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“Not tiresome at all, my lord,” she replied, yet her gaze remained fixed on something beyond his shoulder. “However, you caught me at a busy time.”
“Busy? Please, enlighten me.”
For a moment, her gaze moved to his, and she regarded him thoughtfully. “How do I know if I can trust you?” Her eyebrows rose challengingly. “Perhaps it would not be wise to trust a stranger with such an important secret.”
Jasper could tell that she was teasing him, but was she also testing him? “How do you suggest I prove myself, my lady? Name the challenge, and I shall prove my worth.”
For another few dance steps, she seemed to regard him carefully, as though weighing her options. Yet every once in a while, her gaze flitted either past his shoulder or sideways to the right or left, always directed at either the refreshment table or the tall arched windows on the eastern side.
“Well?” Jasper prompted, as he could bear the suspense no longer. Yet he could not deny that he savored each and every time her delicate hand slipped back into his own. He wished he could move closer, perhaps whisper into her ear or feel her breath upon his skin. An arm’s length between them was simply too great a distance…especially for whispering secrets to one another—whatever they were.
Or for stealing a kiss.
Jasper almost flinched as that thought instantly drew his attention to her lips, a sensual curl to them that he found utterly irresistible. Again, he stared, felt the urge to move closer, to ignore each and every societal rule and kiss Lady Edith right here on the dance floor.
Another turn brought her back to him, and again she all but squinted her eyes before a dawning look of realization lit up her face. Fortunately, her distractedness stopped Jasper from doing something unwise. So, instead of stealing a kiss, he turned his head to see what she had just noticed…but failed to understand. All he saw were Lord and Lady Cumberton’s guests, mingling, chatting, dancing. Nothing out of the ordinary.
“Are you by any chance acquainted with the Scots who arrived a few days past?” Lady Edith inquired suddenly, her gaze now fixed upon his face, eagerly awaiting his answer.
Jasper frowned, then tensed when a new thought occurred to him. Was she asking him this because she had taken a liking to one of them? Indeed, the thought was most painful, and he was surprised to feel red-hot jealousy shoot to his heart, squeezing it cruelly. “Why do you ask?”
The left corner of her mouth twitched. “That is none of your concern,” she said sweetly, as though complimenting his dancing. “Your choices are these: assist me or not.”
Jasper frowned, disliking this game while also reveling in it. “Assist you with what?”
“First, give me your answer,” she insisted, her eyes looking into his, as though the rest of the world no longer existed. Jasper rather liked it. Oh, she had a way of making him forget everything else!
He inhaled a deep breath, considering her words, at the same time certain that he could not deny her. “Very well.”
A radiant smile came to her face, and yet it was a look of relief that lit up her eyes, making him realize how much this plan—whatever it was!—meant to her.
“What then will you have me do, my lady?”
A contemplative expression came to her face, and once again her gaze swept from one side of the ballroom to the other as though she were considering her next steps. “Do you see that tall, dark-haired Scotsman over there?” She nodded her chin to a man beyond his shoulder.
A few more steps and Jasper was facing the direction she had indicated. “I believe I have met him before.” His frown deepened. “Why?” Suspicion clung to that one word, and his hand momentarily tensed upon hers.
The smile upon her face deepened as she saw his reaction. “Are you jealous?” she asked, as though they had known each other forever, as though they were confidants, as though he had every right to be jealous.
Jasper wanted to laugh her question off but could not. His gaze held hers, and he could see that she understood his answer. “I’ve known you for no more than a matter of days, and yet…”
Not saying a word, Lady Edith merely nodded. Still, all of a sudden, there seemed to be a deeper understanding between them. Jasper could not put it into words, but it was there like the air he drew into his lungs.
The dance then came to an end, and the music faded away. Lady Edith took his arm, and together, they moved off the dance floor. “In five minutes,” she whispered, leaning closer, “come and find me,” her blue eyes looked into his, before a wicked curl came to her lips, “and bring him.” Her brows rose as her eyes moved past him, indicating the tall, dark-haired Scotsman.
Jasper felt himself tense, and yet the look upon her face spoke of delight. Was it her intention to make him jealous? Or was it simply a pleasant byproduct of her original plan? Jasper did not know, and he loved and hated that fact with equal measure. She was indeed unpredictable and mysterious. Was that not precisely what he had always hoped to find in a woman?
Watching her return to her friend, Jasper heaved a deep breath, still a bit shocked at her impertinence, her way of addressing a virtual stranger in such a direct manner. However, what shocked him even more was the fact that he was more than willing to comply.
Chapter Six
MATCHMAKING
For the past few days, Edith had been racking her mind about what to do, about how to help her friend. Whenever she spotted Adele and Lord Aberley together, it became abundantly clear that they were not well matched; a fact that seemed to escape their parents entirely.
Indeed, upon returning to their chamber the day of their arrival, Edith had found her friend most distraught. Adele, too, had just returned from her stroll through the gardens with Lord Aberley, and it had made her realize that she did not care for him…and never would.
Edith had seen that with one glance. “He’s a decent man, is he not?” she had asked, nonetheless.
