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He bowed to her deeply, looking up to meet her gaze. “My lady, I hope you have saved some dances for me.”
She handed over her card, watching him pencil his name in. His expression soured, reading the names of the other men. Taking the card back, she noted that he had claimed the first and last sets, as though to bookend her evening.
“I’m surprised to see you here,” she said in a low voice, glancing around to see who might be eavesdropping or watching them.
“I am as well,” he smiled wryly. “But I thought it would be most peculiar for me to let my fiancée mingle at the Assembly without me.”
“How did you even know that I would be here?”
“The better question, I think, is why you would even try to suggest you wouldn’t be,” he countered. “From what I know of your mother, there is no way you would miss it.”
Lydia laughed. “Then you know her well, for I did try, and despite my efforts, here I am.”
“I’ll let you have a moment to claim other partners,” he said. “I will come around in a few moments for the first set.”
* * *
During their first set dancing together, Michael admitted to himself that it felt as intimate as their walks together in the country garden. With each step of the dance, where they could press their hands together, where her skin met his, burned with a fire.
When her eyes met his, he felt the reminders of when he pleasured her back in his study in Marigold. Having shared such intimate moments with her, he felt a rush, a guilty sense of pleasure, that every person around them had no idea the intimacy they had shared. He wished that he could whisk her away, show her that same pleasure again.
Even worse, though, was when he saw her dancing with the other partners. However, the rage within him nearly reached a boiling point when he saw Wycliff claim a second dance with her, a waltz, even. With his hand around Lydia’s waist, her body pressed close to him, he could not decide if he should walk away from the Assembly at once or challenge the man to a duel. Instead, he simmered, arms crossed, watching them.
“Your Grace, if you stare any harder, I dare say Lord Wycliff’s coattails will burn off.”
Michael started, turning quickly to find Lady Wenton right by his arm.
“Heavens,” he breathed under his breath, then cleared his throat. “My apologies, my lady, I did not see you there.”
“I dare say not,” she smiled wryly. “For I’ve been standing here for over a minute, watching you glare at my daughter.”
“I was not glaring at her,” he protested.
“No, I suppose not. But you cannot argue that Lord Wycliff has somehow invoked your anger.”
Michael did not respond. After staring back at Lydia for a moment, he forced himself to turn his attention to Lady Wenton.
“It’s a lovely Assembly tonight,” he said, trying to change the subject. “A great number of people in attendance.”
“Yes, I suppose this year that there is a great number of matches thetonis excited to see resolved. And shall I point out to you that your behavior, at the moment, is only adding fuel to the fire?”
“Why do you say that?”
She lowered her voice, such that it was just audible over the music. “Your Grace, there is word that you were called back to London under false pretenses. Some are saying that you made an excuse to get rid of my daughter, and that you plan to break your engagement any day now.”
His brows knitted together, trying to unpack her claim.
“Well, I do say that the speaker called me back, saying that I would be fined if I was not present at the vote, but no other lord has received a similar threat. I do believe that he was coerced in some manner.”
“Very interesting,” Lady Wenton mused.
“In regard to what society may believe, your daughter’s visit was not cut short for any reason that regarded her. In fact, I was quite displeased myself.”
Almost whispering, she asked, “But you do mean to break off the engagement soon.”
He nodded solemnly. “I have not decided when, just yet.”
“As a mother, and a woman that was once courted,” she started, following Michael’s gaze back to Lydia and Lord Wycliff. “I would ask you to reevaluate your decision, else you may regret it for the rest of your life.”
