Marco paused only long enoughto wink at Lord Seabury, from an angle where only the Earl could see that wink, before he turned to apologise to Lady Henrietta for knocking into them.
“I am terribly sorry for my clumsiness in colliding with you, and interrupting your conversation.” Marco paused and gave an apologetic bow. “I was distracted and did not notice that you were in my path.”
Lady Henrietta gave a very unladylike snort, indeed, shaking her head with disgust. She planted her hands on her hips and glared at him.
“What do you mean you didn’t see us? How could you not see two fully grown adults when they were directly in front of you? You, sir, are a clumsy oaf!”
Marco had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning. This was the perfect opening for him to trick her, and as clever as she thought she was, with her little garden trap, Marco was far quicker of mind. He could see that she was angry, and decided to lean into that anger. Angry people did a poor job of watching their tongues and checking their tempers.
With a cool arch of his brow, Marco straightened up.
“I may be a clumsy oaf, Lady Henrietta, but at least I am not clumsy enough to start impossible marriage rumours -- ones that do not even make sense under a close examination -- about men I’ve never even met before.”
This was a gamble, and a dangerous one, but when Lady Henrietta’s eyes widened and her face took on a livid flush, he knew that his words had hit home.
“Oh, please!” Lady Henrietta snapped, stamping her foot with frustration. Her voice was shrill, and whiny, and sure to attract attention, should anyone else be lurking in the garden. “I did not even think that there was such a person as the Count D’Asti when I made up that rumour about Miss Wingfield, you dolt. It’s not as if I intended to personally attack you and ruin your life with the betrothal to her. I was making up a foreign-sounding name, for heaven’s sake! How was I supposed to know that you were a real person?”
Marco could not hold his amusement in, then, and stifled a chuckle as she proclaimed, for everyone in the vicinity to hear, that she was, in fact, the one who had started the rumour of his betrothal, just as he and Susan had hoped she would. Now, everything depended on just how many people might currently be in hearing range of her loud screechy voice.