He groaned and his mother reached across and patted his hand. “Everything will be fine, Dominic. Dorothea is a sensible young lady. I only wish I’d had her courage and strength of mind when I was younger.”
His mind rebelled. He couldn’t stand the thought of her knowing how ugly the world was. His uncle had always said he had to protect women. Keep them safe from things they couldn’t understand. Dom didn’t know how in the hell he was supposed to do that when she went willy-nilly throwing herself into the fray. He’d gladly donate whatever amount he had to in order to keep her from being involved in anything like this again. But how in damnation would he stop her without her hating him for it?
* * *
Dotty couldn’t help grinning when Dom stood at the head of the stairs to the ballroom and searched through the crowd. He met her gaze and smiled.
Within a few moments, he was with her, kissing her fingers one by one. “Good evening.”
Warm tingles skated up her arm. “My lord.”
He raised his eyes to hers. His warmth and desire captured her as it had the first time. If only they weren’t in public, he would kiss her on her lips.
A gentleman coughed. “Miss Stern, I believe you are promised to me for this set.”
She glanced over at Mr. Garvey. “Yes, of course.”
Dom held her hand fast. “Garvey, go away.”
Louisa turned away with her hand over her mouth to hide her laughter.
“My lord, I did promise to stand up with Mr. Garvey.”
Dom kissed her hand again. His tone was a low growl. “Have you agreed to dance with anyone else?”
Her heart flitted around making her breathless. Was it possible he was jealous? “No.”
“Good. Don’t.” He relinquished her hand to her partner. “I shall expect Miss Stern back immediately after the set is over.”
Mr. Garvey’s eyes twinkled merrily. “Dash, if I don’t believe I’ll take Miss Stern for a stroll around the room afterward.” Before Dom could answer, Mr. Garvey whisked her into the line forming for the quadrille. “Don’t know what you’ve done with him, Miss Stern, but it’s a vast improvement.”
Dotty was tempted to protest, but both Charlotte and Louisa had said something similar at dinner. After hearing of Dom’s part in Tom’s rescue, even Theodora, Matt’s youngest sister, had stopped calling Dom “his marquisship.” “Have you known Lord Merton long?”
The pattern of the dance separated them, when they came together Mr. Garvey responded, “We should have known each other all our lives, but once his father died, his uncle kept him isolated from any of the other children in the area. I ran into him at Oxford, but we were never close.”
“I can see why you would not be.” Dotty couldn’t imagine why a child would be kept secluded. Perhaps that was what caused Dom to be so stiff around most other people. “Can you tell me what he was like when you knew him?”
“He was a normal boy. His father was a great gun. When he was alive, Merton and I saw a great deal of one another and got into all the scrapes boys do. After old Lord Merton’s death, my father and I stopped by to pay our respects and had the door shut in our faces.”
She couldn’t believe either Dom or his mother would have allowed such a thing. “But why?”
“The uncle didn’t approve of us.”
“Thank you for telling me.” Today, Dom had been everything she could have hoped for, yet perhaps it was time for her to ask Lady Merton about Dom’s guardian.
“Miss Stern, I see a great deal of Merton’s father in him. It’s a shame he didn’t live.”
She smiled. “I appreciate your honesty, Mr. Garvey.”
When the dance ended, he placed her hand on his arm. “I was about to suggest a stroll, but I see Merton has other ideas.”
Dom plucked her hand from her dance partner’s arm and put it on his. “Come, my dear. You look thirsty.”
Mr. Garvey chuckled as Dom led her away.
He grabbed two glasses of champagne from a footman’s tray as they strolled to the terrace doors. “It’s warm in here, don’t you think?”
Her lips quivered as she tried to stop a giggle from bursting forth. “Indeed, quite uncomfortable.”
