Anticipation hummed through her veins. She couldn’t wait until dinner ended and the dancing began. Even now, she could feel the captain’s burning gaze on the back of her neck. It was all she could do to keep from turning around.
Diners of lower rank continued to file into the room, and Sherbourne tensed beside her. She raised an inquisitive brow, and he nodded over her shoulder toward the open doorway.
“I didn’t know my brother had been invited.” He sounded surprised and a little dismayed. “There he is, behind you, escorting Miss Marks.”
She followed Sherbourne’s gaze and attempted to appear as if she hadn’t noticed the captain’s presence. He’d abandoned his military dress and looked stunning in austere black evening wear. The somber color made him even more handsome and mysterious than usual.
The gorgeous American heiress on his arm had somehow managed to gain the support of the young Prince of Wales. Her dazzling emerald gown was inappropriate for an unmarried girl but complemented her black hair and dark eyes perfectly. Natalia’s pale peach gown seemed downright dowdy in comparison.
Jealousy and doubt seared through Natalia as she stared at the handsome couple. Did Captain Blake also whisper sweet endearments to Emma Marks? Had he kissed her?
Given the frustrated look on Miss Marks’s lovely face, the answer seemed to be no. The captain wasn’t paying any attention to his attractive dinner companion. Instead, his concentration focused wholly on Natalia.
This evidence of his continued interest caused a familiar warmth low in the pit of her stomach. She hoped she wasn’t blushing as deeply as she feared. “Dylan and I have met.” His given name flowed off her tongue before she could stop it.
Captain Blake, she reminded herself harshly, but it was too late.
“Dylan?” Sherbourne frowned and glanced back and forth between them, obviously trying to figure out how they knew each other.
Dylan grinned. He met his brother’s gaze for a long, tension-filled moment, and then glanced back toward Natalia.“Dance with me.”He mouthed the words, but Natalia could understand them all too clearly.
“What did he say?” For the first time since she’d met him, Sherbourne’s bland mask fell away, and fierce emotion filled his blue eyes. “What is going on between the two of you?”
She sensed his disapproval and knew he saw beyond her façade of dutiful obedience and respectability. “There’s nothing between us. He’s asked me to dance a few times, but I’ve always turned him down.”
“I’ll speak to him about it,” Sherbourne said. “He won’t bother you again.”
A footman stepped between them to fill their wine glasses, and Natalia took that moment to compose herself. By the time the footman moved away, she’d managed to paste a smile on her face. “You needn’t bother, Lord Sherbourne. I’m sure your brother’s perfectly harmless.”
She risked a quick look down the table and was pleased to see her cousin, Nigel, on Miss Marks’s other side. Nigel might be without a title at the moment, but if the duke and Clarice were unable to produce an heir, Nigel would be next in line to inherit her father’s. Nigel always looked out for his own interests, and marriage to someone like Miss Marks would be quite a boon. That way, he could maintain his accustomed lifestyle even if Clarice did manage to conceive a son.
Come on, Nigel. Be your usual arrogant self. Monopolize the conversation. She didn’t want Captain Blake to fall under the spell of Miss Marks’s many charms.
As dinner progressed, the conversation drifted on to other, safer topics, but Natalia could tell Sherbourne was still perplexed about what had transpired between her and the captain. Every few minutes, he sent a penetrating glance in his brother’s direction, and Natalia knew he wouldn’t leave the matter alone.
Apparently, he thought his brother had trespassed. Natalia felt a surge of guilt when she realized her own reckless actions had given Sherbourne the idea she cared more for him than she truly did.
She should never have allowed him to call on her.
But the damage was already done. All she could do now was try to let him know, in the kindest way possible, that her cap was set for his younger brother.
Society’s rules exhausted her. For too long, she’d hidden her true thoughts and emotions and let her father’s will carry her helplessly along.
Well, no more.
Tonight, she was going to dance with Dylan Blake. In fact, she was going to dance with him twice. Twowaltzes.
She’d deal with the consequences tomorrow.
* * *
Dylan brooded over his dinner. He ignored the inane chatter of his companion, Miss Emma Marks, while cursing the fate that destined her to be his dinner partner.
“So, your father is an earl.” Emma gazed at him in rapt delight. “Does that mean you’ll be one, too, someday?”
The American was striking, but her drawling accent grated on his nerves, as did her admiration of the class system that was the bane of his existence. Apparently, the foolish chit planned to sell herself into marriage to get a title of her very own.
“Only if his older brother dies young,” Nigel Sinclair interrupted caustically. Seated on Miss Marks’s other side, Natalia’s cousin had been making snide comments about Dylan ever since they’d sat down. Usually, Dylan would have been furious, but under the circumstances, he didn’t mind. His thoughts centered on Natalia.
