want to ride in the blasted thing. Although
that might well keep Samuel occupied. “I don’t see why not.”

“Thank you, Lady Hargate.” He nodded and started to leave, then turned back to her.
“And if I might ask another favor?”

“You don’t want me to mention this request to Clement? Is that it?”

He nodded with relief. “He would see this as overstepping, my lady.”

“He would be right of course but . . .” She sighed. “It’s understandable that you
and the rest of the staff, as well as my sister and everyone else in existence, would
be curious about this piece of mechanical nonsense. I won’t say a word to Clement.”

“Thank you, my lady.” William nodded and hurried off.

The carriage house and the adjoining stables were in the opposite direction of the
tennis courts from the manor and no more than a five-minute walk. Delilah started
toward it at a brisk pace. She would not allow Teddy’s efforts to make this event
a success go to waste simply because Samuel and his infernal machine were irresistible
to some members of the company.

As soon as the carriage house was within sight she could see a small group clustered
together. She drew a deep breath, plastered a friendly smile on her face, and started
toward the others, determined to be pleasant no matter what feelings Samuel might
provoke within her. She was nearly there when the gathering parted, as did the clouds
above, allowing a shaft of sunlight to illuminate the vehicle. The
motorwagon,
for surely that’s what it was, gleamed in metallic splendor. Good Lord. She cast
an annoyed look heavenward.
You too?
Although it was more likely the American had positioned the contraption to its best
advantage and not that it had any sort of celestial blessing. Why, she wouldn’t be
at all surprised if Samuel hadn’t arranged as well for a heavenly choir to burst into
a song of praise at any moment.

“Delilah.” Camille caught sight of her sister. “What are you doing here?” She cast
an uneasy glance at the machine.

“I haven’t come to ruin your fun, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“She would never think that,” Grayson said, although doubt lingered in his eyes as
well.

Samuel and another man, tall, dark haired, and not unattractive, American by the sound
of him, pointed out various parts of the vehicle to Winfield and Miranda, who appeared
quite taken with the thing. They didn’t notice her arrival, which gave her a moment
to look at the machine.

“Why are you here?”

Delilah raised a brow. “Nervous, are you? As to my intentions?”

He studied her closely, then laughed. “No, of course not.”

“I don’t believe you but I shall give you the benefit of the doubt.” Delilah directed
her words toward Grayson, but her gaze was on the vehicle. “Just because I think it’s
silly doesn’t mean I’m not curious.” She stepped closer.

William was right. It was smaller than she had expected, resembling a small phaeton
with three wheels instead of two. The back wheels were considerably larger than the
one in front. There was room for no more than two people on the leather bench seat.
Something that was probably a steering mechanism, a lever of some sort, was affixed
to wooden floorboards directly behind the front wheel. The motor was positioned behind
the seat. It was at once the most absurd thing she had ever seen and just possibly
one of the most intriguing. Not that she intended to admit that. Nor did she wish
to ride in it but she was curious to see if it did indeed run.

“Well?” Sam said, without warning at her side.

“Well what?” She cast him a pleasant smile.

“Well, what do you think?”

She met his gaze directly. “Do you really want to know?”

He chuckled. “I’m afraid I do.”

“In that case.” She studied the vehicle for a moment. “I think it’s . . . interesting.”

He laughed. “That’s better than I expected.”

Her brow rose. “What did you expect?”

“Oh, I don’t know.” He grinned. “A scathing comment. A diatribe on the ills of progress.
An impassioned speech about the joys of tradition. Something along those lines.”

“I am sorry to disappoint you.”

He leaned close and spoke softly, for her ears alone. “I doubt you could ever disappoint
me, regardless of how hard you tried.”

She struggled not to let her surprise show on her face. What on earth did he mean
by that?

“I think it’s fascinating.” Lady Stillwell’s eyes shone with eagerness. “Winfield
should be the first to order one.”

“I think we should wait to see if it works first,” her husband said wryly.

“Oh, it definitely works,” the other American said. “At least it did when it left
Benz’s hands.”

“Jim, allow me to introduce Lady Hargate,” Samuel said. “Delilah, this is Jim Moore,
my assistant. Delilah is Lady Lydingham’s sister.”

“
The
sister?” Mr. Moore’s eyes widened.

Samuel winced.

“One of them.” Delilah refused to let his obvious wariness annoy her. What had the
man been told? She cast him her brightest smile. “Delighted to have you at Millworth,
Mr. Moore.”

