Page 7 of Seducing a Frigid Lady
“How so?” Lionel asked, his interest only growing. In an attempt to look less interested and noticing that his wine glass was now full, he turned and looked for the nearest servant, lifting his glass in their direction to indicate that he required a refill.
The serving boy came hurrying forth with a bottle of wine, dipping his head respectfully but remaining otherwise silent.
“Thank you, my good man,” Lionel said encouragingly in the hopes that he might dissuade a little of the boy’s obvious discomfort. Lionel wouldn’t have been surprised if it was his first large dinner party from the looks of him, the way he kept his gaze entirely on the floor, even at the cost of missing where he was meant to be going.
“My lord,” the boy muttered in a barely audible voice before scurrying off to fill up the next nobleman’s glass. A man who was far less encouraging and might have given the boy a thick ear if he had spilled the wine, which he was clearly having a great deal of trouble pouring with his trembling hands.
Though to his credit, Lionel saw that he did not spill a drop. He made a mental note to offer his gratitude to the boy if he ever got the chance without embarrassing him in front of all the others lords. Though it wasn’t his place, he got the sense that nobody else was even of a mind to consider it.
“You were saying?” Lionel said, turning back to his cousin with his full attention once more on their conversation.
“I was not saying,” Max retorted. “You were asking.”
The two of them glared at each other playfully for a moment. This game of cat and mouse had been one they had played over and over again ever since they were young boys, and it made them feel far more like brothers than cousins. And as a brother, Lionel felt the urge to strike him for being quite so infuriating.
With a sigh, Max finally explained, “Miss Lloyd is a mystery. She is the coldest, most unbending lady that I or anyone else have ever met. I am sure that you could throw a stone in this room and anyone you hit would say the very same thing.”
Interesting,Lionel thought, almost feeling a little disappointed,and here I was beginning to believe I might be special.He bit back the urge to scoff at himself.
“What else do you know of her?” Lionel asked, unable to stop himself even though he could tell from the look on his cousin’s face that he was beginning to grow suspicious. With a shrug, he added, “Humour me?”
“I know very little of her myself,” Max admitted, glancing around the room as though he wanted to be certain that nobody else was listening.
“Only what the rest of thetonhave said about her. They say that she is made of ice and that she has rejected proposal after proposal. Though I truly cannot see why any man would be foolish enough to even attempt to propose to such a woman.”
“Indeed,” Lionel said, musing over the very thought. What would it be like to be married to such an enigma? It would most definitely be far more interesting than any marriage Lionel had ever been able to conceive in his mind before, not that he often thought of marriage save for when the conversation was being forced upon him by a family member or even another member of theton.
Max laughed as though he found something funny and for just a moment Lionel feared he had allowed something to slip on his face, some emotion to give him away as to what he was truly thinking about.
He was only relieved when his cousin explained, “In fact, I do believe her behaviour has done quite the opposite of pushing the men of thetonaway. It appears that some of the gentlemen have begun to make a game of it. Everyone wishes to know who might finally be the one to melt the Ice Queen’s heart.”
Those words caused a shiver to run throughout Lionel’s body.
“Many have tried and failed to court her and in the place of one, two more crop up,” Max continued and a hint of jealousy crept into Lionel’s stomach. He could imagine the vultures swooping now.
“What of her family? Is there some wealth that has the men sniffing about her?” Lionel asked.
"You ought to be careful asking such questions, cousin," Max warned, though the look in his eye was entirely playful. "Someone might overhear you and believe you are looking for some heiress to get you out of a sticky situation."
Lionel had never heard anything quite so ridiculous. Of course, hehadheard of it occurring several times over the years, though the thought that anyone would ever accuse him of such a thing was ludicrous.
"We all know I am far too business savvy for that, Maxi," Lionel said, sipping his wine and placing his free hand in the pocket of his waistcoat to discreetly check the time. Soon they would be joining the ladies in the drawing room and he would be out of time to ask his questions. "Do the lady's parents not mind her spurning so many?"
Max was silent for a moment and Lionel feared he might have missed the question. Then the gentleman shook his head and with his attention seemingly on the card game, he said, "From what I know, it is just the father and he seems quite content to allow her to do as she pleases."
More and more interesting,Lionel thought. It was not often that a young lady of thetonwas left to make up her own mind on such matters.
"Though I suppose one day, she shall be forced to marry just as they all are," Max continued with a raising of his shoulders and a slight shake of his head. "The father is quite eccentric and has often been known to take his time on matters of business where others might seek to seal a deal quick. I can't imagine the business of his daughter's marriage being any different."
How many men would actually be willing to marry a woman like that?Lionel thought. It was all well and good trying to court a woman for the game of it, not that he would ever suggest so to a member of the fairer sex, but how many men would actually go through with it?
He could understand how many men would find the woman’s icy demeanour off-putting. He had seen perhaps only one of two such women in his lifetime and not a one of them had ever been married.
Yet there was something quite different about Miss Lloyd. Though she was cold, calm and distant, there was an attraction in it the likes of which Lionel had never witnessed. He couldn’t remember ever having met a more peculiar noblewoman. Not only was she attractive in her lack of being like any other woman of thetonbut she was also beautiful visually as well.
If he even dared to close his eyes for more than a moment, he could still picture her with her porcelain pale skin and her raven-black hair, her icy blue eyes and those long dark lashes that danced upon her rouged cheeks when she blinked. He could even imagine her height and how surprisingly tall she had been when she had stood at the end of dinner.
Though he and the other gentlemen had only stood but a moment in respect of their fair ladies, it had been enough for Lionel to realise that she was taller than any fair woman he had ever met. And surprisingly, it had made her only more elegant with her slender neck and delicately sloping shoulders.
