Page 24 of A Spinster's Unexpected Marriage
James smiled, finding himself rather satisfied with all that his friend had said. “That is precisely so,” he stated, quite firmly. “It would be foolish to suggest that it came from anything other than that. I have been quite surprised by it myself, of course, this great sweeping emotion which has captured me so but it is there, nonetheless.” He let out a sigh, which he hoped sounded heartfelt, before smiling vaguely and looking away from all the other gentlemen. “Lady Newton is the most beautiful, most remarkable creature I have ever met. The bet was foolish, yes, but once I was introduced to her, once I spent some time with her, I found myself quite entranced! And to know that no other gentleman had given her even the smallest look made me all the more grateful to have her as my betrothed. If the other gentlemen of thetonhad taken note of her, then I would never have been given the opportunity I have now!”
Lord Childers blinked, seemingly astonished that James would speak with such fervour. Lord Talbot on the other hand, threw out one hand towards James and let out a loud exclamation. “Then tell me, will you not?”
“Tell you?” James frowned. “Tell you what?”
“What it is about the lady that demands your attention in such a way?” Lord Talbot exclaimed, his eyes going wide. “There must be something that we other gentlemen have not uncovered, something about her character or her beauty which we have otherwise ignored.”
“I cannot help you there, I am afraid,” James chuckled, though he found himself a little surprised at the fervour with which Lord Talbot asked his questions. “There is so much about her which draws me to her, I do not think I can describe it all to you.”
“That is very interesting, Lord Granton,” Lord Childers said slowly, his eyes now fixing to James’, searching his expression as if he were still rather suspicious that there was yet more to this than James had told them. “You are stating that the lady has, in fact, truly captured your heart? And so quickly too?”
James nodded, the lies coming easily to his lips. “I would say so, yes. It was not something I ever imagined would happen to me but, alas, it has. Therefore, I shall turn my head away from every other young lady and instead, seek to pursue the only young lady who has ever captured my heart.”
“Goodness,” Lord Talbot exclaimed, leaning now towards Lord Childers rather than towards James. “I think I must spend time with the lady to discover what it is about her that has captured him so! What say you, Lord Childers?”
Lord Childers, while still remaining thoughtful, nodded slowly. “I suppose that could be an interesting diversion, yes.”
A hope flickered in James’ heart, though, for whatever reason, it did not burst into a furious fire as he had expected. Instead, it remained dulled, not fanned into flame by the gentleman’s words.
“We shall find out what it is about her that has captured you so, I am determined!" Lord Talbot chuckled, waggling one finger in James’ direction. “There must be something remarkable about the lady if she has taken the Marquess of Granton away from every other diversion possible!”
James chuckled and spread out his hands. “If you should like to spend time in her company, I cannot protest,” he said, seeing the way that Lord Radford grinned. “I am certain that you will find her just as wonderful as I.”
So saying, he excused himself and stepped away to another part of Whites, telling himself that he ought to be glad – nay, delighted – that these two gentlemen were beginning to show an interest in Lady Newton. Yes, it was more of a curiosity but that could lead to something a little more, could it not? For the moment, all he had to do was pretend that he was in love with Lady Newton, that she had captured his heart and quite stolen it away from everything else that he had ever desired.
“Desires I cannot wait to pursue again,” he reminded himself, snapping his fingers at the footman in the hope of garnering a glass of brandy just as soon as he was able. “For I am barely able to wait even for a moment until I am free of Lady Newton, once and for all.”
For whatever reason, that declaration did not sound as firm nor as intentional as he had hoped, even to his own ears. Whatever was the matter with him?
***
“There she is.”
James looked across the ballroom, finding his gaze fastening on Lady Newton as she drew closer to him. She had not seen him as yet and thus, her expression was open, a light smile on her face as she spoke to Miss Stockton. Something she said made Lady Newton laugh, her green eyes dancing, her cheeks a little flushed and her red curls spinning gently from the cascade at the back of her head.
James’ stomach turned over on itself.
“She is remarkably pretty, I will say.”
Turning rather sharply to his companion, James scowled as Lord Radford lifted an eyebrow. “Yes, my friend, I am aware that she is,” he said, a little crisply. “Though I have never been drawn to redheads.”
“Mmm.” Lord Radford considered, rubbing his chin as he considered. “I have heard it said that ladies with red hair have a fire within their heart, a passion which might be absent from every other.”
James scowled and shook his head. “I hardly think that is true.”
“Why could it not be?” With a chuckle, Lord Radford jammed an elbow into James’ ribs. “Mayhap you will have the chance to find out for yourself one day, though you are hoping that such a day will not take place, I know!”
“Indeed,” James answered, emphatically, still struggling to look away from Martha. She was, as his friend had said, very pretty if not quite beautiful, leaving James to wonder why he had not noticed such a thing about her before. With something akin to displeasure, James realised that he had not thought about Lady Lamberton in some days – ever since their final meeting, in fact. Was that because of Lady Newton?
As he watched and silently considered, a gentleman came towards both Lady Newton and Miss Stockton, making to stand directly in front of them so that they were forced to stop, and James’ frown immediately appeared across his forehead.
“Whoever is that and what are they doing?”
Lord Radford tilted his head. “Thatappears to be Lord Childers,” he said, a broad grin spreading across his face. “Goodness, that was quick, was it not?”
“Quick?” James glanced to his friend. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that this was clearly an urgent matter for him!” Lord Radford exclaimed. “You spoke to him very recently about the lady, declaring that you found yourself quite in love with her, willing to remove yourself from all other distractions and he is now quite determined to find out what it is about her that has captured you so. I did not think that he would be as eager as this, however!”
