A bell of laughter came from his left as Lord and Lady Dorchester’s daughter made faces across the table at Cassandra, who responded with pointed glares of reproach before returning to a conversation with the man next to her. This new version of Cassandra was charming, hair falling about her shoulders in cascading waves. A far cry from the severe chignons that she wore in Cooper House. With a wide smile, she was like sunlight, especially in that sky blue dress.
A man’s voice tugged at his awareness. A deep timber, pompous and appallinglyfamiliar. Seth turned his attention to the man helping Cassandra into her chair, and his blood ran cold as ice. With a smug smile and perfect teeth, striking in the red coat of his dress uniform, a golden-haired aristocrat sat next to Cassandra. Rage burned at Seth’s skin when he met the green eyes of Colonel Adam Bishop, and it was like no time had passed.
Seth last saw Bishop three years ago in an Italian infirmary. Bandages covered Seth, the skin underneath searing with inescapableagony.Lucky, they had called him, but he hadn’t felt lucky. He spent every second wishing he had died, and that was before they told him the news.
Ensign Charles Thomas was dead.
Seth had kicked and screamed, flipped his bed in his rage and his pain and his grief. He had screamed his throat raw and weakened from atrophy by the time that Bishop came to him with a discharge from the Royal Army and a letter from Lord Bolderwood to return home. The last image burned into his mind was that of Bishop, standing pristine and unharmed, looking down on him with pity and disdain before he strode from the room, his perfectly polished boots clipping down the tiled floors.
A hush came over the dining hall as another man sauntered in, commanding the room without a word. As if Midas himself had dressed him, the gentleman wore a white evening suit with a golden waistcoat, golden rings fit with rubies and emeralds adorned every finger. A diamond encrusted quizzing glass glimmered around his neck, tucked under wispy platinum hair. Duke Kendall, Frederick Kendall the Third, took his seat at the head of the table opposite Lord Bolderwood.
Lord Bolderwood roamed these halls like a bull, confident, sturdy, and strong. The Duke was another beast altogether. There was something slithering underneath the glamor that had alarms ringing in Seth’s ears.
He knew a snake when he saw one.
The Duke took his place at the head of the table and raised a champagne glass. The hall stood. “A toast! To my three finalists, Viscount Lincolnshire, Colonel Bishop, and Mr. Alexander Nott. I recognize the efforts that it took to be seated at this table, and I applaud you for it. There are few greater entertainments in this world than innovation, competition, and violence.” He waggled his eyebrows topockets of obligatory chuckles.
“Let us raise our glasses to Earl Bolderwood, for hosting this grand affair, and to the men pitted against each other in a battle of wits. May the best man win.”
“Hear, hear!”
After the Duke lowered his glass, Seth took his last sip of spirits that he would allow himself for the stay. The wine was tart and left an unpleasant dryness in his mouth. In a practiced maneuver, Seth placed the full glass discreetly out of the range of temptation. From the opposite side of the table, he watched Lord Bolderwood do the same with a subtle nod in his direction.
Dear God.
Was that acknowledgment?
Servants brought forth a salad of mixed greens drizzled in an herbal vinaigrette, topped with crumbled goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes. The woman to the right of him, Baroness Matilda Franklin, used the opportunity to scoot her chair closer to her husband, Baron Josiah Franklin, the plum-faced man from before. Her lips locked together in a vise. She avoided Seth’s eyes, so he turned them across the table.
“I daresay that I’m not the only one surprised to see you in attendance Lord Lincolnshire.” Bishop leaned forward to talk to Cooper around Cassandra, who delicately sat further back to accommodate the conversation and demurely looked off to the side. “Have you come to rub elbows with your betters?”
“I have in fact.” Cooper swiveled his gaze from one side of the table to the other, salad fork poised in the air with an unfinished bite. “Would you care to point one out?”
“Now, now, boys. Let’s try to have afairfight,” Lady Dorchester said, signaling for a footman to refill her wineglass. “You.” She pointed at Seth, then directed her gaze to Cooper expectantly. “I do not believe we’ve met.”
“Lady Dorchester, please allow me to introduce you to my business associate, Mr. Seth Reeves,” Cooper said obediently and chuckled. “Go easy on him, Aunt Valentine. He’s my only source of income.”
“Mr. Reeves?“ Lord Dorchester mused. Silver hair and skin pale enough for Seth to understand why they called noblesblue bloods, he raised a quizzing glass to his eye. “OrCaptainReeves?”
Seth flinched.
“CaptainReeves?” A young gentleman on the far side of the table asked loudly, garnering attention to the conversation. The lad had straw blond hair, eager brown eyes, and bounced with excitement as he spoke. “I’ve read all about you! Is it true that you pulled ten men from a burning building?”
Seth’s eyes flitted over to lock with Bishop’s.
“Nine,” Bishop clipped, lips pulled back in a sneer.
“Tell me, Mr. Reeves…” Lady Dorchester took a sip of her wine. “Are you in the market for a woman?”
Cassandra choked on a sip of her water across the table. A blush beset her features as she apologized.
“Oh Cassandra, dear, are you all right?”
“Fine.” Cassandra recovered, but looked into her lap. She suppressed a smaller cough through her closed lips. She took Bishop’s offered napkin and dabbed at her lips before giving the man a comfortable smile. Seth frowned, but tore his gaze away and gave Lady Dorchester his best dazzling smile.
“As flattered as I am, I try not to involve myself in extramarital entanglements,” Seth replied before nodding to Lord Dorchester. “My lord.”
“I like you.” Lady Dorchester laughed, and gestured to the lady seated next to him with a delicate hand. “Allow me to present my daughter, Jasmine.”
