Page 81 of The Good Girl's Guide to Rakes
He scanned the crowd, his gaze going right past several genteel mothers looking at him eagerly as he searched in vain for Celeste.
“Damn,” he muttered. Louder, to Finn he said, “I need a drink.”
“Put that on my headstone,” his brother agreed. “Don’t see any servants handing out wine.”
Kieran sighed. “Punch it is.”
Together, they moved deeper into the room to hunt down the punch bowl. The guests congregated close to one side of the ballroom, so Kieran headed in that direction with Finn close beside him. Kieran barely noticed the interested glances in his direction as concern for Celeste gnawed at him. She’d said she’d be in attendance tonight, but perhaps something had happened to her. Maybe she was ill, or her carriage had thrown a wheel on the way over, and she was in need of help. If that was so, he ought to leave immediately and trace her possible route.
“How pleasant to see you, Mr. Ransome,” a middle-aged woman in ivory silk said to him.
“Lady Parslow,” Kieran replied, bowing as he remembered that Celeste had introduced her atthe recital. “May I introduce my brother Mr. Finn Ransome?”
When Finn also bowed, Lady Parslow nodded regally. She glanced at the young brunette beside her, a tall woman possessing sharp features and even sharper eyes. “This is my daughter, Miss Tabitha Seaton.”
“Sirs,” Miss Seaton said coolly as the brothers bowed again.
“Excuse me for a moment, I see a friend I must greet,” Lady Parslow said.
“I’ll accompany you,” Miss Seaton offered.
“Oh, no, dear, do continue your conversation with Mr. and Mr. Ransome.” With that, Lady Montford blended into the crowd, leaving her daughter behind.
Miss Seaton glanced around the chamber, looking wholly unimpressed. “Do you think His Grace has a library? One that is more than decorative?”
“Books are better company than the guests?” Finn asked.
“In my estimation,” she said dryly, “books contain actual knowledge, whereas most of the people in attendance here do not.”
“I contain almost no knowledge,” Finn answered cheerfully.
“Perhaps,” Miss Seaton said, regarding him. “Yet you may prove useful if you can introduce me to Sir William Marcroft. He’s here tonight and is the head of the Sterling Society—you’ve heard of it?”
Kieran exchanged a look with his brother. “I cannot say that either of us have.”
“No,” the lady said with resignation, “I don’t suppose fashionable gentlemen such as yourselvesare familiar with England’s most esteemed intellectual society. Do excuse me, sirs. I’m sure you find me as useless to your company as you are to mine.” She curtseyed before walking away.
Finn exhaled. “My God, Miss Seaton’s a crucible. She’d make a perfect match with Dom.”
“Not you?” Kieran asked, arching his brow.
“I haven’t the fortitude,” his brother said with a smirk. “Thoughyouhaven’t settled on anyone to court, and you just might possess enough indifference to make Miss Seaton an excellent husband.”
“I’ll keep that under advisement.” But the truth of it was, Kieran had no interest in Miss Seaton. He had no interest inanyonebut Celeste.
It struck him then, as he was surrounded by London’s most eligible young women, that there was only one person he could imagine spending the rest of his life with. He staggered, as if he’d been hit over the head with the butt of a pistol.
Christ almighty, he was in love with Celeste. So much so he ached with it. Every face he saw was hardly worth a glance because it wasn’t her face. Anyone who spoke simply made meaningless sounds because it wasn’t Celeste speaking. A moment without her was a moment without joy, without purpose.
“Can we get that punch now,” Finn asked irritably, “or am I going to have to use my lock-picking skills to break into the wine cellar?”
Kieran’s gut clenched in eagerness as Celeste appeared at the entrance to the ballroom. He barely noticed that her friend Miss Carew stood beside her—he saw nothing but Celeste.
Tonight, she wore a leaf green gown embroidered with golden vines, and a strand of golden silk leaves wove through her upswept hair. She was springtime itself, and verses in praise of her unfolded in his mind the way fresh vegetation emerged from winter’s frost.
Love blossomed in his chest and spread its tendrils through him. He was dizzy with it, and she was the fixed point in his spinning universe, holding him steady.
He wanted to make Celeste his—before the eyes of the world. All the mad chasing of pleasure he’d done for most of his life, it made him understand that the greatest pleasure of all was being with her. Standing close to her. Seeing her smile and hearing her laugh and watching her joy as she discovered a new experience.
