Page 24 of Captivating the Countess
He brightened at her appearance. “There you are! I thought perhaps you’d escaped and were hiding in the library. They won’t give me a key to it anymore.”
Bell laughed at his naughty boy grin.
In his elegantly tailored black suit, with his auburn beard and mustache neatly trimmed, he presented a handsome figure. It seemed unfair that the Winchester men had claimed all the good looks in the family. Sharp noses, square jaws, and high brows didn’t work as well on women. She wondered if the Nordic grandmother had been the overriding influence in their looks.
Relieved not to have to appear on her own, Bell accepted his arm. “Do you cultivate carelessness or does it come naturally?”
He chuckled. “Rain’s been telling tales, has he? I’ll admit. I’m careless. My head never seems to be with the rest of me. But I clean up well, don’t I?”
Bell laughed again. In these past years, she’d almost forgotten how. “How old are you exactly? Twelve? Perhaps Rain should set you loose on the world and see how you fare on your own. Then maybe your head would learn to stay on your neck.”
“I’d rather have a woman take care of me. I’m fine in my studio. She can handle everything else. You’re my perfect match,” he declared solemnly. “And at the rate Rain is going, I’ll have a very large fortune for you to manage.”
“That’s unkind and shows your lack of compassion. If you marry with that approach, your wife will kill you as soon as you inherit. You might want to reconsider your plan.”
Teddy whistled in surprise at her bluntness, causing a few of the guests strolling down the corridor to glance in their direction. “Ouch. I offer you the opportunity to control the family fortune, and you suggest you’d kill me?”
“First, you did not ask me to marry. You made a rude suggestion. And secondly, I did not agree to be your wife, so my suggestion was more general.Anywoman would want to kill you, unless you married a mouse.” Bell was starting to enjoy herself. She’d always wanted a brother, and Teddy treated her the same as he did his cousins. She felt free to respond in kind.
“I see I must frame my suggestions more carefully. I shall wait until I’ve danced you off your feet... Do you have a dance card? I don’t remember bidding on it.” His large presence and wide gestures provided a safe space in the crush heading to the ballroom.
“Alicia threatened to give me one, but I did not buy it and do not feel compelled to use it. I mean only to stay long enough to decide if the musicians are worth listening to.” Bell enjoyed the chatter of elegantly garbed guests as they entered the fantasy land Alicia and her guests had created. She’d met most of the company at dinner over the past days, so she did not feel too out of place.
And if she fainted for any reason, she had acres of petticoats and people to catch her.
“If Alicia is in control of your card, I completely agree with your decision to ignore it. She won’t have left space for me. I’ll take the supper waltz. After that, I’ll be comatose and of no use to anyone. I like my meals.”
“And your drink. If you really are interested in acquiring a wife to manage you, you had best control the drink. Managing women will certainly murder you if you become a drunkard.”
“Huh, no wonder Rain don’t marry. It’s damned difficult to please everyone. Marrying a mouse might prove beneficial.” He proudly covered her gloved hand with his own as they stepped into the ballroom to be announced.
Standing at the head of the reception line, Rainford marked their approach with a frigid glare. “Toddle off, Teddy, I need to speak with Lady Craigmore.”
Rudely stepping out of the reception line, the marquess took Bell’s arm and all but dragged her into the ballroom.
Perfect timing,Rain congratulated himself. The musicians were tuning up in preparation for the first dance and Alicia was occupied with a gaggle of her friends.
“Doesn’t Alicia have you set to lead the dancing with someone in particular?” The countess hurried to catch up with him.
He had seen her walk through the doorway looking like a golden fairy queen, complete with flowers in her hair, and he refused to let Teddy claim her. Bad of him, he knew, but Teddy knew how to charm and Rain didn’t.
The simpering misses he’d welcomed into the ballroom already had his gut clenching. He knew better than to fall for an enticing demeanor. All the rouge, flapping lashes, and revealing cleavage in the world could not turn his head. He didn’t know what it was that he looked for, but the countess had taught him that his dinner table needed sensible conversation.
“Alicia should learn she can’t control the entire household.” He dismissed his sister’s manipulations and signaled the musicians to hurry up.
“But you are no doubt disappointing some pretty young thing who might be the perfect bride. Now that you’ve insulted her—”
The fairy queen was a nag. Rain wondered what she’d do if he kissed her. “Do you know how to dance? Is that the reason you’re protesting?”
“I attended a few Hogmanay celebrations. I’m fairly certain reels don’t count in your estimation. The last time I danced a waltz was in my one London season. I daresay I’ll step all over your toes, but you won’t mind because you’ve succeeded at what you want, correct?”
Rain didn’t respond to her rhetorical remark. Of course he’d done what he’d wanted. It was one of the few prerogatives of his position. “Your last season was what, maybe two years ago? How old are you, anyway, that you call all those schoolroom missesyoung things?” Finally, the musicians struck a chord for a simple promenade where he could hold her hand a while longer.
If he didn’t have to involve his father, he’d ask the countess to experiment with more handholding and healing. He stupidly wanted to believe a little magic would help.
“I turned twenty-four this past autumn,” she said stiffly, watching the other dancers so she knew how to step. “But age does not reflect experience.”
“I am thirty-four and a hundred years ahead of those misses in yearsandexperience. Just follow me. You needn’t worry about those pretty slippers. Is that gown another of Alicia’s notions?”
