After she’d gone back to her conversation with Phoebe, Anna, Lady Rutherford, and Serena, his head began to clear.
“I think you know everyone present?” Marcus poured the excellent sherry he and Phoebe were famous for keeping. It was rumored that her uncle had laid in a store of it before the war.
Rupert gratefully accepted the drink. He sipped carefully, resisting the urge to drain the glass and ask for more. He would really worry his friends and cousins if he did that. “Yes. I believe I do.”
“You know how things are when you take your pot-luck with us. Nothing formal, just mill around until dinner is announced.”
Rupert did know. Having lived in the West Indies for years, Marcus was never as ceremonial as many of their peers. He snoodled over to Vivian and bowed. “My lady, it is a pleasure to see you again.”
Her cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink, almost the color of the roses he’d sent. “Thank you, my lord, for the compliment and for the flowers. I’ve never seen such beautiful blooms.”
“I found them during my travels. That you enjoy them made it worth the trouble.”
She gave him her hand, and he lightly kissed her fingers. Straightening, he greeted the other ladies and gentlemen, which included his cousin and Serena.
Robert raised a brow, and Rupert shrugged in answer. As soon as he knew in which direction the wind blew, he would tell his cousin. “What are you discussing?”
“Anything and everything,” Vivian responded. “We are solving the country’s woes.”
“Or attempting to,” Serena added. “We ladies have some ideas that Vivian might be interested in.”
It pleased him that his cousins were now on a Christian-name basis with Vivian. That Serena felt comfortable enough with Vivian to be informal said much of the lady he was interested in.
Rupert made a point of remaining next to Vivian as they resumed their discussion. “I’m still bothered over the Seditious Meetings Act. It is much too broad.”
“Will you attempt to bring a bill to modify it?” Rutherford asked.
“If I thought I could get enough support.” Rupert took a sip of sherry. “At the present, I’m more concerned about the one I am sponsoring concerning our returning soldiers.”
The air stirred next to him as Vivian shifted. “I agree. Some areas of the country have had too many problems with roving bands of former soldiers who are unable to find work.”
He wanted to touch her. Put his arm around her waist, or place his hand on the small of her back. With the exception of the two of them, everyone else present was married, and small touches, sidelong glances, and fleeting smiles abounded.
He forced himself to switch his glass to the hand nearer her in order to inhibit any unconscious gestures. “I agree. In my county, we have made a point of finding work or apprenticeships for them. Some of the soldiers are no more than children.”
“Indeed.” Vivian rubbed one finger absently over her bottom lip, and Rupert wished it were his lips touching it, tasting her, learning her sounds of pleasure as he made love to her. “There are the widows and children as well. Even widows of officers can have a difficult time making ends meet if they have no family to help them.”
He listened as she and the others discussed measures they’d taken. The longer she spoke, the more impressed he became with her intelligence and grasp of the political realities. This was a lady who could help make a political career.
Dinner was announced and he escorted her into the dining room. Fortunately, Phoebe and Marcus had invited only close friends, and they sat informally at the table, giving Rupert an opportunity to take a place next to Vivian. If only he knew if she had any feelings for him or if the emotions were all on his part, or how long he’d have to continue this dance before she responded to him. Rupert refused to consider the possibility that he would not win her. This urge he had to protect her, to care for her, was too strong to be ignored.
A footman held out the tray to him. “Pheasant, my lord?”
He speared a piece of the breast. “Lady Beresford, this slice looks particularly good. Will you sample it?”
Rupert wanted to be the one to attend her, selecting the most delicious foods, accompanying her to the most interesting places, and showing her what she had not yet experienced. Slowly learning her likes and dislikes.
He would take this one step at a time, being careful not to scare her. All evening she had claimed his attention in a way no other woman had done before. And the better he came to know Vivian, the more convinced he was that she was for him. Just as he had thought the first time he saw her.
CHAPTER NINE
“Thank you, my lord.” Vivian took a bite of the pheasant he had Tput on her plate.
If Lord Stanstead had not said her name, she would still be daydreaming. She had never been around a circle of people with whom she had so much in common.
Her only problem was keeping her reactions to Lord Stanstead under control. From the moment he had entered the drawing room and caught her eye, her heart had throbbed painfully in her chest, and she’d had to remember to breathe. If only she would not have such a dramatic response to his mere presence, she could be perfectly at ease.
She held her knife and fork more tightly than necessary to keep her hands from trembling as he served her a piece of game pie from the tray. What she was feeling was ridiculous. She was no longer a giddy girl and would do well to remember how being attracted to a gentleman had turned out the last time. Andthiswas much worse.
