Page 14 of The Scholar's Key
“He is standing right there,” Percy said, pointing.
“I only see women.”
“Rebecca. He is right in front of you.”
“Oh, him — in the spectacles?”
“Yes,” Percy said in exasperation, turning away from him when he began to look their way once more. “Now will you quit staring? I do not want him to think that I am gossiping about him.”
“Is there anything to tell?” Elizabeth asked, not listening to Percy at all, rather shifting around her for a better look. “He is rather handsome, actually, in a rather unconventional way.”
“Handsome?” Percy said in surprise. “I suppose he is pleasant looking.” She hadn’t considered his looks. He was just… Mr. Rowley.
“And here I thought perhaps you had a penchant for the man the way you were looking at him,” Elizabeth laughed. “I see I am wrong. Will you introduce me?”
“Introduce you?” Percy repeated, rather stupidly. She should. Why wouldn’t she? Mr. Rowley would be an appropriate match for a woman like Elizabeth, with noble connections but no direct link to a title. And yet… the thought of doing so left a rather uncomfortable swirling sensation in her stomach. “Yes, of course,” she said, ignoring her fickle, confusing emotions. “Let us go.”
She led them across the room, Mr. Rowley looking from one side to the next as they approached, as though he was wondering who they might be seeking out, not believing that it could be him.
“Mr. Rowley, how good to see you,” Percy said when they reached him. Now that Elizabeth had said it, she was unable to prevent herself from looking for the handsomeness that her cousin had mentioned. Perhaps, beneath the spectacles, the hair that he wore in a style that was some years out of date now, the drab clothing, and those sideburns that were rather—
“Lady Percy,” he interrupted her musings. “You look lovely tonight.”
“Thank you,” she said, struck by the heat that climbed up her cheeks.
“Percy always looks quite remarkable,” Rebecca said, stepping forward. “She is the most intelligent of all of the styles of the season.”
“I enjoy clothing, is all,” she said, rather flustered, as one of her cousins – she wasn’t sure which – poked her in the side. “Oh, yes, my apologies. Mr. Rowley, please meet my cousins, Miss Elizabeth Paulson and Miss Rebecca Paulson.”
“Lovely to meet you,” he said, bowing slightly.
“How do you know one another?” Elizabeth asked, looking back and forth between them.
“We met through common friends,” Percy explained, to which Mr. Rowley nodded.
“What do you do with your time, Mr. Rowley?” Rebecca asked, and Percy knew that it was not so much that she was interested in what he did, but to whom he was connected.
“I am studying and writing the history of England from the time of the Acts of Union,” he said, which immediately lost some of the interest of Percy’s cousins. Percy smiled slightly to herself, for if they knew the truth – that Mr. Rowley was currently in line to inherit an earldom, should anything happen to his brother – they would not be so disappointed in him.
But if Mr. Rowley didn’t see fit to share that information, then neither would she.
“Mr. Rowley—” she began, but then stopped, her mouth dropping open.
“Percy,” Elizabeth hissed in her ear after she said nothing for a few moments. “Percy, you are gaping like a fish.”
“Yes, Percy,” Rebecca said, only she did nothing to quiet her words. “Do close your mouth.”
Mr. Rowley, however, said nothing. He only turned to see what had so captured her attention.
And when he returned his gaze to hers, it was wearing the same astonishment that Percy felt.
“The necklace,” they said together. It appeared they had found it, without even trying.
CHAPTER6
Noah had to tamp down the urge to rush over and ask the woman just where she had received such a beautiful – and valuable – piece of jewellery, but first, they had to rid themselves of Rachel and Emmaline or whatever the names of Percy’s cousins were.
He usually prided himself on his memory. But it was hard to retain information regarding anyone else when Percy was standing in front of him.
