Page 24 of The Viscount's Unwanted Bride
That Longley was giving control to Lady Katherine—Kate—spoke volumes about his affection and respect for her.
“May I speak with Lady Katherine, then?” He might as well get this over with as quickly as possible. Hopefully God would hear his prayers, and she would turn him down. Even better, perhaps she’d already won the affection of a higher-ranked peer, so no one would remark upon this unfortunate incident when she married him instead.
“Boden!” Andrew called.
The butler appeared behind them as if he’d been hovering there the whole time. He probably had. Servants were notoriously nosy.
“Yes, my lord?”
“Please ask Lady Katherine to come down to the drawing room. You may inform her that Lord Blackwell is here to call on her.”
The butler bowed. “Very good, my lord.”
He gave Theo a dirty look as he backed away.
Longley rose and gestured for Theo to precede him through the office door. He led Theo down the corridor and across to a drawing room decorated in shades of white and green. “You can wait here.”
“You aren’t staying with us?” Theo asked, surprised for a third time.
“No. Kate will bring a chaperone with her, and she’ll be more comfortable discussing matters with you without me here tooverhear them. That said, if you put a foot out of line, I’ll know about it.”
Theo didn’t doubt that. There was something oddly unsettling about this serious, flinty-eyed version of the earl.
Longley nodded once and departed. Theo debated whether to sit on one of the chaises or the many chairs but opted to remain standing in a show of respect for Lady Katherine, who would no doubt join him soon.
He paced across the room and back, wondering how he might phrase this so as to give her the genuine option of marriage should she want it while also encouraging her to refuse him.
He honestly didn’t want the girl to be ruined. She didn’t deserve that. But she also deserved better than a lifetime bound to a man who’d already driven one wife to her death.
Soft footfalls approached, and a moment later, the butler entered and held the door open. Two women came through, arm in arm.
Two.
Neither was a maid. They both wore dresses fit for aristocrats. To his consternation, both women had reddish hair and therefore could be Longley’s sister—although the one on the left’s hair was brighter than the other’s. They both had light eyes and pretty smiles.
He looked from one to the other, and his gut sank to his shoes. Dear God, he had no idea which one was Lady Katherine Drake.
He bowed to them. “My ladies.”
Both women curtsied to him in return. As they straightened, he studied their faces, desperate for any hint as to which woman he ought to be addressing. The one on the left had a hint of mischief in her eyes and an impish twist to her smile. She wasdefinitely the sort of young lady his brother would be able to lure onto a balcony.
Deciding that the redheaded imp was most likely Lady Katherine, he angled himself toward her. “May we speak in private, my lady?”
She frowned, her cheeky smile twisting down in disapproval. “I suppose we could, but I’d have thought it was Lady Katherine you’re most in need of talking to.”
The air in the drawing room chilled by several degrees. Painfully slowly, Theo turned toward the other woman. The one with hair that was more a burnished shade of blonde than red and gray eyes that gleamed with intelligence and not even the faintest trace of mischief.
Oh, hell.
Thiswas Lady Katherine.
He’d directed his question to the wrong woman, and judging from the imperious arch of her eyebrow and the thin line of her lips, she was unimpressed by his error. Of course she was. Anyone would be if they’d supposedly had a scandalous interlude with someone the night prior and he couldn’t recognize her the following day.
But by God, she wasn’t at all the type of woman he’d have expected his brother to pursue. Everything about her from her body language to her attire screamed that she was a proper, well-raised gentlewoman. He’d never have guessed this demure creature had the fortitude to venture onto a balcony alone with someone as rakish as his brother.
Drawing in a deep breath, he bowed so low, he felt like a pauper scraping before the king. “My apologies, Lady Katherine. Your companion is correct. It has been a long night and I’m out of sorts. I should have addressed myself to you immediately.”
“It’s all right, Lord Blackwell.” Her voice was soft and melodious, but there was a coolness to it he’d no doubt deserve ifhe’d actually been the man she’d met last night. “We were never officially introduced. I’m Lady Katherine Drake, and this is my friend, Lady Sophie Carlisle. She’s been good enough to keep me company on this trying day.”
