her with a lazy smile and for a few seconds Lizzie forgot entirely what she was meant to be saying.
‘Yesterday, just before we left the park, something upset you.’
Daniel nodded, the smile remaining on his face, but Lizzie could tell underneath he was frozen.
‘What happened?’
There was silence for well over a minute and Lizzie had almost convinced herself that he wasn’t going to answer her question.
‘I am sorry about how I left you yesterday,’ Daniel said. ‘It was rude and ungentlemanly. I hope you can forgive me.’
Lizzie nodded, she’d forgiven him already, but it wasn’t his apology she wanted, it was an explanation.
‘Something upset you. Was it that woman who walked past?’
His whole body stiffened and Lizzie knew she was right. He’d known the woman who’d not even stopped to speak to him. She wondered again if it was an old lover and felt an immediate pang of jealousy. Lizzie tried to shake it away, Daniel wasn’t hers to be jealous over.
‘It was nothing,’ he said eventually. ‘A case of mistaken identity. I thought she was someone I once knew. I was wrong.’ It was said with such finality that Lizzie knew he would say no more on the matter.
They lapsed into silence. Daniel’s evasive answer had reminded Lizzie that she didn’t really know anything about the earl. He was charming and attentive towards her, but she had to keep telling herself it was because he thought she was someone else. In reality she didn’t know this man at all. It might feel as though she’d known him for ever when he covered her lips with his own, but for him that was probably just another part of this charade.
It was clear Daniel was not going to tell her who his mystery woman was, and for a moment Lizzie wondered if he might still be seeing her. Surely he wouldn’t be courting her and carrying on with a mistress at the same time. Lizzie knew a lot of married men kept mistresses, but she didn’t want to believe Daniel would be kissing her by day and sleeping with another woman at night. With a shake of her head Lizzie dismissed the thought. She might not know the earl well, but she was almost certain that he wouldn’t be so cold and disrespectful. Which still left the question of who the woman was.
‘I wanted to ask you a favour,’ Daniel said as they rode, his expression serious. ‘I want you to educate me about India. I find I’m most ignorant on the subject. Did you know before yesterday I didn’t even know they had crocodiles in that part of the world?’
Daniel grinned and Lizzie couldn’t help but smile. His good mood was infectious and very effective at distracting her from thinking about his potential mistresses.
‘What do you want to know?’
‘All the interesting stuff,’ he said. ‘I’m your avid pupil.’
Lizzie thought a moment before saying anything more.
‘The cow is the sacred animal of India, at least to the millions of Hindu people who live there.’
‘The cow? Really?’
‘Trust me, we found out the hard way just how sacred they are.’
‘You have to explain.’
‘My cousin was very popular with the army officers,’ Lizzie said, knowing that was a bit of an understatement. ‘She happened to mention one day that she was fed up of eating curry and wished she could have a lovely meal of roast beef and potatoes.’
‘Ah.’
‘Some of the more eager young officers took it on themselves to provide the freshest beef possible, enraging the locals. There was nearly a rebellion.’
Daniel turned to her with a smile. ‘At least she didn’t say she wanted an elephant steak for lunch.’
Lizzie felt herself smiling, too. There was something about Daniel’s easygoing manner that made her relax. She knew she shouldn’t encourage him, but he made their time together so enjoyable. Lizzie couldn’t remember the last time anyone had wanted to know anything about her life and Daniel’s attention and good-humoured observations meant she was having a lovely time on their outing.
‘I took the liberty of laying out a picnic,’ Daniel said after a few minutes of riding in silence. They were just reaching the top of a small hill and there were wonderful views over the rest of the park. Lizzie could see a blanket and a hamper on the grass ahead of them. She glanced around, knowing he must have had a member of his staff set out the picnic, but not able to see anyone in the vicinity.
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