“I suppose so…” The crushing disappointment in her chest felt vastly disproportionate to what had happened. So what if the Duke hadn’t stuck around to hear how her dance had gone? The important thing was that it had gone well. She hadn’t forgotten the steps once. In fact, she’d barely thought about it. Everything had felt second-nature once she’d relaxed and just let Lord Eaton lead. And the conversation had come as easily as the dancing…
“But tell me about it!” Vivian said, giving her a wide smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. “Was it a success? Do you like Lord Eaton? Tell me everything!”
“Yes, he seems like a very fine gentleman,” Leah said, forcing herself to smile and to focus on what mattered. “Of course, I still hardly know him, but he was easy to talk to, and he mentioned wanting to have a big family, so I know we are compatible in that way.”
“Oh wonderful!” Vivian said. “I am very glad to hear that. We can ask Anthony for his opinion on him as well. Come, he’s at the lemonade table, let’s go ask him, and then you can tell me all the details.”
And even though she had every reason to be hopeful and happy after such a successful dance with Lord Eaton, Leah couldn’t help but feel a small twinge of disappointment as they set off for the lemonade table. She had been so sure that she and the Duke had reached a new level of friendship. But perhaps Vivian was right.
Once a rake, always a rake.
CHAPTER NINE
“I have nothing but the highest regard for Lady Leah Grove,” Lord Eaton said, loud enough for the entire room to hear him. “And I believe she has taken a real interest in me.”
If he wants everyone to hear him, then he is doing a very good job of it, Dorian thought to himself, swirling his own whiskey from where he sat across the room at White’s, pretending not to be listening. What a show-off. A beautiful woman shows a little interest in him and now he needs to announce it to all of White’s!
Still, it was a good thing, as Dorian had to remind himself. Lord Eaton was a fine prospect for Lady Leah, and the fact he was talking loudly and excitedly about Lady Leah meant that he didn’t mind others jumping to the conclusion they had formed an attachment.
Perhaps he really will propose. Dorian’s grip on his glass became tighter, his knuckles turning white. And then all her problems will be solved.
“Lady Leah is a fine young lady,” one of Lord Eaton’s companions said, taking his own sip of whiskey. “I wasn’t sure about her during the Season, she never wanted to speak with me much--or anyone, for that matter. But she seems to have opened up with you.”
“She has,” Lord Eaton said pompously, his chest puffing out with pride. “Lady Leah is like a rare flower that only blooms under the right conditions. She needed me to come along and help her bloom.”
Dorian rolled his eyes. Really, the way these men described women as flowers boiled his blood! Couldn’t any of them think of a more original metaphor? Anyway, Dorian didn’t think Lady Leah was like a flower at all. She was much too tough to be a flower. Maybe she was more like a cactus, or--
“But what of the rumors she is already engaged to Lord Dubois?” another one of the men at Lord Eaton’s table asked. “They have been circulating for the last week, and one must wonder if the lady has a prior commitment.”
“She would have mentioned it,” Lord Eaton said at once, waving a dismissive hand. “Just because Lord Dubois wishes he could marry a lady as fair and delightful as Lady Leah, doesn’t mean he actually will. In fact--”
“Oh but I would not be so certain of that.”
The interruption came from the doorway into the room, and everyone--all the men at Lord Eaton’s table, the footman serving drinks, several men sitting by the windows in armchairs, and Dorian--all turned to see who the newcomer was.
Dorian felt his stomach fall out of him.
It was Lord Benedict Dubois.
Dorian’s hands immediately curled into fists. His heart began to race. And for a moment, he saw red. But he didn’t dare move. In fact, as Lord Dubois stepped further into the room, his face a mask of cold fury as he stared at Lord Eaton, Dorian sank even lower in his chair. Some instinct told him it was better to observe this fight, rather than get involved in it. It would give him information that he could use in the future to help Lady Leah.
“Lord Dubois,” Lord Eaton said, his eyebrows shooting up as he stared in surprise at the newcomer. “I did not know that you were in town.”
“Yes, I have had to return to town on a pressing legal matter,” Dubois said. “A matter that is related to the subject you were just discussing, in fact.”
“Oh?” Lord Eaton tried to look nonplussed, but Dorian could tell from the shaking of his hands that he was worried about what Dubois was about to say.
“You seem to be under the mistaken impression that I am not engaged to Lady Leah Grove,” Dubois said. “But I assure you: her hand has been promised to me, and nothing will stand in the way of our union.”
“Is it Lady Leah’s wish to marry you?” Lord Eaton asked, his eyes narrowing. “Because from what she has said to me, I get the impression that she wishes to marry me.”
Lord Dubois laughed. It was a cold, cruel sound. “And you mistakenly believed her? I will admit, Lady Leah can be quite the flirt. She always was with me, when I used to visit her late father.”
Dorian’s stomach churned, and rage briefly blinded him. He did not care to hear Lady Leah’s reputation maligned like this. A flirt! It was preposterous. Especially considering she’d been a girl when the late Duke of Dredford had died.
But Eaton must not have known this timeline, because he said nothing to defend Lady Leah. Instead, his eyes narrowed.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
