Lucien downed the rest of his glass. “There… there is one thing you could help me with,” he began.
Good lord, if he was even considering asking this, the champagne must have gone straight to his head.
The duke gave him a curious look. “Well?”
“Do you have any suggestions for making—ah… an amorous encounter better for the other party…”
Margrave’s lips pursed, as if he were trying not to smile. “Are you asking me how to pleasure a woman, Taylor?”
The champagne wasdefinitelyto blame.
“I do have some idea,” Lucien protested a little too much. “But…”
“You could use a little advice,” Margrave volunteered.
Lucien squeezed his eyes shut and nodded. This was beyond embarrassing, but he didn’t want a repeat of the other night and there wasn’t anyone else he could ask.
When he found the courage to open his eyes, Margrave had tilted his head, actually considering the question. “While there are any number of techniques one might try, I have found the most important thing to do is pay attention. As closely as you can. Then you will know very quickly when something is working—and when it isn’t.”
That seemed easy enough.
“But if this is in regard to our mutual friend,” he continued, amused, “you could probably just ask her.”
“Right,” Lucien rasped. The thought of her ordering him about was strangely arousing.
“Oh, and if you find yourself becoming too, erm, overcome, think of cricket. That always helps.” Margrave then raised his nearly empty coupe. “Good luck.”
Lucien was certain he would need it.
When Alex returned to the box, Lucien was already in his seat—and her father beside him.
“Now don’t get into a snit, Alexandra,” Aunt Winifred murmured. “But it wouldn’t do to have you and Lucien talking through the rest of the play. You’ve done more than enough to set tongues wagging. Besides, at this stage it is better to let him miss you a bit.”
Alex frowned. “I don’t like those kinds of games.”
Her aunt chuckled. “Darling, courtship is nothingbuta game. And trust me, your mother and I know how to win.”
There was a thing or two Alex could say about that, given her current status as a spinster and Freddie’s slightly scandalous reputation. Even Phoebe’s engagement to Will had come about through no parental involvement whatsoever. But Alex decided to hold her tongue and took the seat to the right of her father, who was busy talking Lucien’s ear off. She managed to catch his eye and shot him an apologetic look, to which he smiled in return. Perhaps this was for the best, as Alex didn’t trust herself to sit beside him for another hour.
You must let me make it up to you.
Oh, she would enjoy thatfartoo much. All the more reason to maintain strict boundaries where Lucien was concerned. They had indulged in one lapse of judgment already and she was determined not to repeat the error. Their physical attraction to each other was irrelevant and could only lead to complications. Alex had dealt with such a situation once before and she very much did not wish to repeat the experience.
“When do you plan to see each other next?” Her father’s question interrupted her inappropriate train of thought.
“There’s a lecture on the latest archaeological practices at the Royal Geographical Society in two days’ time.”
Her father looked dubious. “Not exactly courtship material.”
“It is to me,” she said. And more important, it would offer no chance for them to be alone.
“And me,” Lucien added.
Alex looked over at him, unable to keep the smile off her face.
Father did not look pleased and was just about to reply when Mother leaned forward from the row behind them.
“Oh, Lucien, do come to the engagement ball next week. We would solovefor you to attend. Wouldn’t we?” she added with a not-so-subtle look at Alex.
