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A name she did not know and had never heard mentioned by the old dragon who thought it important to teach them about the important families in theton. “To which family do you belong?”
A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “The Glendevons.”
Eleanor did not know what to say to that.
“Will you allow me your name?”
“Miss Ellie…Fairbanks.”
“How relieved I am to know it is not Mimi.”
She bit back her smile.
His eyes unexpectedly sharpened. “Any relation to Mr. Nicholas Fairbanks?”
She took a steady breath. Of course he had heard of her brothers and their wildness. “He is my brother, Mr. Glendevon.”
An even more inscrutable expression entered his eyes. “It is said he is the brother of an earl, an extremely wealthy one.”
“That he is.”
“That means you are the sister of an earl.”
“I am.”
“Ah.” That single expression had a wealth of meaning she did not understand. He looked away from her, his hands resting casually over the head of his cane, but somehow she sensed the tension in his frame. He was disturbed by something.
Mr. Glendevon leaned his head out the carriage window and ordered the coachman to drive around Mayfair until he was instructed otherwise. Eleanor supposed they could not descend and walk along the pavement without causing a scandal. She swallowed, knowing should anyone know they were secreted away in a carriage alone that would be far more scandalous and ruinous to the plans the dowager countess had for her and their family. “I should leave,” she said on the heels of that awareness.
“Do you truly want to?”
Ellie stared at him for precious seconds. “I am not the sort of lady to be so indecisive.”
He shifted on his seat, putting the cane to rest beside him. “I am interested to know the kind of lady you are.”
Though another thrill burst inside her heart, she bluntly asked, “Why?”
His frown chased his features and then his expression cooled. “Why indeed. No doubt a nonsensical desire. Please instruct me where I should let you off.”
“I do not want to be let off,” she confessed softly. “Though good sense says that I should demand it and flee from this remarkably reckless meeting.”
His mouth hitched at the corners. “Perhaps we can ignore good sense for a few moments.”
She found herself returning his smile, liking the irresistible beauty of it. The man was indeed too lovely. Some would call him perhaps pretty if not for the cynical curve about his mouth and a jadedness that shone from his eyes. He seemed like a man who had seen the world and found it…disappointing. Eleanor lowered her gaze to the package by his side, at a loss of what to say and knowing they could not simply stare at each other.
He took it up and started to unwrap it.
“You do not have to pull your parcel,” she said, a bit alarmed.
“You are curious about it,” he said mildly.
She blinked, astonished at him. “And that I am curious is enough?”
“Yes.”
“You are an unusual man.”
He paused, lifting his head from his task. The slow, sensual curve of his mouth sent off wild flutters in her belly. There was that peculiar warmth again, and the way it filled her entire body bewildered Eleanor.
