Page 14 of Enticing the Devil

Beynon watched her with a deeply furrowed brow until he heard someone approach him from behind.

“Good showing, brother,” Roderick said with a wide grin as he held a hand out to help Beynon rise.

Though he could have gained his feet just fine on his own, Beynon grudgingly accepted his brother’s assistance.

“Emma and I were out early,” he laughed. “My fault entirely. I was too eager to win, I suppose.”

“You’d have been well-matched to my partner, then,” Beynon grumbled in reply.

Roderick laughed. “Does the gentle Lady Anne possess a competitive spirit?”

Beynon just grunted in response as he bent to brush the grass and dirt from his trousers. He feared his brother’s words might be a gross understatement.

Chapter Six

Dinner that evening was filled with rousing conversation as everyone laughed over the afternoon’s successes and failures.

Anne hadn’t spoken to Mr. Thomas since she’d left him sitting on the ground at the bottom of the hill. Of course, she’d noticed the moment he’d entered the drawing room, but she’d very purposely made sure to be deeply engaged in conversation with Bethany. It was an easy thing to do since her friend always seemed to have a great deal to say, something Anne appreciated when she didn’t wish to talk herself.

Since his gaze only briefly swept past her, she realized it wouldn’t have mattered if she’d been blatantly waiting for him. The man clearly wasn’t inclined to acknowledge her with a quick greeting let alone a full conversation. It didn’t matter that he didn’t approach anyone else either and seemed quite intent on keeping to himself. She was his partner. That fact should count for something.

He was honestly the most infuriating man she’d ever met. Ill-tempered, rude, arrogant in a way she’d never encountered before, Mr. Thomas was proving to be a sore test to her patience. And she was obligated to spend the next several days in close company with him.

By the time dinner was finished and the ladies adjourned to the drawing room while leaving the gentlemen to their port and tobacco, Anne was anxious to get away from Mr. Thomas’s brooding presence. Unfortunately, she wasn’t exactly fit for socializing with her friends right then, either. So, when Lily gently beckoned her to take a seat beside her on the sofa, Anne smiled and gave a small shake of her head in favor of strolling around the room instead.

Unfortunately, the men did not dally long and soon they began filtering into the drawing room in groups of two and three.

Anne continued along her path around the perimeter of the room, doing her best not to glance toward the doorway or take note of how eagerly some of the gentlemen sought out their partners. Many of them were married couples, but not all of them. And at least the other unmarried gentlemen made some effort at showing a bit of solidarity with the lady they’d been paired with. Her gentleman being the only exception, of course.

She shouldn’t be surprised. Hadn’t her three failed seasons taught her anything?

Despite coming from a good family, possessing a sizeable dowry, and mastering the skills her father had insisted would secure an exemplary match, she’d received exactly zero offers of marriage. She was intelligent and kind and well-mannered and passably attractive. She was also extremely loyal to those who’d bothered to become well acquainted enough with her to be considered a friend, though that number was admittedly very small. And not a single whisper of scandal could be remotely attached to her name. Yet, in three whole years, no gentleman had attempted even a tentative courtship.

She had, however, gotten quite accustomed to men’s glances sweeping right past her, polite but distracted dinner conversation, and dancing partners being chosen from all around while she remained unclaimed. In essence, being out in society had succeeded only in reviving the painful and fruitless hope of her childhood, when she’d done everything expected of her and had still failed to earn her father’s regard.

At least, she’d managed to cultivate a couple lovely friendships over the last few years. And true friends were far more valuable than some reluctant husband.

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