Page 9 of Adoringly, Edward
“Where are you headed?”
Clara waved away his question with a flick of her hand. “Nowhere important.”
He pushed himself out of his chair and followed, his shoes slapping against the marble floors in his haste. “Where?”
“Just a small dinner party. Nothing extravagant.”
“I’m coming, too.”
But just as he reached for a coat hanging near the door, she turned to him with a pitying look in blue eyes similar to his own. “I already responded to the invitation, reserving only one seat. I thought you were too sick to attend, you see. Perhaps next time might be a better opportunity.”
Without another word, Clara exited the estate and slammed the door resoundingly behind her.
For a long few moments, Edward stared at the door closed between him and the freedom of the outside world. Seven entire miserable weeks had passed since the masquerade.Seven!And he was no closer to finding his mystery woman.
Anger coursed through his veins as he pushed the drapes aside to watch as his sister’s carriage disappeared into the night, smooth and quick as if she had planned to slight him all along. What must other members of his circle think of him?
“Cedric,” Edward said in a quiet, dangerous tone. His servant glanced up from his book in the corner of the room. If he couldn’t go to events due to his sister’s gatekeeping, then he would bring everyone to him. “Ready a carriage. We’re going to see a friend.”
“I am entirely offended you thought I would be home on a night such as this!” Lord Barnaby Mavis scoffed as he poured himself a glass of water and downed it in a single gulp.
Edward raised an eyebrow, glancing down at his friend’s attire. He wore a loose shirt over breeches, a robe tied around his clothing as if he’d only recently woken from a nap.
“You’re a newly wedded man.” He shrugged and took the water glass Barnaby offered him. “Don’t all of you usually hunker down with your wives for the first year?Of course, I thought you’d be home rather than peacocking about the streets.”
Barnaby scoffed again as he lifted a finger from his glass to point at him. “Just you wait. Your turn will arrive soon enough.”
Melancholy sank to the bottom of his stomach at the thought. Edilann law stated that nobility needed to be married by the age of twenty-four, and he would turn twenty-four at the end of the year. Honestly, his bachelordom wasn’t for lack of trying. Courting was simply…difficult for him.
He turned his attention away to take in the lavish room. Thick, velvety drapes. A fire crackling in the hearth. Refreshments covering one of the tables on the opposite side of the room.
He picked up a honey cake from a silver platter and stood in front of the warm fire. “I need your help.”
“Oh?” Barnaby raised an eyebrow, the sleep suddenly gone and replaced by intrigue. “What can I do for you that you can’t accomplish yourself?”
What his friend really meant was that they were both titled, Barnaby an earl and him a viscount. They were wealthy with plenty of connections. But his friend didn’t truly understand his dire circumstances because he tried his best to hide his condition. He’d lost so many people already. He refused to lose his friends, too.
“I need help finding someone. My sister has…made things difficult.”
His friend snorted. “Doesn’t approve of the lady, does she? And don’t try to protest. This haslady friendwritten all over it.”
“Well…actually, I don’t know her name. She has brown hair. Dark brown eyes. A bit of a sultry look around her lips.”
With a quirk of his mouth, Barnaby set his glass down and crossed his ankle over his knee before brushing the blond sweep of his hair out of his eyes. “You described at least twelve dozen women of my acquaintance.”
“But…she’s heart-stoppingly beautiful. A few freckles over her face. She’s a bit mischievous and headstrong. Probably doesn’t quite fit the mold of women in our society.”
Barnaby scratched his chin. Rather than mocking him for his fixation on this woman, he genuinely seemed like he wanted to help. “You narrowed down the choices, most definitely. It’s a start.” He clapped his hands on his knees. “Let’s do for you what my mother did for me. She hosted a ball to draw Ivette out before we were reunited. We shall do the same for you.”
Oh, so many things were wrong with the idea. Could he risk it?
But as he recalled the mystery woman’s confidence and rebellious demeanor, he realized he must be brave. Just one little act of rebellion of his own.
“Clara would never allow it.”
His friend laughed and shook his head. “You are a viscount, Edward. You can do as you please. But…” He leaned forward and leveled him with a stare. “If we send out the invitations behind her back, she either has to publicly apologize for canceling the event, which would cause scandal and great embarrassment, or go out of her way to make it happen. I don’t doubt she’ll do the latter.”
“You are devious.”
