Page 43 of The Lady Who Said No to the Duke
‘Indeed?’The other man looked at him sharply, the self-mocking expression wiped from his face.‘Do you mean that she has refused—’
‘If you are seriously looking to meet someone at dawn on a chilly heath, then I suggest you continue discussing the lady,’ Hal said, and smiled.
Porchester took a step back, hands raised.‘Enough said.No offence was intended.To either of you.’
‘None taken,’ Hal replied with that same cold smile, wondering if the effort it was taking not to punch the other man on the jaw was showing.
Porchester nodded, and strolled off.Hal had no doubt he would continue to show his interest in Thea, but at leastthe Earl was warned off making suggestions that linked Hal with her.That would do her no good at all.And he was going to see what he could discover about Porchester.His reputation as an officer was excellent and he seemed a decent man, but what was his true character?
If he did not manage to win Thea for himself, then he was going to make damned sure that she did not fall into the hands of anyone who was unfitting of her.
As he thought it, he realised he was losing his confidence that he could persuade her to forgive him, persuade her that he could make her happy.Seeing her now, in her natural surroundings, watching other men looking at her, desiring her, he saw his own chances dwindling.
Being a duke meant nothing if the woman you wanted did not trust you, felt you had betrayed her.
But…she had helped him in Hyde Park, although probably she was more concerned for the child and his horse than she was for him.And here, this evening, she had risked her reputation to rescue him from a compromising trap.Why would she have done that if she did not feel something for him?
Simply because she is a good person, an uncomfortable little voice replied.Thea Campion would have rescued any man she had seen walking into that ambush and she must have been very tempted to leave you to fight your own way out of it.
Yes, he was going to have to fight if he wanted her—and he did, to an extent that was beginning to haunt his dreams—so he had better stop being in the wrong, or needing her help to get him out of some disaster.
Hal found that he had actually squared his shoulders and smiled wryly at himself, then the musicians stopped tuning their instruments and he looked around for his partnerin the next dance, which meant he would also be escorting her in to supper.Lady Gloria Hunter, he reminded himself, looking around for the tall brunette.A lively young lady, he recalled.At least he would have to concentrate on something other than Thea for a while.
* * *
Thea found dancing with Mr Claud Philpott quite relaxing.The younger son of Viscount Cheney, he was amusing, unashamedly frivolous and was, Thea suspected, a gentleman who was ‘not the marrying sort’ as Mama delicately put it.
They wove their way through the London Reel, delighted with each other for being step-perfect, then went in to the supper room.
Claud found a table with another two couples, which suited Thea very well.The evening so far had been too intense for comfort and she wanted nothing more than to eat lobster puffs and drink Champagne and indulge in friendly and light-hearted conversation.
Then she saw that one of the other ladies was Penelope Chesford, the daughter of Lord and Lady Chesford, who had driven her and Hal into hiding in their godmother’s summerhouse.And Hal had said, with some emphasis—somefeeling—that he had met Penelope.
But then he must have encountered a great many attractive women, Thea reminded herself, and most of them in Vienna.Penelope only made her nerves twitch because she looked very like Lady Helena Linton—very pretty, very blonde and with a pair of much-admired blue eyes.
But Penelope, who Thea had to admit was perhaps not the most intelligent of her acquaintances, had none of Helena’s sharpness.Instead, quite confident that she was the prettiest girl in the room, as her mother constantly assuredher, she was sunny-tempered and kind to her friends and rivals.
‘I missed meeting your parents recently,’ Thea said to her when they were all seated.‘I was staying with my godmother, Lady Holme, but I was not in the house when they called in on their way to London.’
‘Oh, yes.Mama is so interested in Lady Holme’s winter garden and old Johnson our gardener is not at all eager on having to create one.I expect he thinks it will mean work when it is cold.’
‘I don’t think so,’ Thea said.‘I think the work is done in the autumn with the bulbs and then it looks after itself.’
‘Oh?’Penelope looked blank.‘Bulbs?I didn’t know that Lady Holme is your Godmama.She’s godmother to the Duke as well, isn’t she?That’s where I met him before.’
‘The Duke?’one of the men asked.
‘The Duke of Leamington,’ Penelope said.‘I did like him a lot, but he is rather serious, you know.He doesn’t flirt.’
That must have been Hal taking refuge in excessive formality if he found himself cornered by all that blonde enthusiasm, she thought.
She discovered that she was relieved that there hadn’t been any kind of attraction on his part.
Although he believed himself betrothed to me, she realised with a jolt.Of course he would not entangle himself with other young ladies.
But that left a number of other temptations.Unbidden, a mental picture of glamorous, and very available, widows and fast married ladies came to mind.All kinds of tales had filtered back to London about Vienna and the international society that had grown up around the Congress.One did not expect young men to live like monks.
‘Ah yes, Leamington,’ one of the men said with a grimace.‘Far too much like competition for my liking.’
