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Jeremy wrinkled his nose and looked down into his glass.
Lady Finch deserves better.
That thought came through starkly before he lifted his gaze once again, only to find Stephen’s gaze was no longer on Lady Finch at all, but on another lady in the room.
“Who are you looking at? The lady you hope to spend your night with?” Jeremy asked, eager to change the conversation.
“Far from it. I think this lady would prefer you to I.”
“Who?”
Stephen lifted his hand and used his brandy glass to point across the room. He was gesturing to a lady Jeremy knew well, and who was currently taking to the dancefloor on the arm of Sir Arnold.
Lady Elkins.
Jeremy sighed as he looked at her. It was the same every time that he saw her. The same attraction, the same stiffening, the same want lingering beneath the surface, and then there was the refusal. He looked away, trying to forget she was there at all.
“What? You are pretending she does not exist now?” Stephen scoffed at the idea, shaking his head. “Jeremy, you have told me again and again that you only spend nights with women you do not know.”
“Just so. It is the way to avoid any personal attachment to the lady.”
“Yes, but are you not tempted to bend your rule for the lovely Lady Elkins?” Stephen gestured to her once again. “Is she not a beauty?”
“A beauty? To be sure. I knew that the first night I saw her, and it is not something that has gone away.” Jeremy’s eyes settled on her as Lady Elkins took to the floor.
If anything, her beauty has only matured.
He could not put his finger exactly on what had changed, but since she had become a widow, Lady Elkins seemed a little different. She no longer turned her head to hide away, nor did she stay quiet. He had seen on more than one occasion of late that she would speak her mind and lift her chin in challenge. It made their bickering sessions all the more alluring to him.
“You are not tempted?” Stephen asked, elbowing Jeremy when he grew impatient for an answer. “Judging from the way she was looking at you just now as she introduced us to her friend, I do not think she would say no.”
“She would say no.” Jeremy was firm with the words as he sat forward. “Lady Elkins is not that kind of lady. She is proper, rigid in her formalities.”
“She doesn’t seem so proper to me right now,” Stephen said with a chuckle and gestured forward. Jeremy watched as Sir Arnold was bold with Lady Elkins in their dance together. His hand wandered further across her back, suggesting an intimacy between them.
It was an action that was hidden by the crowd of dancers, and would have gone unnoticed by most, yet Jeremy and Stephen had the perfect view between two couples that had parted.
“How dare he touch her like that?” Jeremy snapped and lowered his glass. “It is audacious.”
“Listen to you?” Stephen chuckled. “You sounded almost formal.”
“If Lady Elkins is considering lowering her standards of propriety, then it should not be for a man like him.” Jeremy motioned forward, feeling a sudden surge of anger overtake him. His eyes flitted between Lady Elkins and her dance partner once again.
Lady Elkins’ brown locks had a touch of amber to them in this light. Those curls that framed her face teased the curve of her neck, letting his eyes drop down to the curve of her bosom. There was a rosiness to her cheeks and chest too, prompting Jeremy to wonder of what ways he could make her blush more.
Keep your mind off such things, Jeremy.
He lifted his gaze then, observing her dark brown eyes, so deep it was easy to get lost in them. Those dark eyes were staring at Sir Arnold.
Why does she stare at him like that? He hardly warrants staring at!
When Sir Arnold bent down to whisper something in Lady Elkins’ ear as they danced together, Jeremy lost control. He downed what was left in his glass and stood to his feet.
“Where are you going?” Stephen asked, tipping his head back to watch Jeremy.
“I suddenly have an urge to dance.” Jeremy lowered his glass down to a table and took off in the direction of the dancefloor, only just catching Stephen’s words before he left.
“I wonder why,” he murmured.
