Page 73 of Scandalous

“This is Miss Fisher, Gabriel. Sarah, this is my son, Gabriel.”

His dark auburn hair and tilted green eyes would have proclaimed his relationship to Lady Exley even without an introduction. His charming accent, high cheekbones, and prominent nose must have come from his father, the deceased Sultan Babba Hassan.

He gave Sarah a warm smile and bowed. “I am very pleased to meet you, Miss Fisher. I understand you have recently arrived from the Gold Coast.”

They were conversing about West Africa when Daphne and Hugh arrived.

“Sarah, my dear, you look lovely,” Ramsay said, kissing her hand with a teasing smile.

“Captain Martín Bouchard,” the butler’s voice boomed behind them. Sarah started so violently she jostled the baron’s arm.

“Steady on,” Ramsay murmured.

“What a pleasure to see you, Martín,” Lady Exley called out, greeting Martín with the same affectionate manner she seemed to use with everyone. Sarah shot a surreptitious look around the little group. The marquess appeared even more supercilious, Gabriel Marlington looked openly annoyed, and Daphne was as inscrutable as ever. Only Ramsay and Lady Exley seemed truly pleased to see the man.

Well, and Sarah.

Martín turned to Sarah after relinquishing Lady Exley’s hand. “Good evening, Mademoiselle Fisher. It is a pleasure to see you looking so well.” He subjected her to a piercing visual inspection. Heat and desire flared in her abdomen as his lips pressed against the back of her gloved hand.

“What a pleasant surprise,” she murmured.

“An unexpected pleasure indeed,” Lord Exley said, giving his wife an unreadable look before turning to greet his guest. “It’s been a long time, Bouchard.” The unspoken message being: not long enough.

Martín flashed a grin. “To me it seems like only yesterday, my lord.” He turned to Mia’s son and looked him up and down. “Well, look at you, boy—all grown up, eh?”

“Captain Bouchard.” The younger man’s exceedingly handsome face darkened, and he glanced at his mother. “If you will excuse me, I will go see what is keeping Eva.” He gave Martín a narrow-eyed glare as he left.

Ramsay, predictably, burst out laughing. “Come now, Martín, you must behave. You are among civilized people here.”

Martín smiled roguishly at his mentor.

The group split into smaller parts, and Sarah was surprised to see Martín move off with the Marquess of Exley. Rather than look annoyed, the reserved peer engaged in a quiet, but earnest conversation with the exotic captain. Sarah burned with curiosity. What could the two men possibly have to talk about?

“I’m sorry, Sarah. I should have told you he might be here tonight,” Daphne said from beside her. “Hugh told me that he’d gone to see Captain Bouchard to deliver the invitation.”

“No doubt he found him in some bordello or other.”

Daphne neither confirmed nor denied Sarah’s claim. “Coming here tonight is a big step for him. You must try to understand that this is a world he is completely unprepared for, no matter that he possesses the correct clothing and the only real requirement for membership—money.”

“Until a short while ago I lived in a jungle.”

“But you are a woman, and we are much smarter.”

Sarah laughed at Daphne’s quiet certitude.

“Captain Bouchard is very much like my two sons, Sarah. You cannot tell them what it is you want them to do. You must make them believe the idea was theirs to begin with. I expect he is rather intimidated by your recently elevated status. Don’t be surprised if he is somewhat prickly.”

“He was prickly before he learned of my family connections. He’s behaved rudely from the first moment I met him.”

“I believe that is his usual way of going on. He exhibited shocking rudeness when I first met him. When he wasn’t actually going out of his way to taunt me, he was completely dismissive.”

“That is exactly how he’s behaved toward me.”

“I doubt he has behaved exactly the same way toward you.”

Sarah’s face burned as she recalled three episodes when he’d been anything but dismissive.

“Daphne.” Mia’s voice came from behind them. “I must interrupt you two for a moment and introduce Miss Fisher to the Misses Manton and their brother, Viscount Danforth.”