“Not at all. Why do you ask such a thing?” He tilted his head with a small frown.
The young pup must not know the Ton gossip or the Parliamentary players. Or perhaps his mother was not up on such things. Regardless, she found herself on the edge of tears again and stepped back. “I’m afraid you’ll have trouble getting answers from my husband. Charles died over a year ago. Now, if you’ll pardon me.”
His mouth opened and closed but no sound emerged.
Charlotte did not wait for him to decide how to proceed. She twirled and strode toward the terrace, scaling the steps to the garden to find a dark corner and compose herself. After a breath of cool evening air, the stab of sorrow turned to anger. How dare the young pup. Did he not understand the rules and protocols of social interactions? And what on earth had she been thinking, allowing herself to feel an attraction.
Playing it back in her head, she realized he must have thought she was the current countess. Damn Cheltie and his casual approach to all things. If he’d introduced her with her full title, the Dowager Countess of Peterborough, this would not have happened.
On the other hand, the term “dowager” made her feel twenty years older than she was. Until the last hour, she had hated when people used her formal title.
She laughed. There was just no winning with her.
Had William obtained clarification? She supposed she owed him an apology for her brusque retort. Hmph. His visage had created the first stirrings of sexual desire she’d felt in over a year, but up close his youth was even more apparent. She’d be surprised if he had completed his university studies. Given her inappropriate attraction, she should just stay away.
* * * *
A shoe scraped on stone. Then a thud and rustling of leaves.
She dared a quick glance along the path. His persistence alone should cure her of her infatuation. After all, she liked to be in control. Yet, her lips curved in a small smile when she saw him.
William—why was she thinking of him by his first name?—had spied her around a bend in the walk and now hurdled a low group of bushes. Barreling to a halt with his shoes almost touching her dancing slippers, he gave a shallow bow. “Please, Lady Peterborough, allow me to apologize for my faux pas.”
He must have asked their host or someone for clarification. She shook her head, admitting, “’Twas not your misstep. Frankly, it was Cheltie’s, and I plan to tell him that next time I see him. He tends to be lax on protocol, if you aren’t aware.”
“I wasn’t. But I am duly warned now, thank you, my lady. However, my approach was rather more abrupt than it should have been. I am still learning—” He choked on his words.
She suspected his cheeks would have heightened color if she could see them.
“May I sit with you for a minute? Please?” he begged.
Not wanting to be found here with him in case it was construed as a liaison, she vacillated. As she owed him an apology and perhaps assistance in finding Edward, the current Earl of Peterborough, she gestured beside her.
“Thank you.” He sat closer than polite manners allowed, his left thigh trapping the edge of her skirt.
She caught her breath at his proximity, inhaling spiced rum and the garden. Was that him or a flower? She again had the intense desire to lick his throat and find out.
Inappropriate, Char!“Lord Stanton—”
“William, please, my lady.”
She nodded. Permission for his name was helpful as she had almost called him that a second ago.
“William, as you seem to know now, I am the Dowager Countess. My brother-in-law Edward is the new earl. However, he and his lovely bride Sophia prefer to avoid London when they can. As you referenced politics, it may help you to know that he sends his votes through his friend the Earl of Suffolk. Nicholas is also Sophia’s cousin.”
“It is a pleasure to properly meet you, Lady Peterborough.” He paused.
He was hoping for reciprocal permission to address her by her first name. Knowing she needed to keep all proprieties between them to remind her how inappropriate her body was acting, she waited him out.
He continued, “Thank you for the context. I shall have to see if Lord Suffolk is here tonight and arrange an introduction.”
She expelled a tiny sigh and dropped her shoulders. When he made no move to rise or return to the party, she capitulated and offered her own amends. “William, we’ve discussed Cheltie’s and your error in etiquette but not mine.”
He went to speak, but she raised a hand.
“My response to your innocent inquiry was unnecessarily harsh, and I apologize. Whilst this is one of my first social events since Charles’s passing, I should not have attended if I was not ready to be polite.”
“Lady Peterborough…” He held his hand out as though asking to hold hers.
