“Oh… yes,” Dorian said distractedly. He supposed hewasto thank for how well Lady Leah was dancing.Not that Lord Eaton is likely to come and thank me for that!
“She is a very special young lady,” Lady Bellmond continued, turning back to the dancefloor and gazing with interest at her friend. “She is very beautiful but doesn’t seem to realize it. At least, it didn’t help her feel more confident this Season. She spent most of it tongue-tied around gentlemen. If she hadn’t been so shy and nervous, she might have found a husband bynow, or at least had a list of suitable gentlemen who might have saved her from Lord Dubois. But she could barely speak to anyone.”
“Yes, she told me,” he said, turning his attention to Lady Leah as well. It was hard to imagine her tongue-tied now. She was laughing at something Lord Eaton had said, her cheeks a little flushed and her eyes sparkling.
“Then you know what is at stake here,” Lady Bellmond said. The tone of her voice had changed dramatically, had become hard and cold, and Dorian looked back at her in surprise. Her eyes had narrowed, and she was now glaring at him with suspicion.
“I do know what is at stake,” he said, nonplussed. “That’s why I am helping her find a husband.”
“Are you?” Lady Bellmond raised an eyebrow at him, and he suddenly felt as if she could see into the very depths of his soul. He had never felt so naked in front of a woman--and it was not the nice feeling he’d expected that to be. “Because from what Leah has told me, you have been inconsistent at best in your help, downright malicious at worst.”
“Lady Leah and I have discussed this,” Dorian said slowly. “She knows why I sabotaged the men I did, and she has forgiven me for it.”
“Well I have not,” Lady Bellmond snapped. She took a small step closer to Dorian, who, insanely, felt the urge to step back. But he held his ground. “Lady Leah may have a kind heart anda forgiving disposition, but I do not. Nor will I allow you to ruin this for her. If she ends up married to Lord Dubois because of this, then I will make sure that you suffer for it as well. Have you got that straight?”
Dorian wasn’t sure how to respond. Lady Bellmond’s threat was almost absurd enough to be funny, but he couldn’t laugh. Her expression was too deadly serious.
Instead, he chose to be affronted. “Lady Bellmond,” he began, “I appreciate that you care about your friend, but this is none of your business.”
“Of course it’s my business,” she snarled. “I am Leah’s closest friend, and I love her very dearly. And, unlike her, I am not a naive debutante. I see what you’re doing, and I see how you are toying with her.”
“I am not--”
“You are. You dangle men in front of her that you think she’d like, and then you snatch them away because you, like every other rake, cannot bear to not be the center of every woman’s attention.”
“I resent that!” Dorian cried. “I don’t want to be the center of every woman’s attention.”
“Well, you clearly want to be the center of Leah’s attention. And I am here to warn you that if you let your egotism, and your desireto flirt with every woman you meet, keep her from making a good match--if you are the reason she ends up with Lord Dubois, then--”
“Yes, I know,” Dorian interrupted flatly. “You’ll make sure I suffer.”
Lady Bellmond’s eyes narrowed even more. “Yes, I will.”
Dorian looked away. He knew he should feel angry at Lady Bellmond. She had just threatened him, after all! But he couldn’t. If anything, he admired her and the fiery protection she had over Lady Leah. He wished she understood that he felt the same way; he also wanted to protect Lady Leah. But as he gazed out at where she was dancing with Lord Eaton, he realized, with a jolt of guilt, that a small part of her was right.
He did enjoy flirting with Lady Leah. He did enjoy her attention. And she was right to be afraid that it would lead him to ruin things for her. Already he was making a list of reasons why Lord Eaton wasn’t good enough for her.
But it wasn’t as dark as Lady Bellmond made it out to be. His motivations weren’t because he was a selfish rake who needed to flirt with every woman he met. But he couldn’t explain the real reasons. Nor could he blame her for thinking that; he had made this reputation for himself. Now he had to live with its consequences.
“I shall leave you now, Lady Bellmond,” he said, turning back to her and bowing. “And I promise you, I will take your words toheart. Believe me when I say that we both want the best for Lady Leah.”
“We shall see about that,” she said, curtsying very stiffly to him. “Your behavior will prove your sincerity, not your words.”
“Please make my excuses to Lady Leah if she asks after me,” he said. “I don’t think she will be needing any more of my help. She is doing perfectly well on her own.”
And he turned and walked away from Lady Bellmong, resisting the urge to turn and glance once more at Lady Leah. Instead, he headed straight to the exit of Almack’s. What he needed right now was some peace and quiet in order to think. And the last thing he needed was to see Lord Eaton and Lady Leah flirt with each other all night.
“Where did His Grace go?” Leah asked the moment she rejoined Vivian on the edge of the dancefloor. “I must tell him everything! Lord Eaton just might be the exact gentleman we have been looking for!”
Leah was breathless and flushed, and she felt better than she had since Lord Dubois had showed up in her family’s home. All she wanted to do was tell the Duke about how perfect her dance with Lord Eaton had been, to see his eyes warm with approval and delight. As she glanced around the ballroom, her eyes kept lingering on every tall, dark-haired gentleman she saw. But none of them were the Duke.
Turning back to Vivian, she saw that her friend’s expression had become more closed.
“I don’t know,” Vivian said, shrugging. “Perhaps he went to the card room to play a game with the other gentleman. He didn’t say.”
“Oh, really?” Leah felt herself deflate slightly. She had been so looking forward to sharing everything with him, to them being co-conspirators in the quest to find her a husband. “I’m surprised,” she said, glancing around once more. “I thought he would want to hear how it went, especially since he was the one that set it up.”
“Well, you know his reputation,” Vivian said with a shrug. “He can be thoughtless when it comes to women. Once a rake, always a rake.”
