Page 65 of In Compromise with the Earl
“Formally, at Lady Pandora Ravenswood’s ball,” she replied. “But we crossed paths before, four years ago and here and there after that.”
“Ah,” she said. “I hope Oswald was not as surly as when I first met him.”
“Oh, he was,” she smiled over the rim of her water glass. “His scowl had me wondering if I was covered from head to toe in mud and not realized it.”
“I’m not that bad,” he glowered.
“Oh, you are,” she replied. “But oddly, I find it charming.”
“Speaking of charming,” William sat back. “His Grace, Duke Strathmore sends his felicitations, Darling. He is still stunned that you chose Tennesley over him but is willing to still be acquaintances.”
Aphrodite heard the underlying message—that the Duke was willing to take her as a lover even with her marriage—and from the low growl in Oswald’s chest he had picked up on it as well. Smiling pleasantly while her heart burned with shame, Aphrodite said, “Oh, that’s very gracious of him.”
“His Grace wanted to court you?” Amalie asked, innocently.
“It was misbegotten match from the beginning,” she replied calmly. “We never suited each other. He had a more, um, vibrant lifestyle than I was comfortable with.”
“Ah,” she smiled and went back to her soup. It was the first course and already Aphrodite was beginning to wonder how she would survive the other four. Maybe she could beg fatigue or illness and escape with what was left of her dignity. The night was bound to mortify her one way or another and she wanted to get ahead of it if she could.
Thankfully the conversation turned to upcoming balls and soirées, and she got a moment to breathe. The two following courses and had passed and Aphrodite was keeping her fingers crossed that the night would go on without any more surprises.
When dessert was served with another round of sweet wine, her father spoke up, “So, Westlake, were you surprised to see Aphrodite again? I was sure after you two kissed there would be some courtship in place.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Stunned silence washed over the room and William blithely looked at his glass. “I probably should not have said that. How many of these have I had?”
“Enough,” Aphrodite kept her tone light while all she wanted to do was to throw her flute at her traitorous father. She didn’t even want to look at the Dowager, who, she was sure, had a satisfied smirk on her face atprovingwhat she thought she knew. “I’m sure Lord Westlake considers that incident much the ill-considered childish mistake as I have.”
“I thought it was a jest,” Stephen replied. “Children do foolish thing.”
“I’m sure we’ve all had those moments,” the prudent voice of Lord Valentine cut in sagely. “Haven’t we? Let bygone by bygones, I say.”
The rigidness in her spine only stiffened when the conversation grew easier and while she looked over at Oswald, she found his narrow-eyed gaze landing squarely on her father. William, of course, was blithely ignorant, or he was playing at being so.
Oswald reached for his flute and clenched it hard enough that the stem might shatter in his grip. She gently reached over and took the flute from him and gently shook her head. “Don’t hurt yourself.”
He leaned into her ear, his tone low and threatening. “He did that on purpose. I’ll—”
“That too,” she replied. When she rested her hand on his thigh, he grabbed her hand tightly, as if to say, he couldn’t wait to leave this ambush.
Daring to look over at her host, Aphrodite was not surprised at the smug look on her face. Her father had set her back miles even while she had barely made inches with the Dowager. Wincing a little, Aphrodite sipped her wine, waiting patiently for the dinner to end.
She met Lord Valentine’s eyes once and tried to express wordlessly how much she thanked him deferring the cruel jabs that she knew would have come after her father’s deliberate slip.
He lifted his glass understandingly and she turned to Oswald. His lips were thinned, and his jaw was working while his gaze, this time, was leveled at his mother. She could feel his fury building and touched his arm, slid her fingers through his and held him tightly.
She was not sure what he was going to do with his mother after this sham of a party dispersed. They finished dessert and while another round of drinks came around, Oswald made to go to his mother, but she stopped him.
“Please,” Aphrodite said, pushing her plea into her eyes, “later.” His eyes flashed but he nodded curtly and pulled away. The party broke but the Dowager offered the card room for anyone who wanted to play a hand of vingt-et-un, but no one took it. Aphrodite made it a point to go to Stephen and was glad that Lady Amalie was there.
“Before you leave, please understand, this was not my intention. I had thought the past would stay in the past,” she said earnestly. “I never intended to put any wedge between you two. What happened between Stephen and I was a long, long time ago and it never meant anything.”
“I know,” Amalie said quietly. “Stephen never kept anything from me. He had not mentioned your name, but he told me that he had kissed a young lady years ago and said it meant nothing. You have nothing to apologize for. And I am glad you found Oswald. He seems so happy with you.”
Relieved, she said, “Thank you, and yes, we are happy.”
Stephen flashed a quick smile. “I couldn’t have said anything better than what Lady Amalie said.”
