AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Marc had no idea if he’d been invited or not. He paid very little attention to invitations he received and rarely attended any social functions. But he also knew that neither Cordie nor Clayworth would toss him from their home, invitation or no invitation. And an event without children did sound promising. In fact, he was liking the sound of that more and more. “Should I follow you to Clayworth’s, will you save me a dance?” Or every last one of them, if that wouldn’t get tongues wagging all over Town. Not that it would even matter at this point if they were already in thegossiprags.
“I can’t imageyoudancing a reel,” she said, her warm eyes captivating him likenothingelse.
“Me neither,” he agreed. “Best make it a waltz. I do quite nicely atthose.”
A delicate cough from a few feet away reminded them both that there were others in the room. Marc had quite forgotten Juliet and Felicity were still in the parlor, and if the slight blush on Caroline’s cheeks was any indication, she’d forgotten themaswell.
“Now that we are friends,” Caroline said, starting back toward her seat, “should I expect you to calloften?”
Every damned day of her life. However long it took… “As often as you’ll receive me.” He followed her further into the room and stopped before the seat Peasemore had abandoned. “But you didn’t answer my question. Should I decide to brave society tonight and attend a proper function, will you save me awaltz?”
“Do friends,onlyfriends, waltz?” she asked, with that endearing twinkle back inhereyes.
Friends. What a bloody awful word. “The very best ones do,” he assured her. What he wouldn’t do to scoop her up in his arms and carry her straight to her bedchambers and be the furthest thing from her friend. But they did have an audience. So Marc turned his gaze onto Felicity Carraway. “And I will expectyouto keep your husband away from me. One more punch thrown my way and he won’t like theoutcome.”
Felicity shook her head slightly. “I’ll make certain he’s on his best behavior.” And then she laughed. “Something I never thought I’d have to sayaboutFin.”
* * *
Sebastian Alder,the Earl of Peasemore, paused outside the parlor and cringed. What rotten luck he had. What were the bloody odds his cousin’s wife would have been at Staveley House when he arrived? Felicity was certainly throwing a wrench into his plans. How could he garner Lady Staveley’s trust with his new cousin perpetually in the way? He hadn’t, after all, absconded with that damn cat for nothing. The dratted thing was supposed to buy him entrance into her home and grant him the status of trusted confidant in the process. But now, between the three ladies in that parlor, they were plotting to help him find arealbride? Damn it all. The last thing in the world he wanted was arealbride. Not now, in anyevent.
Of course, his grandmother had threatened to cut off his allowance, but the old dragon would never really do so. Sebastian had plenty of good years before he’d have to settle for the boring life that awaited him somewhere down the road. And by then, he’d have several adventures to think back on fondly. Something that would have given his humdrum existence moremeaning.
And in the present, he had a job to do. One he’d hoped he’d accomplished with that damned journal the other night. But there was nothing in the blasted thing except the musings of a brilliant, but ratherdry,mind.
Sebastian quietly started down the corridor toward the Staveley study to replace the pointless book he’d pilfered during his previous midnight jaunt through Staveley House. Replace that book and look for another, something that would be easier to do during the light of day, but with a townhouse full of his relations andHavershamwho was continually inhisway…
One would think that infiltrating a group of double agents in Napoleonic France would be lesschallenging.
He found the study open and quietly slipped inside. He opened the desk drawer where he’d found the journal, retrieved the leather book from his jacket and replaced it. Then he opened the next drawer and then the next, rifling through the loose papers--correspondence from the late viscount’s sister, some from his solicitor, and one from the Earl of Masten, but nothing that remotely resembled the deciphered or partially-deciphered code he wassearchingfor.
Sebastian felt around the edges of each drawer, hoping to find some evidence of a false bottom. He tapped the legs and underside of the desk, listening for a hollow space where one might hide matters of national security. And he perused the few books on the shelf in the far side of the room. All to noavail.
After the other night and now today, he was relatively certain there was nothing to be found in the study. So where else would Staveley keep something of value? Hisbedchamber, perhaps? It was unlikely Sebastian would get an invitation to that particular room, not as long as Lady Staveley was searching for a real bride for him. And not with that damned Haversham hanging about. Misanthropic villain thathewas.
Sebastian returned to the corridor and took a few stepsbefore…
“May I help you with something, sir?” a man asked frombehindhim.
Blast and damn. Sebastian glanced back over his shoulder to find the Staveley butler eyeing him suspiciously. “Just leaving,thankyou.”
Chapter10
Caroline should be thinkingabout assisting Lord Peasemore. She should be sorting out which girl would be his best match. She should be plotting the best course forward. But all she could think about was the twinkle in Marc’s light blue eyes, the promise of dancing in his arms, and imagining how that would feel. Would it be as heady as it felt in her dreams? She glanced at her reflection in the mirror and grinned like an idiot. She was very clearly losing her mind, but her heart was lighter than it had been in forever, and being in his presence made her feel alive, perhaps more so than sheeverhad.
After kissing her daughters goodnight and tucking them into bed, Caroline traveled the short distance to Clayworth House. She glanced out at the sea of carriages, and anticipation tiptoed up her spine at the mere thought of seeing Marcagain.
Heavens. Had she been this foolish at fifteen? Was that why Robert had married her off to David without a moment’s hesitation? Had he been terrified she’d throw her lot in with the wrong sort and never recover from some scandal? She probably would have done so. Though probably not with Marc. She only remembered seeing him once that season, across the park with some woman no one would mistake for a lady. He’d been strikingly handsome then, that dark hair and those light eyes, though not nearly as well filled out as he was now; but he had such a dangerous reputation, even then, what with that awful kidnapping of the Burke girl. Caroline had been too terrified to even look his direction. Not Marc. No. She probably would have ended up falling for someone equally depraved, however. Thurlstone or Gresham—any number of Luke’s friends who all seemed to be of the same ilk. But Robert had arranged for her to marry the mild-mannered and very harmless David Bentoninstead.
Caroline heaved a sigh and rested her cheek against the cool glass of the carriage window. David was such a lovely man. So kind, so caring. Devoted. Loyal. Steady. Not that she’d thought any of that appealing at the time. She’d been so furious with Robert, as David was hardly the stuff of which girlish dreams were made. What girl dreamt ofsteady, after all? But, in the end, David had been exactly what, or ratherwhom,she’d needed. The calm to her tempest, all of their years. And shehadloved him. He’d been so good to her, to their children. How couldshenot?
What would he think if he could see her now? Was he shaking his head and sighing as he was wont to do? Or was his nose stuck in some heavenly book in some far corner of some ethereal library, having completely forgotten he should be looking after her,evennow?
Her carriage finally reached the front of Clayworth House and a footman opened the door, offering her his hand. She thanked her coachman and made her way up the front stoop and into the townhouse. It was already a crush, people filling parlors and salons, even the corridor as she navigated her way to theballroom.
She scanned the room quickly, hoping for some sign of Marc, to no avail. Her heart twisted a bit at that, which was foolish. He was herfriend,nothing else. She’d been very clear about that with him. But she wasn’t so clear about that with herself,apparently.
Caroline did notice Juliet, across the room next to Luke, gesturing for her to join them. So she pressed her way through the crowd and once there, she grinned up at her olderbrother.
