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Watching his wife waltz in his friend's arms was surprisingly distracting. Edwin knew that he had to remain on Lord Casper's good side, he was trying to recruit the man's vote after all, but Eleanor was looking stunningly gorgeous tonight. He much preferred having her on his arm than anywhere else, even if it was only Wesley. When she was dancing, Eleanor practically glowed, assisted by the gleaming yellow satin of the gown she was wearing. It made her look like candlelight, like an angel floating across the floor; she was so fresh and bright it almost hurt to look at her, but he couldn't look away. If she was dancing with anyone other than Wesley he wouldn't have been able to contain himself and would have ended the conversation with Casper to cut in, vote or not.
So when the other Lord began to make biting insinuations about Wesley's character and his probable pursuit of Eleanor, it was all Edwin could do to stay polite. Fortunately Alex joined them right at about that time, giving Edwin the opportunity to get his temper back in line. He knew full well where Lord Casper's bile was coming from - he'd been having a tempestuous affair with Lady St. Aubren and the lady had used Wesley to make the other lord jealous. Apparently it had worked.
But Edwin trusted Wesley implicitly and he knew that there were no feelings like that between Wesley and Eleanor.
Still, when they returned he rather firmly pulled Eleanor into his side again, this time holding her there with an arm around her waist, hand splayed possessively over her hip. She looked up at him with an almost bemused expression and he desperately wished it wouldn't be completely out of bounds for him to kiss her right there and then. Propriety had to be maintained, however, especially in front of a conservative moralist like Casper.
Fortunately Wesley's presence had the Lord taking his leave as soon as he'd bowed over Eleanor's hand, practically stalking away after giving Wesley the cut. Not that it bothered Wesley at all, of course, it would only enhance the reputation that he was garnering for himself. Edwin knew that Wesley worked quite a bit more than he claimed, but he seemed to want to hide his responsible activities behind his reputation for being anything but. Perhaps a habit from when his father was alive.
Actually, Edwin wasn’t quite sure where Wesley got his energy from. He was out all night, tending to his duties during the day, fairly active in Parliament… but then again he didn’t have a wife to keep track of and occasionally chase after.
"Lady Hyde, how are you this evening?" Alex asked politely by way of greeting.
For a long moment Eleanor studied him, a slightly contemptuous frown on her face and Edwin frowned down at her, squeezing her side before she finally responded. "Very well thank you."
Wesley raised an eyebrow as Edwin's expression darkened. Eleanor could feel him beside her like a dark cloud. There was no excuse for being rude, especially to one of his friends, whether or not the man was unhappily married to her friend.
"Are you enjoying the ball?" Alex didn't look at all perturbed by her cold manner and her lack of reciprocated questioning.
"I was."
"Nell," Edwin growled. Rather than looking up at him she looked away, towards the dancers, fan fluttering furiously in front of her face as she studiously avoided Edwin's glare, Wesley's amusement and Lord Brooke's neutral expression. She knew she was being rude... but really! The man was married to her best friend and she knew that their marriage was desperately unhappy, not only that but he was constantly seen with various cooing women on his arm!
Normally he was at least courteous enough about it to avoid Grace so that she wasn't humiliated, but from having visited her friend the day before she knew that Lord Brooke had practically been stalking his wife through the ton's events. He was the reason Grace had stayed home tonight. When Eleanor had visited her friend had been pacing the floor, nervous and overwrought.
"I can't eat... I can't sleep... He's just there, he's always there," Grace had said, wringing her hands. The dark circles beneath her eyes had been testament to her restless nights and Eleanor had been helpless to do anything but sit there and listen. "He just stands there, watching me, always with another woman on his arm... he doesn't care. Why should he? I've just barely managed to stay on the right side of the ton, only the high sticklers won't receive me, but I can go anywhere else... and he's going to ruin it for me, I know it. I can always feel everyone watching us, just waiting for one of us to do something. I swear they’re all sending us both invitations, hoping that we’ll cause some kind of scandal at their party... I can't take it anymore Eleanor. I swore I wouldn't let that man effect my life but I just can't stay here in London any longer if he's here too, I can't."
Remembering Grace's distress, Eleanor had absolutely no compunction about her rude behavior to Lord Brooke. If it wasn't for him, Grace would be here right now, keeping her company, laughing, dancing and happy. Instead she was at home, a ball of misery, and soon she might not even be in London.
"Yes?" she asked, keeping her voice distant and light, as if her heart wasn't pounding inside of her chest. Whatever punishment Edwin came up for her blatant rudeness, it would be worth it to show Lord Brooke that not every woman thought he was divine. She'd seen them flocking around him, teasing and flirting. The coldness of his gaze and the hard, unsmiling face (handsome or not) didn’t seem to deter them at all. At this point everyone was used to Lord Brooke’s somber expression and rarely thought anything of it.
The growl that came from deep in Edwin's chest sent a shudder through her, but she wasn't going to bend to his will on this, she thought fiercely. As her husband, he shouldn't ask it of her!
"My apologies for my wife's behavior," he said in a deep, angry voice to Lord Brooke. Eleanor's head whipped around, her eyes wide with indignation. How dare he speak for her! "I assure you she will be thoroughly... disciplined for her rudeness."
The little break in his speech made Eleanor gape at him, especially when Wesley chuckled. Did Wesley and Lord Brooke know? Did they understand... had Edwin been telling them that he spanked her?
Humiliation swamped her, red heat rising in her face and now she couldn't look in the men's eyes for an entirely different reason.
"Don't be too hard on her," said Lord Brooke, his voice almost gentle. She peeked at him through her lashes, surprised. Even more so when she saw the expression on his face. Somehow he didn't look as hard and craggy, he looked almost... approving. "I know she's Grace's friend and I appreciate loyalty."
The dryness of his tone had her frowning. He appreciated loyalty? Then how did he explain his faithlessness to his marriage vows? He didn't want Edwin to be too hard on her - so he did know that she'd earned herself a spanking. Or was he just speaking in general? Eleanor stared at him in confusion, opening her mouth and then closing it again, unsure of what she wanted to say.
For a very brief moment a smile flashed across Lord Brooke's face, making him look much younger and much more handsome. Then it was gone. She stared at him in some shock at the glimpse of a man the ton never saw.
"I'll keep your perspective in mind," Edwin said, although his voice was still too tightly controlled to be anything other than angry. "I think it's best we go now, Nell seems to be rather tired."
She wasn't, but she knew that Edwin wasn't going to give her any more chance to misbehave. That was part of the punishment of course, taking her away from a ball that he assumed she wanted to be at. If only he knew that she'd much rather be at home with him.
Of course, she'd have preferred to be at home with him with her bottom unpunished, but she had a feeling that was no longer in the cards tonight.
Chapter 9
For once Edwin couldn’t contain his anger until they’d gotten home. He managed to be civil enough to their hosts as they departed the ball, but as soon as they got into the carriage and the noise of travel made it impossible for the groom to hear him, he let vent his frustration with his wife.
"What happened in there?" he demanded, his voice low and harsh. "Why were you so rude to Lord Brooke?"
"Because he deserved it," Eleanor retorted, although she wasn't quite so certain of that anymore. His reaction hadn't been at all what she'd thought it would be, in fact he didn't seem nearly to be the kind of indifferent and uncaring brute that Grace had made him out to be. Would someone like that tell Edwin to go easy on her? Commend her loyalty to her friend?
