Page 8 of Rescued from Betrayal
That was it. She had changed from a living, breathing being to something decidedly not. A statue of a sort. Only this statue cared about titles and money and connections and… and… well, not him. Definitely not him.
“I think you all have bored Sir Nathaniel to sleep with all your talk of steam engines,” she said with a smirk.
Nathaniel blinked a few times. He’d gotten so lost in his thoughts that he’d not paid any heed to the conversation around him.
“He is not bored; he’s simply revisiting the past.” Eddie waved his hand. “He does that often. You can tell because he gets that faraway look. What was it this time, Nate? Memories of your father, maybe your baby sister.”
“Neither.” The reminder of family long gone pinched at his heart.
“A closer past perhaps,” Al said. “Maybe you were recalling your partners from the ball last evening. You had a great many. Some were uncommonly pretty.” His eyes strayed to Melior and Nathaniel understood his friend’s implication.
Melior smiled back at Al, most likely reveling in the praise, adding it to her already inflated opinion of herself.
Nathaniel crossed his arms. “Why yes, Miss Jenkins was quite beautiful, probably the prettiest woman I danced with.”
Big blue eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed. He gave Melior a small smile and turned to inspect a plant with lots of thorns and a pretty purple flower.
“But did you not dance with Miss Kendall?” John blurted out, then flushed and dropped his eyes to the tiled floor.
A moment of guilt nipped at Nathaniel. John was the only one who knew how attractive he found Melior due to a conversation several years before. They had agreed she’d grown into a beautiful woman, likely the prettiest in London, and he’d admitted to his friend that he found himself ridiculously drawn to her. They both knew nothing would come of it, so Nathaniel had sworn him to secrecy and they’d never spoken of it again.
“Thank you for the vote of approval, Lord Newhurst,” Melior said, raising her chin, “but I believe Sir Nathaniel does not find my sort of beauty enticing. He’s drawn to a lighter complexion with fewer curves like Miss Jenkins’s.”
Al covered his mouth with his hand, doubtless to keep from blurting out what he knew. It really was a trial to have friends who had known him so long. Hopefully he would not divulge Nathaniel’s affinity for dark-haired women.
Eddie clapped him on the back. “Nate likes a woman with a fuller figure as well as the next man.”
“I hardly think this is an appropriate conversation with your sister, Eddie. Perhaps we should move on to a different subject.”
Al grinned. “For what it’s worth, Miss Kendall, I believe you were by far Nate’s loveliest partner last evening as you were every man’s.”
Leave it to Al to charm Melior into a good humor. Nathaniel could always count on him to spill flattering compliments like excessively sweet tea all over the ladies of London without a thought for how they might be taken.
“Thank you, Mr. Roberts.” Melior took his arm as they made their way back to the main part of the house. “It is a comfort to know that at least one man appreciates my efforts.”
Her efforts indeed. Melior was naturally beautiful. She could put no effort at all into her appearance and still outshine all the ladies of the Ton.
Nathaniel stopped walking. He was falling into the same thoughts that always got him in trouble. Comparing Melior’s beauty meant he was thinking about her, and thinking about her always made him wish things were different. It was never good for his spirits to wish for something that could not be. Time to switch his line of thought and put on a mask of unconcern. He’d worked hard these last few years to squelch the last dregs of his feelings for her, he could not lose headway now.
Mr. Watt was older than Nathaniel had realized as evident by the wrinkles that covered his face when they met him at Vauxhall the next day. But his explanations of how he created the steam engines used in mines was enthralling. The men all talked as they walked about the gardens.
There were not many people about, as the day was quite dreary, but every so often they passed an adventurous group.
“What other things do you think your invention might be used for in the future?” John asked. Although quiet in large groups, he became talkative and animated in a group of men, especially when new inventions were the topic of discussion.
Mr. Watt elaborated how others were using the technology that he’d created, and his hopes for the future of steam engines. Just as he was explaining how he hoped to improve upon his invention, a familiar laugh caught Nathaniel’s attention.
He glanced up to see Melior walking towards them escorted by Lord Caraway, Lady Edith and Lady Agatha trailing along behind them. The marquess tipped his hat as they passed and Melior sent them all her brightest smile, but Nathaniel could not help thinking that compared to her natural smile it looked like a wax figure.
Eddie, who was standing at the back of their group, stopped her. “Mel, I did not know you were going to be here today. I thought you said it was too cold.” His eyebrows raised. “Oh, how do you do, Lord Caraway?”
“Very well, thank you, Mr. Kendall. I am afraid I am to blame for your sister being out. I invited her and her friends for a stroll and then we are going to visit Gunter’s to warm up. It is only fair after all, since I convinced them to brave the cold.”
“I see.” Eddie turned to Melior. “Did not Mother—”
Melior’s blue eyes held a warning and he stopped. Nathaniel waited as a silent conversation seemed to pass between the siblings, while Lord Caraway chatted amiably with Al. His gaze strayed to the other two ladies of the party.
Lady Agatha smiled politely but said nothing. Lady Edith on the other hand, lifted her pointy chin and glanced away. What gave her the right to think she could snub anyone? Everyone knew her father, the Earl of Mayfield, was empty in the pockets due to his gambling. With a family as large as hers and little beauty to speak of, she would need to marry soon or risk losing some of her dowry to a younger sister. He did not know her exact age, but she had to be near his own age of twenty-five.
