Page 83 of Lord of Temptation
“I could go farther and well you know it. Why did you invite me here if not to flirt?”
“I thought—”
“My Lord Tristan!” Lady Hermione called out.
“Dear God,” he grumbled, “that girl is as tenacious as a barnacle.”
He released her, stepped back, and while Anne knew she should be grateful—had she not been advocating for just such a move?—she was sorry that he was no longer holding her. As she spun around to greet Lady Hermione, she noticed that Jameson was much nearer and she had no doubt that he’d been charging over to rescue her. That would not have gone well at all.
“Had I known you were going to be here, I’d have not delayed my arrival,” Lady Hermione gushed, her cheeks flushed, her smile so wide that it filled half her face.
Oh, what a nasty thought. Normally, Anne was not one to think unkindly of others. She wasn’t jealous. Absolutely not. She understood that Tristan was a temporary fixture in her life. One did not become attached to things that had no permanence.
“Lady Anne was just teaching me to play croquet,” Tristan said.
“Oh, is that what she was doing?” Lady Hermione gave her a once-over. “I wasn’t quite sure.”
“You look lovely today, Lady Hermione,” Anne said, wanting to get the attention off of herself.
“Why thank you. It’s a new gown. The color of Lord Tristan’s eyes.” She batted her pale lashes up at him.
“Yes, I have eyes of my own so I can quite see that,” Anne said. Oh, she was in an ungracious mood. She couldn’t very well claim Tristan, could she? That would bring about an entire host of complications.
Lady Hermione apparently was not to be deterred from her quest. “Oh, I say, Lord Tristan, I would so love a turn about the garden. Will you accompany me?”
“Lady Anne and I are engaged in a game of croquet.”
“But surely it will keep. With English weather, you never know about the sun. It could rain at any moment.”
The argument made no sense for if it rained, how would they play croquet? Besides, there wasn’t a dark cloud in the sky. It was a lovely day. If it rained, Anne would eat her hat.
“Please, just a quick turn.”
Anne could tell that he was debating between telling her to take a jump into shark-infested waters and offering kindness. When he turned to her, she wasn’t surprised to see the regret in his eyes because kindness had won out. “Not to worry,” she offered, before he could say anything. “Jameson is lurking nearby. I’m of a mind to entice him into playing me and then beating him soundly.”
With a wink he took her mallet, and holding it with only one hand, let loose a negligent swing that sent the ball rolling through the first two wickets.
“You cad! You know how to play.”
He grinned. “Before you spotted me, I’d watched you long enough to figure it out.” He leaned near. “Later, perhaps,” he said quietly, and she could do no more than nod, certain he wasn’t referring to catching up to her laterhere.
She tried not to feel a spark of envy when he offered Lady Hermione his arm and escorted her toward the roses. She wished she was walking in the girl’s place. No one would fault her for talking and laughing with him as they strolled about the garden. How simple—
“Well, that was an embarrassing display,” Jameson said tartly as he came to stand beside her.
“Yes, I daresay, Lady Hermione seems intent on garnering his attention.”
“I was referring to you and that man.”
Her blood boiled. “Thatlord.” She moved in front of her brother and even though he was a head taller, she still managed to meet his gaze levelly. “He is a lord, Jameson, however much you may wish he wasn’t.”
“Alorddoes not wrap himself around a woman—”
“I was instructing him on how to properly hold the mallet.”
His jaw dropped. “You honestly expect me to believe that you were responsible for that charade?”
“I don’t expect anything of you except to be civil. Why will you not give him a chance to prove himself? It’s not his fault that Lady Hermione traipses after him like she’s transformed into his shadow. Would you rather he rebuffed her, hurt her tender heart?”
