Page 38 of Miss Prim and the Duke of Wylde
“Indeed.” Thomas looked a trifle wide-eyed as he took in the gazes that had drifted their way. Lowering his voice, he went on, “I have to wonder how on earth you’re going to…well, unravel this.”
Drago was jolted by an instinctive impulse to brush the notion aside. Subduing it, he coolly replied, “Don’t worry. Meg and I know what we’re doing.”
His head raised, Thomas was scanning the crowd. “Is Alison here?”
“I spotted her earlier,” Drago said. “She’s most likely still here, somewhere in the scrum.”
Thomas returned his gaze to Drago’s face. “That could prove awkward.”
Drago allowed his lips to curve. “No, it won’t.” He glanced at Meg and allowed his smile to deepen. “My getting engaged to Meg allowed Alison to accept another—a gentleman who will assuredly suit her much better than I.”
Meg grinned in agreement, but the other three looked stunned.
“Really?” George looked around as if trying to spot Alison.
At that moment, three ladies approached, and Meg slipped her hand from Drago’s arm and stepped away to engage them, leaving him free to converse with his friends in reasonable privacy.
He appreciated the opportunity. “Yes, really.” He lowered his voice to a whisper to add, “So even though Meg and I plan to part at the end of the Season, I won’t be marrying Alison. With luck, by the time June comes around, Alison will have wed her beau, so regardless of what transpires, I won’t be looking in that direction again.”
Harry frowned. “But that will leave you only a month, two at most, to find an alternative bride.”
Drago smiled with rakish assurance. “Oh, ye of little faith. Trust me, a month will be more than long enough. How can you doubt me?”
At that moment, Meg returned to his side. Well aware that she didn’t know the true reason for him wishing to marry, Drago asked, “Any difficulty?”
“No.” Meg waved dismissively. “Just the usual curiosity as to when our engagement ball will be.”
“And when will it be?” Thomas asked.
Drago waved languidly. “We haven’t yet decided.”
“I say. Meant to mention”—George looked eager—“I saw a smashing hunter at Tattersalls this morning.” He beamed at Meg. “Miss Cynster might be interested in taking a look.”
Ignoring Drago’s questioning glance, Meg smiled and let the comment slide past, but Harry leapt in with a description of his latest equine acquisitions, waxing lyrical about their lines and gait. Thomas threw in a comment or two, but it was George and Harry who continued to feed the conversation.
The pair were making such an effort to please and entertain her that she had to shake her head and put them straight. “Gentlemen, I regret to inform you that I’m the one Cynster who doesn’t like horses.”
All three stared in varying degrees of stupefied surprise.
Finally, George managed, “Don’t like horses?” He glanced at Drago. “But Drago said you’d managed his pair when…you were in the country.”
Smiling, Meg explained, “I’m Demon Cynster’s daughter, so of course I can manage horses. I just don’t particularly like them as animals.” In an attempt to redirect their thoughts, she offered, “I much prefer dogs.”
That earned her a curious look from Drago. “You do?”
She nodded. “Sadly, I’ve had to leave my dogs at home in Newmarket, and from what I’ve heard, they seem to have transferred their allegiance to Adriana, my brother Nicholas’s wife.”
“Well,” Harry said, “you should get Drago to give you one of his wolfhound pups.”
“Wolfhounds?” Meg turned wide eyes on Drago. “Scottish or Irish?”
“Russian. One of my great-uncles was the ambassador in St. Petersburg years ago, and on retiring and leaving the country, he was gifted with a breeding pair. Of course, no one had thought to ask if he liked dogs, and he didn’t—they made him sneeze uncontrollably. So I took them, and ever since, I’ve raised them and their offspring at Wylde Court.”
“Don’t they mind if you stay away for months?” Meg asked.
Drago shook his head. “They have their keepers, but as soon as I appear, they immediately take to following me. They’re loyal to the bone.”
“I would love to meet them. Aren’t they large?”
