The blood in Grace’s veins turned to ice, fear trickling through every inch of her. If the man said anything about their previous encounter to the very family she was trying to introduce herself to, she would… well, she was not exactly sure what she would do. He towered over her, so it wouldn’t be anything physical, even if she had been a violent woman. But she would be angry, very, very angry. He would feel the full force of her wrath, which would probably mean he would end up being subjected to a lot of her glaring and some muttering. No doubt both would bounce off his impeccably dressed shoulders.
Neither the rude man nor she broke eye contact as he moved towards her. It was a question of honour at this point, even if it was a bit strange.
‘Your Grace,’ said Lady Blackmore when they reached her. It took Grace a moment to figure out what was going on. For a second she thought Lady Blackmore had lost her wits and was calling her by a title she had hitherto never heard of, but her stomach dropped to her knees when the full awfulness of the situation hit her. ‘May I have the honour of presenting Mrs Joseph Wilmott.’
Grace curtsied, because that was expected of her. Inside her mind, she was screaming.
‘Mrs Wilmott,’ said Lady Blackmore, ‘this is my brother-in-law, Tobias Dashworth, His Grace, the Duke of Glanmore.’
Of course the odious man was the duke. Because Grace’s life was a disaster. She was a joke. Every time she tried to make something better, she only went and made it a thousand times worse. She should never have come to England in search of this family; she should have stayed in America and stagnated, because that would have been better than this: humiliation and ruination.
Maybe she was supposed to say something like she was pleased to make his acquaintance, but that would be a lie, given that she was currently thinking about planning her own death.
‘May I have the pleasure of this dance, Mrs Wilmott?’ said His Grace. His dark eyes fixed on hers, his expression unreadable.
It was incredibly tempting to say no. She doubted anyone ever told him that, but she needed to win him over and make up for the hideousness of two days ago and so, even as everything in her screamed at her to decline, she lied and said, ‘I should be delighted.’
An emotion flickered across his face, gone before she could guess at its meaning. ‘Excellent.’
He held out his arm and she slipped her hand through it and still they managed not to break eye contact. She would be damned if it was she who looked away first, and it seemed he was locked in this silent battle too.
The first strands of a waltz began. Technically, they should have looked away from one another as the nature of the dance required, but neither of them did.
His Grace moved, his powerful body commanding hers as he swept her around the floor. They rose and fell in time to the music and if she hadn’t been filled with rage and fear, Grace would have admitted that he was the best dance partner she had ever had.
‘Are you going to tell anyone what happened?’ she asked, when the suspense became too much.
‘No. Are you?’
‘I am hardly likely to admit to anyone that a peer of the realm thought I tried to drown him.’
There was the slightest of twitches in his upper lip, which on anyone else may have been the start of a smile but not on this man. ‘Is that a no?’
‘It is.’ She had to remember that she wanted His Grace to like her, or at the very least tolerate her presence. Swallowing down the instinct to snipe at him, she said, ‘I also apologise for my behaviour. I do not usually act in such a way.’
‘You have already apologised. I should have done so also. I was appallingly rude.’
‘You were.’ The words were out before she could stop them, heat scalding her skin as she heard herself utter them.
This time there was a definite twitch of his lips. ‘In that case, I apologise and I thank you for attempting to save my life. Althoughwhy you thought I was in danger is unclear to me, given that I was standing in water only up to my calves.’
‘I did not know if the river was deeper only a step away from where you were.’ Danger could come at unexpected moments, as she had found out. ‘You will be pleased to know that Sarah, my maid, scolded me thoroughly before and after the event and that I have learned my lesson. I shall not be so reckless again.’
‘Hm,’ was all he said in response.
Hmshe wanted to say back to him. What doeshmmean? Did he doubt her word? Another man she would have questioned, but not this one.
‘Are you aware of how expressive your face is?’ he said when she valiantly managed not to say a thing.
‘No, it is not.’ Heavens, that was rude; she could tell he thought so too from the narrowing of his eyes. ‘I do not believe it to be so, Your Grace,’ she tried again.
His fingers flexed against hers. ‘You are absolutely livid with me again. What did I do to incur your wrath this time?’
Was he enjoying this? Everything she had been working towards for years was coming to a head and all she had wanted to do was make a good impression on this family and he was ruining it. Sebastian had spoken often of his older brother, but the man in front of her bore little resemblance to the one described with love and affection.
‘And now you are upset,’ he said softly, more kindly than his tight jaw suggested he might be feeling. ‘I did not wish that to happen. I only meant to take this opportunity to apologise for my rudeness and to assure you that I will tell no one of our escapade in Hyde Park and to ask that you return the courtesy.’
‘I thank you for your discretion and you can be assured of mine,’ she said, because what else could she say at this point?
