Page 30 of The Wedding Challenge

There was another tap on the door, and two more young men entered, which rendered the box full to capacity, especially when Sir Lucien came in a moment later, carrying glasses for Francesca and Callie.

It seemed natural for Bromwell to move to the side, allowing the others more room, and his movement brought him closer to Callie, so that he stood between her and the outer ledge of the box.

“I had heard that the duke had left London,” he commented casually. “I was surprised to find you here tonight.”

“I am visiting Lady Haughston,” Callie replied. “She kindly invited me to stay with her until the Season begins, when my family will return.”

Now that he was this close, she had to tilt her head back a little to look up at him. His eyes, she noticed, were a dark gray in the low lights of the theater, the color of storm clouds. He was studying her, and she wished she knew what he was thinking. Had he thought of her the past few days? Had his surprise upon seeing her been mixed with pleasure?

He had come with his cousin to visit their box, even though it was clear that Mr. Tilford had only a slight acquaintance with Francesca. Surely that indicated an interest on the earl’s part. And while Callie knew quite well that it could have been Francesca’s blond beauty that drew the men, she did not think it was vain of her to suppose that Bromwell had come to see her. After all, he had not stayed near Francesca but had maneuvered his way closer to her.

Callie glanced away to hide the spurt of pleasure that the thought aroused in her.

“I am very grateful to Lady Haughston,” the earl told her. “I had feared that I might not see you before I had to return to the north.”

“Is that where your estates are?” Callie asked, as though she had not received an accounting of the man and his holdings from Sir Lucien an hour earlier.

“In Yorkshire. I know that I am an oddity among the ton. I will be leaving London when everyone else is starting to arrive for the Season. But I find the spring and summer too important a time to leave the estate.” He quirked an eyebrow. “Now you will look shocked and say surely I do not mean that I oversee the lands myself.”

“Indeed, no,” Callie replied. “I think it is only wise to pay attention to one’s estate. How else are you to insure that your land is being used properly? Or that your tenants are treated fairly?”

“You are an uncommon lady, then. I am usually told that I am lacking in gentility.”

“I can see by your grin that such an evaluation does not bother you overmuch.”

“I generally am not concerned with other people’s opinions of me,” he admitted. “Another reason I do not fit well into the ton.”

“Not everyone is so narrow-minded,” Callie protested.

He smiled. “I am very glad that you are not.”

She glanced down, slightly flustered by the way his smile made her feel inside. It was not the sort of reaction she was accustomed to feeling toward any man. She was not a girl fresh out of the schoolroom; she had spent five years in Society. She was well used to flirtations and meaningful glances and beckoning smiles. Long ago she had learned to put little stock in compliments, and she had never been one to turn breathless because a man looked at her.

But with this man, everything was different. He had only to look at her to make her heart race in her chest, and when he smiled at her, her insides fluttered. Callie wondered if he had any idea that he played such havoc with her senses.

Bromwell cast a glance over at his cousin, then turned back to Callie. “I must take my leave now. I can see that I am making poor Archie nervous. He worries that I will embarrass him by staying too long. He fears that I have lost my town bronze in the years out of London…if, indeed, I ever had any.”

“I feel sure that you exaggerate, my lord.”

He shrugged. “I have never been well-versed in the art of polite conversation. I am too prone to voicing my honest opinion.”

“That would be a drawback in social settings,” Callie agreed lightly. “But it seemed to me that you did well enough at talking the other night. As I remember, you were quite artful in your flattery.”

“Ah, but with you, you see, ’tis easy enough to pay pretty compliments, for one need only speak the truth.”

“You see?” Callie quirked a brow. “Artful.”

He smiled. “Now that we have been formally introduced, dare I hope that you will allow me to call upon you?”

She smiled and glanced down, a gesture that was more coy than she was accustomed to being, but she needed to buy herself a little time.

She could not deny the happy upsurge of her spirits at his words. It was gratifying to know that he wished to see her again, and she knew that she wanted to see him again, as well. But she also was very aware of the little fingers of doubt that tapped at her. Sinclair had told her not to see Bromwell again. If she allowed the earl to call on her, she would be going directly against Sinclair’s wishes, something she had never done before, at least in any serious way.

If only she knew the reason for Sinclair’s adamant dislike of the man. Was there something hidden beneath his handsome exterior, some inner weakness or sickness of the soul that made Sinclair react so strongly to her being alone with him? She knew that it was possible for a man to be quite other than he seemed. Over her years in the ton, Callie believed that she had become a good judge of character, but there were some men who could fool even the most cynical and suspicious of people. Moreover, she had long ago learned that the façade that gentlemen presented to ladies was often quite a different picture than what other gentlemen saw. It would be safer to do as her brother had ordered her.

And yet…His smile did something to her insides that no other smile ever had. And when she remembered the way he had kissed her, her loins were flooded again with heat. Her whole body had yearned toward him; she had wanted to press herself into him, to feel his hard muscle and bone sinking into her softer flesh. It was enough to make her blush, just thinking of it. She wanted to see him again. Quite frankly, she wanted to feel his lips on hers once more. Perhaps it was immoral of her, she thought. No doubt it was undutiful and disobedient. But right now, she did not care. For once in her life, she was going to do what she was not supposed to do.

She lifted her face. “I would like to see you again, my lord,” she told him boldly. “However, I think you forget—I am staying with Lady Haughston. ’Tis she you must receive permission to call on.”