“My apologies, Lady Hargate.” Mr. Moore grimaced. “I must have left my manners on
that last train.” He shook his head. “It’s been a long journey.”

“No need to apologize.” Delilah shook her head. “I know all too well how wearing travel
can be.”

“While I was dealing with Benz,” Samuel began, “Jim was learning all he could about
the motorwagon. He’s more in the business end of my projects now but he started as
an engineer.”

“I can’t build one from scratch, not yet anyway. But it’s not as complicated at it
looks.” Mr. Moore’s gaze returned to the machine. “I should be able to keep it running.”

“When can we see it run?” Lady Stillwell asked.

“More to the point.” Camille grinned. “When can we ride in it?”

“You can’t ride in it now,” Delilah said, her voice a bit sharper than she had intended.
She adopted a more congenial tone. “I was actually sent to fetch you. The games are
about to begin and frankly, your absence is delaying everything. It is awkward, you
know, when the hosts have abandoned their guests.”

Camille wrinkled her nose. “You’re right, of course. I simply lost my head in the
excitement of seeing the motorwagon.”

“And I would not want to do anything to delay the festivities,” Samuel said. “We should
be joining the others. Besides, we have had to send into the village for fuel so we
can’t start it up yet anyway.”

“Something to look forward to then.” Delilah gestured toward the road. “Shall we?”

Camille, Grayson, and Lord and Lady Stillwell started off, chatting about the motorwagon,
Delilah a step behind them. Samuel stayed to exchange a few words with Mr. Moore.

“I’m afraid I haven’t played in a long time,” Miranda said to Camille. “I’m quite
out of practice. In truth, I stopped playing with anyone in my family years ago.”
She shuddered. “They all have a tendency to be quite cutthroat and it’s no longer
a game but warfare.”

“Oh, this should be just a friendly game.” Camille laughed. “And no one is expected
to be very good.”

Grayson chuckled. “There’s no such thing as a friendly game when Winfield plays.”

“I do intend to beat you into the ground,” his cousin replied. “So tell me about this
plan of yours and Russell’s to market . . .”

Goodness, it was like herding recalcitrant sheep. Delilah was tempted to smack Camille’s
bustled backside with her racket to get them all to walk a bit quicker.

“I hope you’re a good player.” Sam caught up to Delilah.

“I am.” She cast him a smug smile.

“Good.” He chuckled. “As I requested you be my partner.”

She stopped in mid-stride and stared at him. “Why on earth would you do that?”

“Because I am no fool, Delilah.” He hooked his arm through hers and started after
the others. “I am not stupid enough to allow you to be on the opposite side of the
net with something as potentially lethal as a tennis ball at your disposal.”

She tried and failed to stifle an amused smile. “Frightened, are you?”

“There are any number of emotions you invoke in me, my dear.” Amusement curved his
lips. “Fear is not one of them.”

“Perhaps then you’re not as clever as you think.”

“Perhaps.” He chuckled. “Besides, if we are attempting to act as if we have never
met before, I don’t think playing against one another is wise. Your irritation at
my very existence is already proving harder to disguise than you expected.” He glanced
at her. “Or am I wrong?”

“No.” She sighed. “You’re right. It is hard to keep my feelings entirely to myself.”

They walked on in silence for a few minutes.

“Why are you so angry with me?”

“I’m not . . .” Why deny it? He wouldn’t believe her anyway. “Well, yes, I suppose
I am.”

“Why? What have I done?”

“Nothing, really. Nothing specific, that is. It’s just . . .” She stopped and glared
at him. “You’re not supposed to be here.”

He frowned. “Are you going to stamp your foot?”

“Of course not. That would be childish.” Although she had come very close to doing
exactly that.

“Delilah.” His voice softened and again he took her arm and they started after the
others. “I am here and I don’t intend to leave. I am sorry if that upsets your plans
but we will both have to make the best of it.”

“Now, you’re being reasonable.”

“You find it annoying, don’t you?”

“Of course I do.” She paused. “But then you know that.”

“I do.” He chuckled.

She sighed. “I do wish you wouldn’t find everything I say quite so amusing.”

“It’s annoying, isn’t it?”

“You know full well it is.” She blew a long breath. “You probably wanted to be my
partner because it would be easier to annoy me.”

“Not at all.” He paused. “Although it’s not a bad reason.”

“Hmph.”

“But aside from the fact that I didn’t think it was a good idea to be on opposing
sides, you strike me as a competitive type of woman.”