Page 12 of The Rules of Courtship
“We haven’t eaten yet,” Jane whispered back. “You just cleaned them.”
Catherine sucked on her teeth anyway, smoothing down her bodice.
Ruth couldn’t help but chuckle. “You both look beautiful.”
They gave her grateful smiles.
“Ruth,” Samuel said, dipping in a bow. “Miss Temple, MissJane. Have you all had the fortune of meeting my cousin, Mr. Rose?”
“We have,” Jane said, her smile so wide Ruth would worry for the state of her mental health if she had not known how eager this young woman was to meet the Harewood men. “Welcome to our home.”
“We are glad to have you both,” Catherine said. “What a joy it was to hear that you would be joining us this week.”
Samuel glanced at Oliver briefly before laying his smile on Ruth. “You have Miss Wycliffe to thank for that. When we heard she was to be attending, we immediately cleared our schedules so we could be here as well.”
Ruth’s cheeks warmed, though she hadn’t the least notion why. “He is being intolerably silly, of course.”
Samuel’s grin didn’t falter, which, strangely, only confirmed her claim.
“If I could have your attention,” Lord Rocklin said, his voice booming through the room. Everyone quieted at once, the groups turning to face him. “Dinner is ready. Given the nature of this house party, we decided it would be much simpler to keep a casual table. Please sit where you’d like. As we will not have even numbers, there is no particular seating arrangement at these dinners.”
There was a general murmur of agreement as the chatter immediately grew, people finding their tablemates and starting toward the open doors.
Ruth avoided Samuel’s eyes and looked to the Temple sisters. They were eagerly watching both Harewood men, and it was abundantly clear Ruth would be the one who needed to find a different dinner partner. Samuel and Oliver were much too polite to leave such eager women standing alone in favor of someone they regarded as a friend. Of the three, Ruth would understand.
She supposed this was the component of feeling like a sisterthatwasn’ta benefit. If she could remove herself from the situation quickly, she would avoid all awkwardness. She scanned the immediate vicinity for anyone who appeared to need a dinner partner.
A gentleman rising from where he had been sitting on the sofa caught her eye. She had not noticed him before. He held her gaze for a moment. He was handsome, his dark hair styled forward. He didn’t look familiar in the least.
Ruth clutched Samuel’s wrist. “Who is that?”
He followed her gaze, and she felt him stiffen beneath her touch.
“Mr. Bailey,” Jane said. “He is a devout recluse. It’s a miracle my father enticed him to come to this party at all.”
Ruth approved. “How very?—”
“Antisocial?” Samuel asked.
“I was going to say mysterious.”
“Miss Temple,” Oliver said, “would you care to accompany me in to dinner?”
“I would love to.” Catherine dipped a curtsy, her cheeks growing pinker and somehow even lovelier. She took his arm, which did a weird twisting thing to Ruth’s stomach.
Well, that was strange.
Samuel looked between Ruth and Jane, a torn expression in his eyes. It was just as she had expected, and she needed to slip away somehow.
“Mr. Bailey is coming this way,” Jane said. “Goodness, he is frightening.”
“Frightening is not the word I would use,” Ruth murmured, making Oliver stop and look back at her.
“What word would you use?” Samuel asked.
Handsome, though she would not say it aloud. Mysterious. Dark. She settled on saying, “Interesting.”
“Miss Jane,” Mr. Bailey said, his voice thick and deep with ahusky quality she hadn’t expected. It made him seem broody as well. “Would you introduce me to your friends?”
