Page 33 of An Unlikely Debutante

Quickly he pushed his way to the door, feeling the cool breeze as he left the hall. The occupants had spilled out into the town square and if Lina and her escort were out here amongst the other guests, there would be no impropriety, but Alex felt his muscles tense all the same.

He saw them underneath a tree in the middle of the square. Lina was laughing in the carefree, light-hearted way that Alex liked so much, although now it was directed at this other man it made him want to storm over and pull her away.

‘Alex.’

He spun, surprised to hear the familiar voice behind him. ‘Victoria.’

‘I didn’t realise you would be here.’

He shrugged. It was a fair assumption to make, he didn’t normally attend country dances.

‘Did your husband accompany you?’ Alex asked, his eyes straying past Victoria to where Lina was perched. Had he seen her sway a little closer to her escort?

‘No.’ A moment’s hesitation. ‘He stayed in Hampshire.’

Alex wondered if he sensed there might be a strain in their relationship, but then realised he did not want to know. Once Victoria’s pain would have been his pain, but she’d chosen her path, pushed him away and he had come to terms with it. Now he did not want to know if her marriage was a happy one. They were not friends and they never would be.

He heard Lina’s laugh again and stepped forward.

‘I’m keeping you from Miss Lock,’ Victoria said, a hint of sadness in her voice, placing her hand on his arm.

Alex stopped and saw her look up at him hopefully.

‘Please excuse me, Victoria. I hope you have a pleasant evening.’

Swiftly he walked away, closing the gap between him and Lina within a few seconds. She was turned half-away from him, but seemed to sense as he approached, stiffening and the laughter dying on her lips.

‘Lord Whitemore,’ she greeted him formally. Although she’d been doing nothing wrong Alex could see a hint of guilt in her expression.

‘I was worried, Miss Lock,’ Alex said.

‘I never wished to cause alarm.’ Lina’s companion stood and turned to Alex. ‘I am Mr Gillingham, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lord Whitemore.’

Alex gave a stiff nod of greeting before turning back to Lina.

‘Come, it is time we left.’

‘But it is still early.’

‘You will thank me for the early night in the morning.’

‘Can we not...?’ The question died on her lips as she met his eye and instead she turned to Mr Gillingham. ‘Thank you for a most pleasurable evening, Mr Gillingham,’ she said sweetly. ‘I very much enjoyed our time together.’

Alex knew she was just doing it to annoy him, but he could hardly suppress the growl in his throat when Lina fluttered her eyelashes at the young gentleman. As she placed her hand on his forearm, Alex started to stride away, forcing her to almost run to keep up.

‘What a lovely gentleman,’ Lina mused. ‘So polite.’

Alex grunted.

‘He is a keen rider. Goes out with the hunt every month.’

‘Enough about Mr Gillingham.’

‘I think tomorrow we need to work on your manners, Alex,’ Lina said primly.

They walked back to the hall in silence and spent ten minutes trying to navigate the crowd whilst searching for Georgina and her husband. Throughout their search Lina walked passively by his side, but he could sense she would tell him exactly what was on her mind when they were in private.

‘Enough,’ Alex declared when they still hadn’t found Georgina after two laps of the crowded hall. ‘Home.’