Page 8 of Seducing a Frigid Lady
“Good evening, Lord Sinclair,” she had said curtly and with a curtsey as she had left the table, offering a nod of her head to several other gentlemen along the way, though he noticed her gaze did not linger on a single one of them. She gave nothing away, and that only made her all the more mysterious.
Being able to hear the cool yet musical tone of her voice in his mind was almost infuriating, and he found he wished to hear it again for real. Another glance at his pocket watch told him that the evening was drawing on rather more rapidly than he would have anticipated.
Knowing that he would have only a few minutes left to put his friend off the scent of anything more than a passing interest, Lionel asked begrudgingly, “What can you tell me of the other young ladies this evening?”
And so, for a short while, he was forced into a conversation that he really had little interest in. It felt strange to him. Usually, he loved to learn about those he was surrounded by, picking up pieces of information that he could use during his social visits, ensuring that he could continue with his respectability while being a known rake and a rogue. And yet, tonight, he found his research efforts tedious.
It was all the same. Who was most adamant to see their daughter married off well this Season, who was already connected to whom, and who would likely be off the market very shortly, the competition to be wary of when it came to any match they might hope to make.
Before the end of it, Lionel wondered whether Lord Melton might actually be right. They were beginning to sound as though they were gossiping like a pair of women.
Lionel was more than a little relieved when Lord Marsham’s chair finally scraped the floor and he announced, “Well, gentlemen, I think it is time we should join the ladies in the drawing room. I do believe I can hear the singing has begun.”
“I only hope they keep the dying cats away from it this evening,” Lord Melton commented with a grunt and the way he glanced at one of the other lords suggested that there was at least one young lady among them who had not benefited too well from the singing lessons that all ladies of thetonwere subjected to. To his credit, the father made an equally amusing comment about how he would do his best to be sure.
And just like that, even merrier than before, the gentlemen filed from the dining room so that the servants could finally clear away the dinner service. Lionel followed already certain that he knew what was going to happen the moment that he set foot in the drawing room.
Just a moment before following Lord Melton through, he sucked in a deep breath in preparation and placed a smile upon his face. Usually, this was the part of the evening that he enjoyed greatly, but tonight he was apprehensive of it all.
I am just tired from my journey.He reassured himself, not for the first time that evening. And at a gentle nudge from his cousin, he made his way into the room.
As expected, the ladies in the room quickly greeted their gentleman folk before all of the young ladies and their mothers came fluttering on up to him and Max at the edge of the room. The two of them had barely managed to set foot in the door before they were surrounded, all the women practically baying for blood, trying to get a piece of them as the newest bachelors to arrive in town.
And as expected, Lionel gave them his best performance with a flirtatious comment here and a look in the right direction there. But during it all, with his chest puffed out and his head held high, he found himself searching the drawing room for one woman’s face.
She seemed to be just about the only young lady who had not been dragged before him to make his proper acquaintance. Even her friend, Miss Lyttleton, had been brought up as their host’s daughter and yet Miss Lloyd had failed to appear beside her. Lionel had almost hoped that perhaps Lady Marsham might have taken the woman under her wing, but it appeared not.
And when he finally caught sight of her, it was at a distance. She was standing on the far side of the room between a man and a woman who appeared to be twice her age. From his time in the dining room after dinner, he could guess that the gentleman was her father, the eccentric businessman he had heard a little about.
But he could not have guessed who the woman was, though she did look a little like the viscount if Lionel looked hard enough. The two of them were standing almost as though they were the gatekeepers, seemingly to keep anyone away from Miss Lloyd, though after speaking with her that evening, he thought she needed no help with that.
And yet I want so desperately to speak with her again,he thought, even as he was dragged into yet another conversation about what he intended to do during the Season and who he already intended to visit.It’s going to be a long night.
Chapter 3
“I really think you ought to make more of an effort tonight,” Lady Bishop announced shortly after Priscilla’s father arrived at her side. Priscilla gritted her teeth against the urge to make a sharp retort. She had been able to sense what was so clearly on her aunt’s mind ever since they left the dining room. It was always the same whenever they were out in public. She urged and urged, hoping that everyone her brother might see fit to try and encourage her too.
“I am here, am I not?” Priscilla pointed out, taking a small sip of the wine she was holding in her hand just so that she would not say anything else that she might regret.
“It is not enough to simply be here,” Lady Bishop insisted. And for once, Priscilla’s father was quiet. “How will you ever know who is the right man if you do not even attempt to speak to any of them?”
“I have spoken with Mr. Kenyon and Lord Sinclair and a little with Mr. Parr,” Priscilla said through gritted teeth. She hated mentioning the names of any gentleman she had spoken with, as though those conversations held any merit to her, but she knew that it was the only way to dissuade her aunt. “I am quite content with the amount of conversation I have had this evening.”
“Mr. Kenyon, as you well know, is not a likely suitor after last Season’s debacle,” Lady Bishop stated, eyeing Priscilla with a raised eyebrow. As if she needed any reminding of what had happened, she was reminded enough every time she saw the man’s face and how he looked at her politely, yet with a hint of disapproval in his gaze.
“I am sure that Priscilla is capable of making her own mind up on who she would like to speak with,” her father finally stepped in and Priscilla was more than a little grateful for his comment, though she gritted her teeth and tensed her spine, knowing that it was only going to get worse from here on out.
Almost immediately the two of them began to argue in hushed tones, one insisting that all would be well while the other was determined that Priscilla would become an unhappy spinster and a social outcast if she were to continue on the path she was on for much longer.
That doesn’t sound so bad to me,Priscilla thought. She could think of much worse things than being alone. Being married to a man she loathed or even hated, a man who could show her no affection save for when the making of heirs was required, sounded far worse to her.
“You really must start to take this seriously, Piers!”
Lady Bishop snapped a little more loudly than necessary and Priscilla cringed when she noticed the guests closest to them looking their way. Luckily for her, her aunt was a little quieter as she added, “What would your wife have to say about all of this?”
The words caused Priscilla to tighten up all over again and her stomach clenched at the mention of her mother. They seemed to have a very similar effect on her father and his face became so red, his cheeks so swollen with sucking in breath that he looked as though he might burst at any moment.
“Do not speak to me about what my wife would say!” he snarled back at his sister and Priscilla tried her hardest to prepare herself for their usual fight as cat and dog. The two had always been at each other’s throats, especially with her aunt being the elder of the two and always adamant that she knew best.
