A short time later, she and Maddie had been pushed aside as more young ladies wandered over. Jamie seemed not to notice.
Maddie rolled her eyes at Mari when Violetta and Amelia tried to block the rest of the girls from Jamie. “Those two are going to kill each other someday,” she whispered.
“If their beaus do not murder them first,” Mari whispered back, gesturing toward two young men across the room. “Yancy and Nevin do not look happy.”
“Neither do several of the others,” Maddie replied. “Do you think there will be a brawl?”
“They would have to be nodcocks to try,” Mari said. “Jamie stands nearly a head taller than any of them and has more muscle too.”
“Yes, he does.” Maddie’s glance slid over to Jamie and she sighed. “You are so lucky to watch him practice swordplay.”
Mari looked at her friend in surprise. Was Maddie interested in Jamie? “You had better not let your mother hear you say that.”
“I suppose not. She would swoon, and I daresay Papa would keep me sequestered in my room. Still,” she added with a giggle, “it does not hurt tolook.”
She should be shocked at Maddie’s revelation, but Mari really couldn’t be a hypocrite. She liked watching Jamie practice too—when he was not aware, of course. Something about all those magnificent muscles flexing and bulging as he lunged and thrust and parried with a slight sheen of sweat on his golden skin did warm and mushy things to her insides.
Mari turned and met the intense green gaze of a young man standing not far from them. His blond hair was cropped in the manner of French fashion and, while slender and not as tall as Jamie, he displayed a kind of feline gracefulness in his stance.
She looked down quickly, bringing her fan up to whisper to Maddie. “Do you know who that is?”
Maddie brought her fan up also. “No, but I saw him talking to Ladies Pembroke and Molyneux and several of the other patronesses earlier. They crowded around him, so he must be someone important.”
With a sideways glance through her lashes, Mari could see the blond man looked amused. He must know they were talking about him. How embarrassing. She studied her closed fan nonchalantly.
“He is coming this way,” Maddie whispered excitedly.
“Shhh! We do not want him to think—” She stopped. The young man was close enough to hear them.
“Mademoiselles.Pardon moi. Est-ce tolerable…Is it permissible to introduce myself to such beautiful ladies?”
Maddie gaped at him while Mari took a deep breath. Up close, his eyes slanted slightly like a cat’s. His look was intense, penetrating. She really should not allow a conversation without a proper introduction, having already faced scandal with Jamie.
Lady Molyneux bustled over, saving Mari from the decision. “I see our newly arrived portrait painter has expressed an interest in you,” she gushed. “Allow me to introduce Nicholas Algernon.”
He bowed gracefully from his waist, his gaze not leaving Mari’s.
“The pleasure is all mine,” he said.
