Page 76 of Starlight and the Duke
Her smile meant everything to him.
He approached and bowed low over her hand. “Lady Shoreham, you are looking particularly lovely tonight.”
Well, Fiona always looked beautiful in his eyes, but even more so tonight. She wore a gown of dove-gray silk, a strand of small pearls threaded through her upswept hair.
“So are you, Durham,” she said with a merry lilt of laughter.
Aubrey and Milbury grinned at him.
Lady Cordelia and Lady Anne looked upon him with grim smiles that spoke of their insincerity.
Ah, what a pair of jackals.
After Rob had greeted the ladies and gentlemen within Fiona’s circle, Milbury drew him aside. “Durham, I would appreciate a moment of your time. May we speak with candor?”
Rob arched an eyebrow, but agreed. The two of them stepped onto the terrace.
He did not like the idea of being apart from Fiona even a moment this evening, but she was quite capable of standing on her own and would resent his behaving like a protective ape.
Besides, she did not look worried. Knowing her, if those two wasps dared to insult her, she would swat them down with elegant efficiency.
She could be vulnerable with him because she trusted him. But with those two? She would be fierce as a tigress.
“What is it you would like to know, Milbury?” he asked, enjoying the light breeze that swirled around them as they stood in the outdoor twilight and spoke in private.
“What is the extent of your feelings toward Lady Shoreham? I mean, it is obvious you care a good deal for each other, but…” Milbury raked a hand through his hair. “You see, my boys are quite fond of her too. I was thinking to court her. I had a very happy marriage and a good home life. My wife was cheerful and compassionate, and I see my boys are missing this joy in their lives very much. My sister is never going to replace this. In fact, I need to get her out of my home as soon as possible.”
Rob suppressed a groan, for that was quite the understatement. His sister was a vindictive menace, and her presence in his household would do more harm than good for Milbury’s sons.
Fortunately, it appeared the marquess realized it and meant to address the problem. “I do not want to get between the two of you if there is something more serious than…er, friendship. It seems as though there is. Am I reading this wrong, Durham?”
Rob did not want to confide his newly betrothed status to Milbury just yet, but did have to say something to alert the man. “I would suggest someone other than Lady Shoreham. She is wonderful in every way, but her heart is taken.”
“By you?” Milbury cast Rob a wry smile. “Are congratulations in order?”
Rob let out a breath. “I hope so.”
“Well then,” Milbury said with a little disappointment, “what of these other lovely ladies? Would you recommend any of them to me? Truthfully, they all seem too young. They are closer in age to my sons.”
“I’ll ask Lady Shoreham on your behalf, or you could ask her yourself. She has a wide circle of friends, and no one can be better trusted with the task of finding a worthy lady for you and your sons. She prides herself on being an excellent matchmaker.”
“Then I will take a moment and ask her. Thank you, Durham.” Milbury shook his head and gave a wistful laugh. “I enjoyed being married. I think I was very fortunate in the choice I made, even though I was a young idiot in my twenties who thought of himself as quite the rake. How was a man to choose only one lady to share his life when there were so many lovely ones flitting about him like glittering butterflies? And then one evening I saw my Jessica standing beside a potted fern, actually trying to hide behind it because she was so shy and felt overwhelmed at her first ball.”
Rob smiled and let Milbury go on speaking, for it seemed the man had held his grief in for a while and was only now trying to come out of it.
“I was quite expert in going about in Society, for I had attended more than a dozen balls already. We exchanged glances from across the room. That was it. Everyone and everything simply melted away. The orchestra, the dancers, the footmen dashing about with trays in hand—all suddenly vanished, and all I saw was my Jessica. Then and there, I knew I was going to marry her. There would be no other lady for me.” He sighed and shook his head again. “But my sons need a good and loving ladyto take on the role of mother, so I must think of them and do what is right. This means taking the plunge and marrying again.”
As the dinner bell sounded to draw the guests into the dining room, Rob realized he and Fiona had not spoken to Bromleigh and his wife to break their good news.
Ah well. Fiona may have said something to them on her own.
But she gave a light shake of her head to advise him that she had said nothing.
He thought to have a quiet word with Bromleigh during their meal, but he was not seated close enough to him or his wife. To his dismay, he found himself placed between Lady Anne and Lady Cordelia.
Seriously? Was Bromleigh determined to torture him?
He glanced at Fiona in dismay.
