Page 16 of In the Prince's Bed
“I know that Lady Jenner claims his income is—”
“Sydney,” Katherine broke in, “would you be a dear and fetch me some punch? All this dancing has me parched.”
Flicking his gaze between her and her mother, he released her arm and gave a gentlemanly bow. “I’ll be happy to fetch whatever you wish.” Then to her shock, he seized her hand and brushed a kiss to it. When he straightened, his smile was tremulous. “I’ll count the minutes while we’re apart.”
As he hurried off to the refreshments room, Katherine gaped at him. Had Sydney actually kissed her hand? Was he finally realizing how he’d neglected her?
“Very nicely done.” Mama’s gaze followed the baronet as he disappeared beneath an arched doorway festooned with an entire tree’s worth of cherry blossoms. “Shall I assume that Sir Sydney has finally—”
“Don’t assume anything, Mama. Sydney isn’t…quite ready to discuss marriage.” She added brightly, “But as soon as his mother feels better—”
“His mother, bah! Time for you to relinquish your fancy for Sir Sydney and look elsewhere. You’re too old to waste any more years waiting around for him.”
“Yes, any minute now I shall fall off my rocking chair and break a hip. And then where will I be?”
Mama frowned at her. “You’d best watch that clever tongue of yours, missy. Men don’t like impudent women, as my father should have told you when he was filling your head with all his nonsense about books and numbers.”
Katherine tipped up her chin. “Some men like a clever woman.” Lord Iversley seemed to, anyway. Not that his opinion mattered in the least.
“You mean Sir Sydney, I suppose. But he hasn’t offered for you, has he? So give some other man a chance. If you can’t bring Sir Sydney to the point, he won’t serve your purposes.”
Katherine set her shoulders. “You meanyourpurposes.”
Mama shrugged. “Yours. Mine. The family’s. Same thing.” She dropped her voice to the supplicating purr that had never worked on Papa, but still roused Katherine’s guilt. “I only want what’s best for all of us, dearest. Your brother simplymustgo to Eton, and your sisters must be able to spend every season here in town until they marry—”
“Inever did,” Katherine pointed out.
“Because you have Sydney. And we had no money for more than one season.”
True. And Papa had never wanted his wife and daughter to be in town while he was behaving like a bachelor.
Not that she’d minded all that much. Her quiet life in Cornwall was good enough for her…really, it was. And whenever she tired of supervising her sisters and remaking her gowns to save funds, she had Sydney to discuss poetry with. When he wasn’t dancing attendance on his mother, that is.
He’s too much a coward to stand up to his mother.
A pox on that cursed Earl of Iversley, with his criticisms and sly remarks. Not to mention his inappropriate, unwise, and—dare she admit it—thrillingkisses, which had cast doubt on all her hopes for a future with Sydney. Even Mama’s cynicism had never managed that.
“Stand up straight, Katherine,” Mama hissed. “Our hostess is headed this way. We’re lucky she invited us. All the best people come to her affairs and…”
As Mama droned on, Katherine cast a longing glance in the direction Sydney had gone. If he would only hurry, she might escape the spectacle of Mama licking Lady Jenner’s boots…er…dancing slippers.
“…oh, dear, but she has that fellow with her, the rough-looking one.”
“Who?” Katherine followed her mother’s gaze to where their hostess was approaching with Lord Iversley himself on her arm. Oh no, nothim.
“I don’t know why she’s so nice to that man,” Mama went on. “He’s probably her lover, some ill-bred army officer. But they usually wear uniforms—”
Katherine couldn’t imagine Lord Iversley in any uniform but a dressing gown, a cigar, and a brandy glass. Like in one of those prints from Papa’s scandalous book, where a man entertained a woman of questionable moral fiber.
The sort of woman who would let him kiss her—twice—on a gallery.
Her heart began to pound. Surely he wouldn’t be so wicked as to reveal that, would he?
“You don’t have to dance with him, you know, even if he asks,” Mama went on in a low voice. “Really, I can’t see why Lady Jenner is bringing him over here.”
“Mama—”
“Hush, now, let me handle this.” She smiled brightly as Lady Jenner and the earl reached them. “Good evening, my lady. I was just saying how lovely your ball is. Especially with all your pretty cherry blossoms everywhere. I have always found cherries to be hard on the constitution, but the blossoms—”
