The Harlot's Daughter

Seven Part Two

"Your Grace." Violet stepped forward to greet the duke as he stepped down from his carriage. 

"Violet Petals," Lord Ashton returned the greeting, chagrin and a bit of mischief shining from his wheat colored eyes before his attractive face was taken over with a warm and indulgent smile. Smoothing his coat, then tugging on one, then the other, of his sleeve cuffs, his gaze charmed as he reached an elegant hand forward to fondly take Elizabeth's, "Mistress Petals, 'tis certainly a pleasure to see you again, I do hope my arrival is not untimely, as well as unanticipated." Her small hand in his, he made a show of bowing over it while an indulgent smile quirked his lips.

Elizabeth had only met the duke recently yet, his humorous nature and his friendly demeanor had charmed her so, that she greeted him with equally warm familiarity. "The pleasure is ours, Your Grace." Elizabeth looked past him to find the coach empty, "Did Her Grace not accompany you?" Elizabeth could not help but to inquire, as the man's wife was just as personable as the duke had proven to be.

"Not this time, Mistress Petals, Sassy and my cousin have taken the children to town for an afternoon of shopping, I was fortunate in having a task with which to make my escape." 

Elizabeth could tell the man was teasing. He seemed, upon their previous meetings, to enjoy the pastime, and Elizabeth knew he adored his wife and his half a dozen children very much.

"You are most likely wondering why I am here, other than to escape the chaos," Lord Ashton ducked his head in what seemed to be a small bit of embarrassment, "I do beg your pardon, showing up such as I have, uninvited." His eyes raised to seek Violet's before returning to Elizabeth's, the teasing twinkle remained in his eyes in spite of his words.

"I am actually quite pleased you came, my lord," Elizabeth rejoined, her voice tinged with laughter, "as I had planned on issuing your family an invitation," she raised up on her toes and lowered her voice conspiratorially, "you have now, kindly enough, saved me the trouble of sending one out." Elizabeth took Ashton's arm to lead him, meandering towards the veranda as Violet fell in to amusedly walk on her other side, knowing exactly what his little wife was up to.

"What is it you have planned, Mistress Petals?" Lord Ashton queried innocently, as if he did not have a clue.

"Elizabeth, please, my lord." Elizabeth smiled encouragingly, as he inclined his head at her request to address her by name. She then waved her free hand in the air as if to dismiss the possibility of there being anything of importance to her agenda. "I had hoped for a relaxed day of visiting, mayhap a picnic... If the weather holds." A telling, calculating drawl had crept into her voice, causing Elizabeth to blush, then to ramble on quickly. "We both enjoyed meeting her grace, Sassy, and the children so," Elizabeth peeked through her lashes up at Lord Ashton as she attempted to maintain her feigned nonchalance, "We, Violet and I," Elizabeth looked past the tall, attractive man, to her even more handsome husband. Violet winked at her in collusion as his eye caught hers, causing her to blush to deepen. She looked ahead of them to the veranda hoping her cheeks would cool, "we would like to have all of you come out for an afternoon simply to allow us all to become better acquainted." Not even remotely close to all Elizabeth had up her sleeve, she correctly surmised that Ashton would know her purpose without her having to spell it out for him. "I have issued an invitation to the King also, and I was hoping..." Elizabeth bit her lip, her words trailing off as Ashton chuckled beside her.

"Ah, I see." Lord Ashton leaned down towards Elizabeth a bit as they walked, replying conspiratorially, "I am to bring my cousin, Lady Christine, I assume?" 

"If you could persuade her to come along with you, 'tis exactly what I had in mind." Elizabeth's grin could not be contained upon seeing her plans come to fruition. "Wednesday round noon, if 'tis agreeable." Elizabeth informed him as they stepped up to the landing.