Page 42 of The Duchess Trap
Catherine squeezed her friend’s fingers, relief flooding her chest. “Helen. I feared you might not come.”
“How could I parade about this ballroom without you?” Helen grinned, then cast a curious look at the men beside them.
“Allow me to introduce you,” Catherine turned. “This is the Marquess of Suthmeer. A friend of Duncan’s. Lord Suthmeer, this is my dear friend, Lady Helen Watton.”
The Marquess swept another bow, lower this time, his grin wicked. “At your service, Lady Helen. I daresay Her Grace neglected to warn me that she kept such a radiant creature hidden among her acquaintances.”
Helen blinked, then narrowed her eyes. “You mistake me for the sort of girl who swoons at a compliment, my lord. I assure you; I am not so easily won.”
Suthmeer’s grin only deepened. “Then I shall have to work harder. I relish a challenge.”
Catherine pressed her lips together, stifling a laugh.
“You needn’t bother, my lord,” Helen shot back. “You will only tire yourself.”
“Not at all,” the Marquess said cheerfully. “I have boundless energy when properly motivated.”
Helen rolled her eyes and turned back to Catherine. “Is he always so chipper?”
“Always,” Duncan deadpanned.
Catherine glanced at her husband, and his expression was neutral. Because he gazed off toward the crowd, she could not be sure what caught his eye, but then his hand at her back pressed just a fraction firmer.
Her body betrayed her, shivering at the contact, a tremor running beneath her stays that she could not disguise. Heat licked up her throat, and she forced a breath, desperate to steady herself, to keep her smile fixed while her heart clamored.
Around them, the swell of voices rose again, lords eager to draw Duncan into talk of Parliament, politics, and land. Lord Suthmeer, for his part, kept up with the lords, as well as lavished attention on Lady Helen. It was not until one gentleman, a person whom Catherine had surprisingly not encountered at any time during her three Seasons in Society, appeared and beckoned for Duncan and Lord Suthmeer to follow that she felt any uneasiness at all.
“You will be safe with your friend,” Duncan said quietly, before he followed Lord Suthmeer with reluctance. She knew that Duncan was hesitant to leave because of the way his hand lingered on her, making contact until the very last moment they must be torn asunder.
Even then, they locked eyes and she could see that her husband would much prefer to stay at her side, than go and deal with whatever business required his attention. After giving the smallest inclination of his head, he was gone into the crowd.
Safe.
The words sent heat racing through her. She wanted to call him back and demand that he stay right next to her.
Instead, she lifted her chin, smiled at Helen, and tried to pretend her world had not tilted so entirely.
The ball had only just begun, and already her heart was in chaos.
CHAPTER 13
“Ithink you might expire if you keep looking at him like that,” Helen teased, tugging lightly at Catherine’s arm. “Your smile is lovely, yes, but your knuckles are white on that fan. You’ll snap it in two.”
Catherine startled, forcing her grip to loosen. “I am perfectly composed,” she lied, her voice a touch too high.
Helen snorted, blue eyes sharp with mischief. “Perfectly composed women do not stare after their husbands as though tethered to them with invisible string.”
Heat flared in Catherine’s cheeks. “I was not?—”
“Oh, you were,” Helen interrupted, a wicked gleam in her eye. “And he knew it. Did you not see? He walked away as if he owned this very room, but his eyes were chained to you until the last possible moment.”
Catherine wished Helen would not say such things aloud, wished her friend would not give shape to the very thoughts she fought to suppress.
“You imagine it,” she said quickly, though her voice trembled. “He looks at everything with that same intensity. A person might mistake it for…for interest, when it is merely his nature.”
Helen gave her a look so dry that Catherine almost laughed. “Yes, of course. Intensity. That must be why you are flushed from throat to brow.”
“Will you hush?” Catherine hissed, though she could not keep a smile from tugging at her lips.
