Page 37 of Oddity of the Ton
She’d been wrong—her humiliationcouldget worse, and it just had.
It was plain by his expression that he’d heard every word.
Chapter Fourteen
Devil’s toes—was thishow women conversed with each other when they thought themselves unobserved?
No—the expression on Miss Howard’s eyes was that of a woman enduring torture, not a conversation. Her cheeks were bright red, and her eyes, glistening with tears, widened as she caught sight of him. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but no sound came, and then swayed to one side, as if afflicted by a fainting fit.
The ugliest girl in the room.
Why would any young woman say that to another—let alone her sister?
Juliette dipped into a curtsey, and the contempt in her eyes evaporated. The elegant congeniality and frank desire that replaced it as she turned her gaze on him made her look like a different creature entirely to the one he’d caught tormenting her sister.
“Your Grace,” she said, her voice soft and melodic. “I trust you’re being treated with the respect you deserve.”
Monty glanced toward Miss Howard, who clung to the staircase railing. Then something shifted in his soul—as if he’d been living his life in ignorance, or under the influence of a dream, from which he had begun to awaken…
As if, for the first time in his life, he possessed a conscience.
Eleanor Howard’s sister might have indulged in a little torture—buthewas the real culprit, in having shattered not only her hopes, but her belief in her own worth. True, he had no intention of marrying her, but had he needed to declare his true intent so cruelly? Only one party had stood to gain from his scheme—and that was him, at the expense of Miss Howard’s peace of mind.
You really are the very worst of cads.
He brushed past Juliette, approached Miss Howard, and placed his hand over hers. As if he were training a filly, he coaxed her to uncurl her fingers from the banister, then he hooked his arm around hers and drew her toward him. At first she complied passively, then she curled her fingers around his arm and leaned against him. A barely noticeable act of trust, but he recognized it for what it was.
What the devil was happening to him? Sawbridge would, no doubt, taunt him for going soft.
“Miss Juliette,” he said, “I wonder if you’d oblige me?”
Juliette’s eyes sparkled with delight, and she gave a gracious smile.
“Your sister was about to send for some tea. Might you oblige instead?”
The smile slipped, and he caught a flash of the expression Lady Arabella had displayed last night—the expression that warned an unmarried man to run away as fast as he could.
“Well!” she exclaimed. “I hardly think that’s proper.”
“Please send for your sister’s maid, also,” he said. “We’ll be in the parlor.”
“It’s not my place to—”
“Ifyou would oblige me, Miss Juliette.”
She stiffened at the hardened tone of his voice, and he caught a flicker of fear in her eyes.
Good. The ease with which her expression had morphed from spite, when aimed at her sister, to faux innocence and cordiality when directed at him reminded Monty of the bullies he’d encountered at Eton—especially MacDiarmid, who, at best, could be described as a “nasty piece of work” who rallied his disciples to support his vendettas against those he deemed weaker than himself, yet turned into a sniveling wreck when challenged. Monty had caught the little toad tormenting one of the new boys and given him six of the best as punishment.
There was much to be said for the old ways of teaching bullies a lesson.
“Please excuse me, Miss Juliette, while your sister and I return to the parlor,” Monty said. Then he turned to Eleanor. “Darling, shall we?”
She blinked and glanced up at him, and he caressed her hand, taking care to run his fingertips over the third finger of her left hand.
“My mother’s ring will look exquisite on this finger,” he said. “The emerald is almost the same color as your eyes. In my eagerness to see you again, I quite forgot to bring it. But I shall have it with me when next we meet.”
Confusion clouded her expression, but she let him steer her into the parlor, where guided her to an armchair by the fire.
