He'd meant to stay away, to cut the connection, to withdraw from her game. The fact he was here, riding beside her, didn't please him at all.
He glanced at her face, found it studiously serene, her gaze fixed on the trees. As if she thought he'd simply been a little late rolling from his bed. He wasn't fool enough to swallow it, but reluctantly acknowledged her strategy. Her subtlety. In this arena, she was a more worthy opponent than any who had gone before.
They were deep in the trees, screened from any early riders, when he again drew rein. She halted, considered him, then raised a questioning brow.
"Your wish to attend a Covent Garden masquerade-I fear I'll be unable to accommodate you."
"Oh?" Her gaze remained steady on his face. "And why is that?"
Because after their interlude on the Thames, he was too ise to give her another chance to tempt him. "Because such an outing is entirely out of bounds for a lady of your station." He returned her regard and deliberately added, "Especially with me as your escort."
Her cornflower blue gaze didn't waver, but he couldn't read her eyes; her expression said only that she was considering his words.
Then she nodded and picked up the mare's reins. "Very well."
With that, she set the mare ambling on. Martin stared, then urged the roan along in her wake. Very well? "So you accept that you won't be attending one of the masquerades?"
She glanced back. "Of course not." She faced forward again. "I'll just have to find another escort."
What had he expected? She was damned well turning him into another "dear Reggie."
He could call her bluff. He would, if he could be certain it was indeed a bluff.
Amanda bit her tongue, kept her expression fixed as if pondering her male acquaintances, trying to decide which to ask to escort her to a Covent Garden masquerade.
They were within sight of the gate, his groom waiting beside it, before she heard the words she'd been praying she'd hear.
"All right, all right!"
She glanced at Martin; he fixed her with a stony look. "I promised I'd take you to the blasted masquerade-so I will." Swallowing her whoop of delight was not easy, but she managed it, smiled evenly instead. "Thank you. It would make life easier." Letting her lips curve a touch further, she murmured, "Better the devil one knows, after all."
His expression grew stonier. He nodded curtly. "I'll make the arrangements."
He swung the roan's head, clearly intending to ride deeper into the park. With a graceful salute, Amanda set the mare for the gate.
She didn't look back, didn't need to look to know that after a moment of watching her, he turned away. As the mare's hooves clopped on the cobbles, all confidence faded from her eyes.
"He's going to pull back-escape! I know it!" Pacing across her bedchamber, Amanda flung the comment at Amelia, perched on the bed.
"Isn't there some way you can… well, tie him up?"
She snorted. "He's too careful-too wide awake, no matter how lazily he moves." Swinging around, she paced back. "You see, he knows we're playing some game. I've made him interested enough to indulge me by playing, but he knows-and he knows I know he knows, too. What he doesn't know is that I mean the game to end at the altar. I could simply be after a taste of excitement before succumbing to a boring marriage."
"A boring marriage? He can't believe that."
"He doesn't go about in the ton. He doesn't know the family. So he can't guess where I'm heading, which is part of the attraction, part of what makes him willing to be my guide."
"Ah." Leaning on her elbows, Amelia considered. "But what about the other part-the rest of the reason he's spending time with you?"
Amanda grimaced. "Did I tell you he's hard to read-elusive? I don't truly know what that'rest' is. In fact, I'm not sure he knows, either. But whatever it is, it's too…"-she waved her hands-"amorphous to pin down and use. Besides, I don't want him focusing on that yet. If there's anything there, it needs time to grow before he recognizes it."
Amelia nodded. "So you need another tack-another prod."
"Yes. But what?" Amanda paced on. After some minutes, her twin's voice broke through her tortured thoughts.
"You know, I think you're looking at this from the wrong angle."
Turning, she met Amelia's eyes.