Page 11 of A Spinster's Sinful Temptation

Chapter 3

“Oh, for goodness sake, Derrick!” Lady Northampton nudged her son sharply. “Would you at least look like you want to be here? Sulking in the corner and scowling isn’t going to make you look like someone others want to be around.”

“My apologies, Mother,” Derrick mumbled. He tried to relax his face, but it didn’t ease the pulsing in his temples. “And I thought you said you wouldn’t be calling me by my Christian name while we were out in public. You must be that upset if you’ve forgotten about that.”

The dowager countess huffed and swatted his arm. “Honestly, there are times when I can’t talk to you. You’re such a pain.”

“Only because you dragged me out to a ball when I wanted to stay home.”

“You make it sound like I put a gun to your head.”

“You might as well have,” Derrick grunted.

He looked around the room with a critical eye. The ball was in full swing, the orchestra playing away at the far end of the ballroom. To the credit of Lord and Lady Yaxley, they did know how to throw a good party, and they could be enjoyable in the right mood. But Derrick was not in the right mood at all.

Not when he was sure Catherine was going to turn up.

Derrick had heard someone mention that Lord and Lady Saxton were going to arrive shortly. He didn’t want to be put in a position where they were talking to each other in front of everyone.

Catherine would try to do something that made Derrick uncomfortable, and he knew if he rebuffed her so coldly people were going to question what had happened between them. From personal experience, he was aware of how easy it was to make a rumour out of something minor without any of the facts.

Besides, from what Derrick had heard from a few mutual friends, Catherine wanted to get reacquainted with him again after losing contact due to her marriage.

Not happening. Derrick may have loved her once, but he wasn’t about to disrespect her husband. Catherine might not care about her marriage, but Derrick did. And he knew she wanted more than mere friendship.

But he did have to stay for a while. While his mother’s pestering was annoying, he could understand why she did it. He did need to look for a wife and have children so they could keep the earldom within his line. And Derrick did feel ready to settle down, just a little bit.

Being a bachelor and having fun was one thing, but he had an ache to have someone around, someone whose company he enjoyed and who would be there when he came home every day or when he woke up in the morning.

He looked around the room again, trying to decide who to approach and talk to. There had to be someone he hadn’t spoken to before that Derrick could get to know. But he couldn’t bring himself to go up to someone and introduce himself.

Then he spied Randall near the doorway. His friend seemed engrossed in his surroundings, but he was smoothly edging toward the door, heading for some sort of freedom. Derrick gave his mother a quick bow.

“If you’ll excuse me, Mother?”

Lady Northampton had gone back to talking with one of her friends, so she barely acknowledged her son moving away. At least she wasn’t shouting after him to choose a girl from a wealthy family. She had done that at the last ball during a lull in the music, and it had caused everyone to stare at him. That had been embarrassing.

Derrick managed to catch up with Randall before he vanished out of sight.

“Randall! I thought you were going to join me.”

“Well, I said I would be here for a little bit, and then I would go.” Randall shrugged. “I’ve been here a while, and now I’m leaving.”

“You’ve only been here twenty minutes!”

“That’s enough, isn’t it?”

Derrick sighed. “Look, I know you don’t want to be here, but I do need your help.”

“Help with what?”

“You know what I need help with.”

Randall groaned. “Oh, for goodness sake, you’re actually going to listen to your mother about this? You want to find a wife?”

Derrick frowned. “Didn’t I say to you earlier that I have to? But I’m struggling to decide who I’m going to approach. I don’t want to start conversing with someone, develop an interest in them, and find out that they’re not available.”

“Well, you need to talk to a lady to find out if she is unmarried and unavailable, you know. You don’t need me for that.”

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