Page 17 of Seducing a Frigid Lady
"What exactly is it that you are suggesting, my lord?" Priscilla scoffed at him. What he was saying was not only scandalous, it was ludicrous, and yet she wanted to know exactly what he was implying.
Had he been any other man, she might have stomped on his foot and removed herself from the dancefloor entirely. Yet, for once, she was not offended by a man's forwardness nor his surety that he would finally be the one to break the 'Ice Queen'. In fact, she found it rather amusing and perhaps even a little thrilling. Not that she would ever allow him to know so.
"I, Miss Lloyd, am proposing a wager," Lord Sinclair announced, his voice so quiet that she barely heard him. She had to strain her ears just to know for sure what he was saying. "If I manage to seduce you by the end of the Season, then you owe me a kiss."
Priscilla gulped past the sudden lump in her throat. Forcing herself more than instinctively doing so, she pulled away from him until she felt his grip tighten upon her, encouraging her back into their close quarters.
"Do not be alarmed, Miss Lloyd. I propose only a simple wager. Nothing too taxing or terrifying to you, I imagine. If, as you believe, you are bound to win."
Determined to wipe the amusement from the viscount's face, Priscilla gritted her teeth and declared, "I propose another. Should you actually succeed in seducing me, I shall pay you the sum of five pounds."
Surprise flashed through the lord's gaze, just as Priscilla had wanted, and his face did indeed fall. He appeared to be thinking indecisively for a few moments and then, curtly; he nodded. "And if I should lose, Miss Lloyd, I shall happily double the sum."
The electric energy that pulsed between them in that very moment was broken so suddenly by the immediate stopping of the musicians. Lord Sinclair pulled away so quickly that, for a moment, she feared she might stumble.
Yet he continued to hold on to her hand, dropping down into a respectful bow. Kissing her knuckles, he looked up at her from where he bowed and whispered just loud enough for her to hear, "It is a wager, Miss Lloyd."
The way Priscilla's heart threatened to explode, she suddenly realised what a terrible mistake she had made. The wager she had just struck was perhaps the most scandalous of her lifetime and yet the thrilling idea of it threatened to make her dizzy.
"Do not look too confident, my lord," she stated, delicately slipping her gloved hand from his and curtseying stiffly. "Many men have tried to accomplish what it is that you have set out to do and there has yet to be a victor."
Making a show of glancing about the room, Priscilla quickly came to realise just how lost in each other they had become. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a similar thought flash across the viscount's face.
Before he could suggest walking her to the edge or even attempting to entrap her in another dance, Priscilla bowed her head in gratitude for the one they had already shared before hurrying back to her spot beside the back wall. It was quite empty save for a few older members of thetonand the shadows gave her the peace that she needed to recover from her fast-beating heart.
Grabbing her fan from where it hung about her wrist, she unfolded it and discreetly started to fan herself, feeling far more flustered than she ever cared to admit. Of course, Lord Sinclair was attractive.
How could he not be with his handsome good looks, his title and his fortune, even his reputation as an upstanding nobleman in the community save for his counterintuitive reputation as a rake, and yet Priscilla had to remind herself that she knew better.
He was playing a game with her, just as every other young man of thetonwas. The only difference was that he was being much more forthcoming about it. And deep down, she liked that about him.
"Well, well, I would have never guessed that you, Miss Lloyd, would be the woman to play toy for Lord Sinclair until he found himself a suitable match."
It was not only the words but the owner of the voice that made Priscilla's skin crawl uncomfortably. Miss Selina Kendall, as always, was determined to be the thorn in Priscilla's side.
Without looking at her, Priscilla gazed out over the dancefloor, calming her fanning as she responded, "Careful, Miss Kendall, or someone may believe you to be jealous."
It was only after she had spoken that she glanced out of the corner of her eye at the woman. The frustration on her face was evident and Priscilla had to bite back amusement at how easily her cool, ice-queen nature riled the other woman.
Determined not to give her another thought, Priscilla looked away, only to find her gaze once more meeting that of Lord Sinclair, who now stood across the room with his cousin Maximilian.
"I was merely trying to offer a warning," Miss Kendall insisted. "He shall chew you up and spit you out just as he has done all others."
"Miss Kendall, if I were to need advice on the matter, I would not come to you for it," Priscilla stated, meeting the woman's gaze and seeing the snake that lingered just beneath the surface.
"You have never been a friend to me and I do not expect that should change now. Perhaps you ought to be more concerned with your own reputation. You wouldn't want anyone to believe you are associating with the Ice Queen now, would you?"
Immediately, Miss Kendall looked horrified. Though Priscilla could not be sure as to whether it was the fact she knew what the rest of thetonhad coined her or merely her tone, she was relieved when Miss Kendall scoffed and hurried away without another word.
Sucking in a deep breath, trying not to allow the other woman's words to get to her, Priscilla turned her attention back across the dancefloor. Disappointment edged its way into her stomach when she realised she could no longer see the viscount.
Though she did not allow it a foothold, quickly sweeping it away, she found there weren't many interesting things going on about the room to even attempt to distract herself.
Perhaps it is time to call it a night,she thought. Though she knew that were she to do that, the viscount might actually believe he had managed to get under her skin. Or worse, Miss Kendall might believe that she had.No, better to grit my teeth and bare it than give either of them the satisfaction.
Chapter 6
Lionel was shocked. Not only at Miss Lloyd’s reaction to him, but also at his own audacity in the first place. Retiring to the edge of the dancefloor the moment that their time together was ended, he felt more than a little off his game. Never had he allowed himself to be quite so forward, especially not so soon.
