Page 37 of The Lady Was Lying
Danford and his wife Clarissa had joined Greydon, Emmeline, Jane, Edward, and Violet. He’d been surrounded by three couples and…one eligible lady.
Bloody hell.
He hadn’t considered that they’d been the only two unmarried people in the box. If Belinda had joined them, there would be much less reason for speculation. Two eligible ladies were not nearly as suspicious as one.
Unfortunately, she hadn’t joined them.
“It isn’t how it appears,” he argued.
Sinking into one of the chairs that flanked his desk, his mother raised her brow. “You’re rather missing the point.”
“I know, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m not courting Lady Jane”—Belinda’s sister was perfectly nice but there was no spark between them—“and I don’t intend to. I’ll try to be more circumspect in the future, but I swear that I have not shown her undue attention thus far.”
“You’re spending too much time with her for it to appear innocent,” his mother challenged. “You’ve been socializing with your sister and her family nearly every day. What are the scandal rags supposed to think?” She didn’t wait for a response. “If you keep seeking the countess’s company, the stories about you and Lady Jane are only going to get worse.” Her hand shot into the air, halting him from speaking. “And don’t tell me they aren’t true again. The truth hardly matters.”
“I’m not giving up my siblings because of a little gossip,” he stated unequivocally. “I will be careful in my interactions with Lady Jane but ignoring her entirely would be worse than occasionally conversing with her. I don’t want to suggest there is something wrong with her now that we’ve been publicly linked.” He sighed. “You’ve warned me countless times since I decided to come to London that appearances are everything, and thanks to this ridiculous paper, I’ll need to be quite careful in how I interact with her going forward.” Everyone would be watching him even more closely now. It was too bad he’d danced with Jane at her debut. Two encounters in one week did give the illusion that he was interested. “I’ll do my best to keep a respectable distance between us when we next meet.”
“Hmm,” she replied. “I’m not certain that will help. Are you sure you don’t want to consider courting Lady Jane? It seems as if she’s quite eligible, and marrying her would solve more than a few of your problems.” She made a humming sound. “Is she truly as beautiful as they report?”
“She is.” It would be useless to deny. Even if he didn’t find her quite as attractive as Belinda, the entire family was unfairly good-looking.
“But you do not consider her worthy of becoming your duchess?”
His eyes narrowed.
When his mother had stormed into the study, he’d been nearly sure she was against a match between himself and anyone related to Greydon. Now it seemed as if she preferred one. It was difficult to say which would be worse—her favor or her opposition.
“It isn’t that simple,” he told her. “I consider every young lady I meet a potential duchess.”
His mother snorted in a most unladylike fashion.
“Mother,” he chastised.
“You do not consider every lady a potential duchess. As far as I can tell, you haven’t shown a preference for any woman since we arrived.” She reached for the scandal sheet, placing it in her lap. “If you found someone you were serious about, the papers would have nothing to speculate about, and these stories about you would disappear. It would behoove you to select a wife. If you did, we could return home sooner rather than later.”
“I haven’t met anyone who intrigues me.” Anyone except for a certain lady who showed no interest in him unless she was trying to get him to kiss her, threatening to seduce him, or apologizing for threatening to seduce him.
“I want to meet Lady Jane. Decide for myself whether she’d be a suitable match.”
He groaned. “I am not courting Lady Jane.”
“But perhaps you should be.” Humming softly, she rose to her feet. “Shall we invite her to dine here?”
“Absolutely not.”
He could not court Belinda’s sister if he wanted to court her.
Belinda was determined to help her sister become a duchess, despite the fact that the urge to kiss James had not waned. She’d hoped that, once she had apologized and promised to desist badgering him, it would diminish, but she had not been that lucky. Thoughts of him and his lips had plagued her dreams, and she was more than a little irritable by the time morning arrived.
Instead of wallowing in her feelings, she barged into Jane’s bedchamber and found her sister awake and seated on her bed with a breakfast tray on her lap.
“You are still interested in the duke?” she asked.
Jane gently placed her chocolate on the tray and then nodded slowly.
“Are you sure?” Belinda demanded, bewildered by her sister’s lack of enthusiasm. She’d expected more than a placid agreement. Was it because she’d interrupted before Jane could properly fortify herself? Should she wait until after Jane cleared the tray?
“No. I mean, yes. Umm…it’s just…why are you asking?”
