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Did he think that a declaration of love was all it would take to change her mind, make her surrender?
‘I wish you could trust me,’ Gray said, his smile quite gone. Then he turned. ‘Thank you, no, Godmama, I am not in need of a cup of tea. I have been looking for Gabrielle to see if she has a card for Lady Terrington’s ball.’
‘Aunt has kindly procured one for me. Will you be attending also, Gray?’
‘Of course. My valet is assembling my costume even as we speak, which is why I have hastened round to ensure that we are in harmony, Gabrielle.’
‘How do you know the theme?’ Aunt Henrietta demanded indignantly.
‘As soon as Tompkins discovered that it was the prestige event for this time of year he set about identifying sources in the Terrington household. A good valet is about more than well-polished boots.’
‘What are you going as?’ Gaby asked before George, who was scowling at his own Hessians, could speak.
‘One of the sultan’s Varangian guards. I thought perhaps you could be a lady from the harem.’
‘The harem? Most unsuitable,’ Aunt protested.
‘The harem is the women’s quarters within a household,’ Gray said with more patience than Gaby was feeling. ‘It implies no impropriety, rather the opposite, in fact, Godmama.’ He ignored her disbelieving snort and turned back to Gaby. ‘A friend of mine was in the diplomatic mission to Constantinople a few years ago and brought back a number of garments and trinkets for his wife and daughters. I called on him earlier and they are very happy to lend you the makings of an outfit, Gabrielle, if you go round to see them.’
‘How kind. When would it be convenient to call, do you think?’ Say now.
‘Now,’ Gray said obligingly. ‘If that would suit.’
‘But I was going to dress you, Gabrielle,’ her aunt interjected. ‘I want to make certain that your costume is perfectly proper.’
‘It is very kind of you, Aunt. But if these ladies have the genuine costumes it would save you both time and cost and I would not want to put you to any inconvenience or expense for the world.’
They escaped eventually, out into a faint drizzle that dampened the air and made the pavement shine with wetness. ‘The fine weather has gone. Autumn is well and truly here,’ Gray said as he helped her into the vehicle waiting at the kerb. ‘It is a good thing that Godmama has not realised it is raining or she’d never let you go off in something so scandalous as a closed carriage.’
‘She was trying to convince me that you are a hopeless rake. George’s little romance, the one with the promising dowry attached, has evaporated. Miss Henderson has fixed her heart on a wealthy poet.’ Gaby tried to breathe evenly as Gray settled beside her and reached up to rap on the roof. She could not, must not, let him affect her so. It was over, however much he might call her his love.
‘I take it you are not tempted by George’s few charms?’
‘No. My affections are fixed on an utterly impossible rakehell earl,’ Gaby said as lightly as she could. Let him think she was teasing, she thought in the split second before she was in his arms and being comprehensively, deliciously, kissed.
‘We must not, you know we must not.’ She gasped the moment he set her free. They were both breathing hard, she realised, both of them leaning back against the squabs side by side. Only their fingers touched. It felt like their entire bodies.
‘I am not made of stone,’ Gray said. ‘Nor, I’ll have you know, am I a rakehell.’
‘I know you are not. I’m not made of stone either.’
His hand opened and curled around hers, strong and sure—and as powerless as she was in the face of circumstance. ‘Wishing it was otherwise will not help and I am not Alexander the Great, or any other hero of antiquity, to solve this conundrum.’
‘Not all puzzles have a solution,’ Gaby said. ‘And this is not one you can slash through with an axe, not without causing endless damage.’
‘This ball will be magical, a fantasy out of time, out of place. We will dance every dance, cause a scandal, have a memory to hold. You can be so alarmed at the scandal in the cold light of day that you can use it as an excuse for
Godmama when you break off the engagement and go back to Portugal.’
‘Oh, yes.’
‘Yes to the alarm or yes to the dances?’
‘To the dances, of course. But perhaps not every one—you have to live in London after I have gone, after all. Just the waltzes, don’t you think? That would be shocking enough. But how is your little boy? I would have asked at once, but I did not think you would want to hear Aunt’s opinions on childrearing in general, the treatment of head injuries or all the things you are undoubtedly doing wrong because of not taking her advice earlier.’
‘He is doing even better than he was when I wrote to thank you for your note and the toys you sent for the children. Jamie is flourishing, the doctors are all in agreement that he is perfectly well, although he may never recall the hours leading up to the accident. Joanna is happy now her twin is no longer sick and Mama is completely ignoring my pleas for her to rest and is cutting a swathe through every fashionable establishment in London, every art exhibition and all the intellectual salons to which her contacts can give her the entrée. She says she feels ten years younger and I live in dread of some silver-haired charmer marrying her out of hand.’
‘I am so glad.’ She dared do no more than squeeze his hand. ‘You must have been frantic with worry.’
