Page 46 of A Naughty Proposal for His Winter Countess
“I’d like to agree with you but, living the life I have; there’s nothing I leave to chance,” Daniel replied. A new dance was called, and he lifted her hand to kiss the back of it. “Dance with me?”
Smiling, Harriet brushed his cheek with her knuckles, “Of course.”
He led her to the floor and pulled her in a bit closer than the dance asked for. “I like that spark in your eyes,” he murmured. “Your beauty shines through.”
“Flattery, My Lord, will get you nowhere,” Harriet said.
“How is it flattery if it’s the truth?” Daniel asked while they moved. “Ah, I see, you still don’t know how to take a compliment.”
She blushed, “I am perfectly capable of taking praise…it’s just a bit unfamiliar. My sisters tried, but—”
“The taunting prevailed,” Daniel said, as sorrow for the child Harriet once was, darted like quicksilver through his heart. “But they cannot harm you now.”
His words, though meant to liven her spirits, had the opposite effect—she looked even more dour. Her lips flattened, and the quick-witted rejoinder he had expected, never came. Spinning her with the crescendo, Daniel was felt pressed to know what was in her mind, but when he came back, Harriet smiled. “No, they cannot harm me…for now.”
“Harriet—”
But she slipped away, and Daniel let her go with her ominous words ringing in his ears. It was madly infuriating, but he would allow her some time to herself. Harriet was not one to push too much, or she would push back; he had to allow her some time. He moved off to the punch table and gulped down a strong drink down, then another.
“Raster,” Ben said, “slow down, or you’ll be drunk as a wheelbarrow by morn.”
“I’m hardly at that point,” Daniel responded. “Where have you been all evening?”
“In the card room, beating a few lords at whist,” Ben grinned. “I won’t need to take more jobs in the next few weeks for money.”
Looking over his shoulder in a vain attempt to spot Harriet, Daniel snorted out a reply, “I think future historians would condemn me for not warning those men about your uncanny ability to remember cards, and how you fleeced all of us back at Cambridge.”
“You wouldn’t,” Ben dared.
“I would,” Daniel said.
Ben grabbed his arm and towed him out past the dancers to a frosted balcony, “What the deuce is wrong with you?” he demanded.
“Nothing,” Daniel glared.
“I can see that something is wrong,” Ben said. “What is it?”
“I’m…” Daniel thought quickly, “worried. Dawson has invited Harriet and me to a ball at Vauxhall tomorrow, and I keep fretting about what might happen.”
“To you or Harriet?” Ben asked, with a cocked brow.
“To Dawson,” Daniel seethed. “I’ve seen how he looks at her. That man is like a cat in a birdcage. He’ll do his damned best to get the one that is out of his reach.”
Ben angled his body so he could see Daniel’s face in the dim light, “I’ll be deuced, you’re in love with my sister.”
“Again, I wouldn’t go so far,” Daniel said, grimly as Ben’s words were starting to cut a little deeper than he would have wanted.
“No, I am going that far,” Ben said, “It’s written all over your face and it resounds in your voice. All that emotion can only be one of two things; you’ve either fallen in love with Harriet, and you don’t want anything to happen to her, or you're scared that she’ll do the same thing that trollop did, and you want to protect yourself. And even that tells me you feel something profound for my dear harridan sister.”
Daniel grew cross, “Don’t call her that.”
“Oh, ho!” Ben laughed. “It’s becoming more apparent.”
Letting out an aggravated breath, Daniel said, “It’s pointless speaking to you. Good night, Ben.”
As he moved off to find Harriet, Ben grabbed his arm. This time, the joviality was gone from Ben’s face, “She won't ever double-cross you, Raster. Harriet does not have a deceptive bone in her body, and she holds firm to her word.”
Daniel almost laughed at the worddeceptive. All he and Harriet were doing was to deceive all of the people around them. Aiming to turn the discussion from her, Daniel said, “I suppose it is the latter, Ben. I fear getting hurt again.”
