Page 38 of Courting Scandal With The Duke
She did not want to get Aunt Lenore in trouble. The poor dear was terrified Papa would cut off the allowance he was providing for Barbara’s care. ‘My aunt is a dear and I will not have her pilloried for my mistakes.’
He sighed. ‘I am glad to hear you say it, but I suppose you have her wrapped around your little finger.’
‘She keeps telling me that things are against the rules for those new upon the town, but she forgets I am not some ingenue up from the country. I have been married twice. Those rules do not apply to such as I. And besides, I do not see what business it is of yours.’
There, that ought to put an end to his sermonising.
She folded her hands in her lap.
Xavier did not know what business it was of his either. Even as he had spoken, he had felt the awkwardness of his position.
He had set out with good intentions, it was true, but who was he to give this woman a bear garden jaw? A cousin might take it upon himself, a brother perhapsor her father, but he was…a friend? Perhaps not even that. Merely an acquaintance.
Looking at her, with the first blush of womanhood—and perhaps a bit of anger—upon her cheek, it was hard to imagine that she could have been married twice.
‘I speak only as someone who has your best interests at heart,’ he said.
‘Pompous ass,’ she responded under her breath.
He decided to ignore her words. He doubted she knew she had spoken them out loud.
A woman passing in a barouche bowed in their direction.
Gloria Lang. Now Lord Glover’s mistress, she had thrown her lures at Xavier when he was first upon the town. He had succumbed to her charms briefly and ended by paying her handsomely to extricate himself, having discovered she was a money-hungry woman with the morals of an alley cat.
Xavier ignored her greeting.
‘Who was that?’
‘Who are you talking about?’
‘The lady who greeted you and you did not acknowledge.’
‘I saw no lady.’
‘Aha. I see.’
He glanced down. Her dark eyes glittered with anger. Fascinating. It was the first time he had been able to read the expression in those mysterious depths.
‘What do you see?’
‘You consider her beneath yourlofty notice. What did she do? Shop in Bond Street in the afternoon? Waltz three times with the same gentleman?’
He raised a brow at the litany of crimes she considered serious enough to warrant a cut direct. ‘You see, I was right. You have not the slightest town bronze. I fear you will fall afoul of the gossips before many more days are out. But since you do not appreciate my advice, I shall say nothing more.’
Her dark eyebrows drew together and she looked thoughtful. And enchanting. And quite beautiful.
‘I apologise,’ she said. ‘I was wrong to dismiss your concerns. Perhaps they had some merit. Aunt Lenore has been away from London Society for a long time and she has forgotten the most serious solecisms a lady might commit. If she ever knew them. I believe I might need someone to advise me. I would not like to be ignored in the manner you ignored that poor woman. She looked crushed.’
Astonished by the complete turnabout in her manner, by her small voice and obvious anxiety, he stared at her.
And ‘crushed’ was not the word he would have used to describe Gloria’s reaction. ‘Gnashing her teeth’ or ‘furious’ would be a better choice of words.
‘I think if the examples of dire social solecisms your aunt gave you are those you mentioned, she is indeed somewhat out of touch.’
‘Well, she did tell me not to wear red to Almack’s,’ the Countess said. ‘But honestly, I felt like that was more of a challenge than a rule. And I was careful to pick a colour which my dressmaker called geranium,since it had an orange hue rather that the blood red of Burgundy. I really cannot wear the virginal white that is expected of a debutante. That would be doing it too brown.’
‘You might have worn green, or yellow or…’
