Page 54 of Making of a Scandal
“My lord,” Nick said, sweeping into a bow which forced Calliope to let go of his arm. “It is an honor to meet you at last.”
“I am the one who is honored that you would accept my invitation. I look forward to coming to know you, Mr. Burke. My Calliope has nothing but good things to say about you.”
Nick couldn’t help a glance in Calliope’s direction, both confused and elated to hear she’d had anything kind to say about him at all. It didn’t matter if she felt she must for the illusion of their courtship. He would take the crumbs from her table if it was all she had to give; he was so pitifully besotted.
“Mr. Burke,” interrupted a feminine voice from his left. “I had no idea you would be here! How lovely to see you again.”
He tensed as he recognized the voice, slowly turning his head to find the last person he would have wanted to discover here. His gorge rose as he came face to face with the one client he’d been glad to be done with.
Lady Carlotta Thrush had been married when she’d hired him for an affair that had lasted nine months. The woman was a beauty, with dark brown hair, hazel eyes, and a mouth that had been wrapped around his cock more times than he could count. Her husband’s suspicions had frightened her into cutting him loose, for which Nick had been eternally grateful. She was frightfully dull and talked too much, often without saying anything of substance.
Where in the past he might have enjoyed the prospect of taking up with an old client, the way she looked at him put Nick’s teeth on edge. Now a widow, she looked as if she were mentally counting the contents of her reticule.
“Lady Thrush,” he said as politely as he could manage, even as her gaze traveled over him with meaningful intent. “It has been an age.”
Long enough that she ought to have set her sights on a new lover, or at least approached Benedict for another arrangement. Just then, Nick was glad to be snared into a contract of his own so he would not have to bear her himself.
“Far too long,” she purred, reaching out to take his arm. Lowering her voice so that only he could hear, she added, “How I have missed you,mon amour.”
Nick bristled at the intimate moniker, one she employed because she thought it more sophisticated to use the French words. The vapid chit seemed oblivious to his discomfort as well as his distaste, steering him away from Calliope. When he peered over his shoulder, he found Calliope watching them with pinched lips, her brow furrowed. He gave her an apologetic look and did his best to extract his arm from the other woman’s hold.
Carlotta fawned over him, simpering and preening as she introduced him to two of her friends. He could still feel Calliope’s gaze, piercing and unwavering. A little smile ticked at the corner of his mouth while she fumed, her expression downright murderous when she glared at Lady Thrush.
Now, perhaps, she’d experienced a taste of what Nick had been wrestling with all these weeks. It would seem his goddess was jealous.
It took onlyone day of the house party for Calliope to discover that Lady Carlotta Thrush was capable of making the most annoying sound on Earth. She made it often, shattering the tranquil happiness Calliope usually derived from visiting her father’s home with screeching, shrill laughter. It filled the drawing room when the men and women came together for cards and charades, it rattled the china when they sat down for dinner, and it made her want to jam the knife of her place setting through her ear if only to make it stop.
By the end of the first night, she had already grown sick of the woman and her blatant flirtations—especially toward Dominick. Lady Thrush was not discreet, going out of her way to insinuate herself at his side every chance she got. The harpy had all but shoved Calliope out of the way to claim him as a dinner partner, upsetting the arrangements with no care for propriety. After the meal she’d declared quite loudly that she’d saved a place for him on the loveseat beside her in the drawing room.
Calliope had barely survived the evening with her dignity intact, beset with the urge to rip the woman’s hair out by the roots. Of course, this development should not bother Calliope in the least. In fact, she would begladfor him to set his sights on some other woman, one who clearly craved his attention.
And Martin was as charming as ever. He took advantage of Lady Thorpe’s upending of the seating to escort her to dinner. He made certain she had a sherry in hand once the men had come back into the company of the women after dinner, and generally ensuring she knew he intended to be an attentive husband.
Unfortunately, his efforts only annoyed her further, yet another reaction she could hardly make sense of.
“Lady Thrush is certainly … friendly,” Diana had whispered to Calliope as they’d watched the lady in question giggle and swat Dominick’s arm with her fan.
“She’s absolutely shameless,” Calliope hissed. “Why did Father even invite her? She’s no friend of mine or yours.”
“The aunts are friends with her mother, I think. Now that she’s out of mourning, the hope is that she can now begin the search for a new husband. Though, I doubt that’s what she wants with Mr. Burke.”
Oh, she knew exactly what the little strumpet wanted, and it put her teeth on edge.
Calliope glanced over to find her sister watching her in the most puzzling fashion.
“Oh, my God. I wasn’t certain, but you just confirmed it. You arejealous.”
“I am not!” Calliope protested, then winced when several pairs of eyes swiveled toward them. Clearing her throat, she took a sip of sherry and lowered her voice. “Don’t be ridiculous. I am only annoyed because he is being paid to give his attention tome.”
They sat far enough in the corner of the room that she could speak of the matter without worry. Martin had become engrossed in conversation with her father, for he had finally given up trying to coax Calliope out of her foul mood.
“To be fair, she isn’t giving him much of a chance to do his job,” Diana replied. “She sank her claws into him the moment he arrived and hasn’t let up. I daresay he looks rather uncomfortable with all the attention.”
Calliope dared a glance in their direction, only to find that Diana was right. Dominick seemed to be trying to pull away from Lady Thrush, who was holding him verbally hostage. He looked bored to tears.
“It should not matter, anyway,” Diana added lightly. “As you suspect Mr. Lewes will earn father’s approval and propose to you before the house party is over.”
“Itdoesn’tmatter,” she snapped, finishing off the rest of her sherry with one swallow. “I do not care what Dominick does. In fact, I intend to tell him our arrangement is over at the first opportunity.”
