Page 7 of A Deal with the Broken Duke
There were probably some ladies who would have enjoyed being spoken to in that tone, but it made Juliet’s skin crawl. It made her want to take several steps away.
She didnotbelong to Lord Stickland.
Still, she knew she had to treat him with courtesy, so she braced herself and turned to face him.
“Hello, Lord Stickland.”
“What a pleasure it is to see you again! And what a long winter it’s been, I must say.” He looked her up and down, and it made her feel as if she was a horse he was considering for purchase. “You only get lovelier each time I see you.”
“Thank you,” Juliet said stiffly.
“Will you grant me the first dance?”
“Is this the first dance?” she deflected.
“The first since you arrived. I noticed you the moment you entered, of course.”
She was probably going to have to dance with him, little though she liked to encourage him. “All right,” she said. “But my wine—”
“We’ll get you another when this is finished.” He took her arm firmly. There was no point in resisting. “Don’t worry, Lady Juliet, there is always plenty of wine, but the dances are numbered!”
And, so saying, he led her out to the dance floor.
Lord Stickland spent most of their dance talking about himself—about his business ventures, mainly—and Juliet was reminded why she didn’t much like him. He wasn’t unkind. It was nothing like that. But he was dull, and he had never taken any interest in her beyond her looks. She found him to be shallow, and she didn’t enjoy his company.
When the dance was over, he tried to hold onto her for the second of the set, but she freed herself.
“I see my brother,” she said by way of an excuse. “And I really must speak with him.”
“I’ll find you again later, then!”
Juliet was sure he would. No matter what was going on around them, he always seemed to find her. There was nothing that would get in his way when he was determined to be at her side.
She hurried over to Daniel.
But as she approached, she nearly turned and ran right back the way she had come.
Daniel had found Harry. And Harry had just looked over Daniel’s shoulder and locked eyes with her.
CHAPTERTWO
“Don’t look now,” Harry murmured. “But I think a young lady is coming over to introduce herself to you.”
Actually, he was hoping that he was wrong about that and that the young lady approaching them now was coming to introduce herself tohim. She was beautiful. And though, of course, he had no intention of entering into any courtships or engagements this season, it would have felt good to know that he had the ability to get a young lady’s attention from across the room like that. He wanted her to notice him, even though he knew for certain that nothing would come of it if she had.
Daniel turned around to look.
Harry rolled his eyes. “What did I just say?. I saiddon’tlook.”
But Daniel was laughing. “She’s not coming to introduce herself!” he said. “Don’t you recognize a familiar face when you see one, Harry? That’s Juliet!”
“Juliet? Your sister Juliet?”
Harry could see it now that Daniel had pointed it out to him. She didn’t lookthatdifferent. But until Daniel had said it, Harry wouldn’t have recognized her. He hadn’t seen her in six years, after all, and she had certainly changed a great deal since then. Harry remembered Juliet as a sort of awkward-looking girl, not as a beauty.
“She looks good,” he noted.
“I told her you were going to be here tonight,” Daniel said. “I should reintroduce the two of you to each other.”
