Page 19 of Impeccable
Mrs. Renshaw lifted a shoulder. “I don’t suppose it would hurt.”
The butler entered then and announced dinner. Gregory turned to Mrs. Renshaw. “May I escort you into dinner?”
She put her hand on his arm. “That would be lovely, thank you.”
Because of their rank, Gregory’s brother and his wife went first. That suited Gregory just fine. He leaned his head toward Mrs. Renshaw’s. “My apologies for Lady Witney.” Whispering as near to her ear as he dared, he employed what she’d taught him about flirting. He would normally never have moved so close.
Mrs. Renshaw turned her head, surprise or something similar flickering in her eyes. “Careful, or you’re going to spend the rest of your life apologizing for her.”
As they moved forward, he kept his body close to hers. She smelled of flowers and spice, and the scent was wholly intoxicating. “Unless I can find a way to avoid her presence.” He continued to speak in a low tone. “I’d planned to remain at Witney Court through the holidays, but I now wonder if I ought to return to London.” He tipped his head toward her. “When are you returning to town?”
Her eyes narrowed slightly. “In January. The Creightons were kind enough to invite me for the holidays.”
Then he didn’t want to leave either. “You present a compelling reason to stay,” he said with a smile.
She hesitated, then spoke measuredly. “Please don’t make your decisions based on me.”
“I’m flirting,” he murmured. “How am I doing?”
They entered the dining room, and she sent him an amused glance. “Well enough that I was completely ensnared.”
He helped her into her chair, which was to Mrs. Creighton’s left. Gregory was pleased to see that he would be seated to Mrs. Renshaw’s left. He would thank his hostess, but then that would draw attention to the fact that he was quite desperately interested in spending time with Mrs. Renshaw. As he pushed her chair toward the table, he allowed his fingertips to brush the tops of her bare collarbones.
When he sat beside her, he noted a faint blush in her cheeks. Had he caused that?
Throughout dinner, he could tell Mrs. Renshaw and Mrs. Creighton were very close friends and had to have been for some time. He was again struck by a vague similarity between them, but he recalled a pair of lads from Oxford who looked as though they were brothers when, in truth, they had just been friends for years. Perhaps if you spent enough time with someone, you began to look a bit alike.
Gregory was particularly glad that his brother and sister-in-law were seated at the other end of the table on the opposite side. Clifford sat on their host’s left, and Susan was on his other side. She did send occasional glances toward Mrs. Renshaw, her gaze shadowed with consternation, as if she were trying to strategize how to get closer to the woman.
At one point, he leaned toward Mrs. Renshaw and whispered, “Will you really put in a word for my sister-in-law?”
“I didn’t say that I would.”
No, she hadn’t. She’d been very clever with her words. “You continue to astonish me,” he murmured with a smile. “I daresay you’d best be wary of her trying to corner you after dinner.”
“Never fear, I have a plan,” she responded softly, her eyes glinting with mischief.
“Do tell.”
“We’ll play a game that will likely take as long as you gentlemen are lingering over your port. However, if I may be so selfish as to ask that you don’t lingertoolong, I would be appreciative.”
“I will ensure we drink with haste. What sort of game?”
“One involving embroidery. Each player has one minute to stitch a representation of a word everyone else must guess. Something like ‘tree’ or ‘rabbit.’”
“That could be very simple or incredibly difficult, depending on the word.”
“And one’s embroidery skill. Mine is atrocious. But I can typically get by with ‘tree’ or ‘flower’ or ‘house.’ Do you happen to know if Lady Witney possesses any skill with a needle?”
“I do not. I am sorry I’m going to miss this.”
“Well, if you joined us, you’d have to play. Those are the rules.”
Gregory wasn’t sure Susan would go along with this scheme. “And if someone refuses?”
“They typically don’t, but I imagine we’d try to coerce them. Failing that, we’d make them move to another part of the room so as not to interfere.”
Susan wouldn’t like that either. “I’ve no idea what Lady Witney will do, but it sounds as though you have things well in hand.”
