Miss Watson had been upset when he left her this morning, but there were no signs of that now. Indeed, she seemed well amused by her other beaux and oblivious to him, despite hisstaring at her in the rudest way possible. He should stop, but each time he dragged his eyes away, he found them creeping back.
He would be having a word later with Ravenshaw about what the hell he thought he was doing. Damn it, the man knew of Robert’s interest in Miss Watson. What was he playing at?
But watching the silent mummery of action in the box, for he could hear nothing of what was said at this distance and over the general hubbub of conversation in the theatre, he concluded that the reason for their presence wasn’t Miss Watson but Lady Holbrook. It seemed the acquaintance struck up at Vauxhall had continued. It was Ravenshaw’s business whom he chose to conduct affairs with, but damn it all, he could have chosen someone other than Miss Watson’s chaperone!
Halfway through the intermission, Lannister entered the box, much to Robert’s horror.Could this morning’s meeting have been to settle an assignation for tonight? Was it indeed Lannister who had secured her affections?
He watched in impotent frustration the array of emotions chasing themselves across Sarah’s face as she spoke with Lannister—Sarah! When did I start thinking of her as Sarah and not Miss Watson?—from smiles to the flirtatious waving of her fan to more serious looks exchanged between the two of them, and at the conclusion Lannister took her hand and kissed it. The troubled look with which she watched him leave smote Robert to the heart.
Was it indeed Lannister who held her affection?
Why do women fall for wastrels and rakes?
*
Sarah spotted theduke the moment she entered the marquess’s box, and panic made her want to turn tail and run. But of course,she couldn’t do that, so she did the next best thing: try to pretend he wasn’t there. If she didn’t look at him, she could conduct herself with equanimity. She certainly had plenty to distract her in the intermission, as she was besieged by half a dozen of her suitors, and she tried to be glad that the duke made no move to come and see her. Of course he wouldn’t, and she was glad of it. For it would be so mortifying to have to face him again after this morning.
When the Earl of Lannister entered the box and came straight to her side, she wasn’t sure what to feel. He looked a great deal better than he had that morning.
Bowing, he said with a droll smile, “Miss Watson, I came to beg your pardon for my disreputable appearance this morning. I hope you can overlook it, and I can assure you that I am not in the habit of falling asleep on park benches in the wee hours of the morning.”
His smile was so infectious and inviting her to share the joke on himself that she found herself smiling back. “Well, I should hope not, my lord. I daresay it is vastly uncomfortable.”
“It was,” he admitted. He moved his jaw. “My neck is still sore. May I?” he asked, indicating the seat beside her.
She waved him to it with her fan, and then plied it gently, for the theater was warm. “Are you fully recovered, my lord?”
“I am. Coffee is a wonderful restorative, as is several hours of sleep in a bed.”
“It is to be hoped that you don’t find yourself in such straits again.”
“I don’t intend to. It was a delight to wake and see your face, Miss Watson, and I cannot tell you how salutary a lesson it was to me. People have been trying to reform me for years. I think you may have done it with a simple look of concern for my welfare.”
“I have seen many lives ruined by an addiction to strong liquor, in my father’s parish, my lord,” she said quietly.
“Ah, then you are a ministering angel.”
She shook her head. “No such thing, merely a dutiful daughter helping her father.”
“You are in serious danger of bringing me undone, Miss Watson. I must say something flippant and droll to turn the conversation into lighter channels or I risk unmanning myself before a lady.”
His tone was light, and he smiled, but she saw a flicker in the back of his eyes that caught quite suddenly at her heartstrings. This man was dangerous precisely because he was broken, in a way that the duke was not.
As if her thought had communicated itself to him, he went on, “I cannot help but notice that His Grace is glaring at this box. Forgive me, it is none of my business, but that, coupled with the fact that you were fleeing from him the other night, makes me wonder if you are in need of protection?”
He did recognize her, yet he had said nothing?“From the duke? No indeed.”
“And yet he has upset you?”
She colored and plied her fan more vigorously. “It is, as you have already observed, the duke who is upset.”
“Indeed, he could never have made you an indecent proposal, for he is too upstanding for that. I wonder then, has he made you a decent one?”
“My lord, that really is none of your business!”
“Ah ha! He has, and you have refused him! What a set down for His Grace.”
She bore his scrutiny in silence, for what could she say? To confirm what he said as the truth would be the worst breach of etiquette, but to deny it would be to lie outright, and she was an appalling liar. He would see through her immediately.
