Page 15 of A Spinster to Reform the Duke
“I never said you were. That still doesn’t explain why you sent the book.”
“Let us stop talking of this.”
“I’m rather enjoying talking of this,” Alexander teased him again, elbowing Timothy for good measure.
“Enjoy talking to your love instead,” Timothy pushed his friend forward eagerly, as they met Lady Eliza and Lady Rebecca, who had just parted themselves from their parents and come to meet them.
“Lady Eliza,” Alexander was quick to greet her, bowing and taking her hand eagerly. Lady Eliza seemed just as happy to see him.
“My Lord,” she said, curtsying, “I hope you have not been waiting long?”
“Not at all. Though I would have happily waited longer.”
The words made Timothy want to roll his eyes. Instead, he looked at Lady Rebecca, bowing to her as she curtsied. He clearly caught the way she bit her lip, trying to stop herself from laughing too.
“I am determined to fulfill my promise to you, Lady Eliza,” Alexander said, placing her hand delicately on his arm.
“The first dance?” she said with clear hope.
“If you will accompany me.” He led her away.
Timothy laughed as Lady Rebecca stared open mouthed at the couple.
“Do you think they noticed we were here at all?” she asked with humor.
“Scarcely,” Timothy agreed. “We were probably just things in the background. Like when a fine painter blurs the people watching some kind of great event in one of the old masterpieces.”
“Hmm, I rather like the idea of disappearing into the background.” Lady Rebecca seemed to be using this as her excuse to part from him as she nodded her head to him once more and turned away. Yet Timothy couldn’t let her go.
There was something about her tonight, something he hadn’t noticed before. He had known she was a beauty, that was apparent from the moment he had seen her, but she was somehow different tonight. Her dark blonde hair was coiffed in the fashionable style and her ivory white gown had such detail in it that his eyes were frequently drawn to gaze upon it, admiring her figure in a way he knew he should not be doing in public, yet there was something else there.
Is it the smile? The spark in the eyes?
He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but that curiosity made him follow her, all the way to the drinks table.
“Parting from my company so soon?” he teased as he joined her at the punch table.
“Consider it my attempt to be kind to you,” she said with a smile, looking back up to him. “You have already been forced into my company often enough as of late.”
“Yet you will notice I am here again, of my own accord.” His words made her frown a little, looking up at him.
“You make me wonder why.”
It’s not a question I can fully answer.For he was not entirely sure why himself he was seeking out her company. The ladies’ company he usually sought were those he knew accepted his rakish ways and were intrigued by him. He did not choose someone like Lady Rebecca, fine and honorable. The difference was stark.
“Allow me,” he said, turning to the punch bowl and collecting an ornate crystal glass for her.
“You are being gallant indeed,” she said, still bearing clear suspicion of him.
“Your tone suggests you think it not possible of me,” he laughed with the words. “Are what the scandal sheets say truly so awful of me? Or have you formed this opinion of me yourself in our few short meetings?”
“Hmm, that is a difficult question to answer,” she murmured as she took the glass from him.
“I’ll happily wait to hear it,” he said, holding onto the glass for a second, forcing her fingers to brush with his. Her eyes widened at the touch, showing it had the effect he had so desired. It was a trick he had often done in the past, though never had he imagined trying it with Lady Rebecca.
“For what the scandal sheets say of you and your conversation to me do not entirely match up.” She took the glass forcefully from his grasp, clearly keen not to fall under any spell. “You could be two different men.”
“Could we? I rather like that,” he acknowledged as he turned back to pour his own glass. “Perhaps you have unearthed my secret in this busy assembly room, Lady Rebecca. That I am not the Duke of Frampington everyone believes me to be,” he whispered the words, with drama, as if it was all some kind of conspiracy.
