Page 10 of A Rogue for Christmas
Her sister reached for her hand. “You didn’t tell me. Did he… Surely he didn’t proposition you?” The words were said in a harsh whisper.
She really didn’t want to share her foolish misstep, but she had to let Celia and Lily know that Wentworth wasn’t a complete blackguard. “No, he was a gentleman. But he did find me alone.”
Lily’s eyes narrowed. “When did this happen?”
“During a ball. I slipped out into the gardens to meet someone.”
Celia clutched her arm. “Wentworth?”
She shook her head. “Someone else. It doesn’t matter who. Wentworth saw me, we spoke for a little while, and he convinced me to return inside. Apparently the person I was going to meet had just offered for someone else, so his intentions weren’t honorable.”
Celia let out a breath. “So Wentworth didn’t take advantage of you. And it sounds like he might have stopped someone else from doing just that.”
Lily nudged her again. “I told you. Not all rakes are out to ruin the innocence of every young maiden they happen upon.”
“Perhaps not. But he’s here now, and he’s made his interest in you clear.”
Iris lifted one shoulder, feigning a nonchalance she was far from feeling. “He’s just passing the time.”
“He wasn’t on the original guest list. Thornton’s mother added him at the last minute, and she didn’t tell me or her son until after the invitation had gone out.”
Lily’s eyes were gleaming with interest now. “Why would she do that?”
Her cousin’s eyes remained fixed on Iris. “She was approached by someone and asked to invite him. She wouldn’t say who that person was, but apparently Wentworth was very eager to be here.”
Iris’s heart was starting to race. “He was speaking to another female guest during the meal.”
Celia shook her head. “No, this person asked whether the Rowland sisters would be in attendance. After my mother-in-law told them that you’d all been invited, they told her that Lord Wentworth would consider himself beholden to the family if he received an invitation.”
Lily’s eyes were wide now with the same excitement Iris was trying to tamp down within herself. “Do you think he wants to court you?”
Iris wanted to believe that. But despite everything she’d heard today, both now and from Wentworth himself, she still needed to guard her heart. She kept replaying the way that meeting in the garden had ended, with the man admonishing her to go back inside.
But she’d hurried past another woman who was walking down that darkened garden path. Someone older and more worldly. Iris had watched from the shadows as that woman threw herself into Wentworth’s arms before she’d turned and fled. She hadn’t wanted to see what the two of them would do next.
No, she couldn’t compete with the type of women that normally interested this man. She couldn’t allow herself to fall into the romantic notion that she would be able to reform a rake, the way Lily had.
She would try to enjoy herself during this house party, and if that meant witty conversations with Wentworth, she’d throw herself wholeheartedly into the pastime. But she needed to be careful to guard her heart in the process.
CHAPTER6
Finally, the men finished their drinks, and they made their way to the ballroom to join the women. Wentworth had no qualms about disappointing the few older gentlemen who wanted to return to the billiard room for the rest of the evening. He was there for only one person. Iris.
The ballroom had been turned into a salon for the house party. Small seating arrangements were scattered throughout the space, and there were card tables set up for those who wanted to play whist. Evergreen boughs and festive decorations were hung on the walls and scattered throughout the room. Off to one side, there was a long table laden with refreshments, and someone was playing soft music on a pianoforte.
The effect was warm and charming, but his gaze settled immediately on Iris. She was sitting on a settee on the far side of the room, flanked by both her older sister and cousin. Seaford’s wife nudged Iris’s shoulder and whispered something in her ear.
For a moment he feared she was telling Iris that she wouldn’t be leaving her side. Relief filled him several seconds later when the countess rose to greet her husband. Lady Thornton also rose to greet her own husband. Which left Iris unguarded.
Or at least as much as one could be in a room filled with far too many people.
Iris smiled at him then, which was all the encouragement he needed. Never one to miss an opportunity, he crossed the room and settled next to her.
“I wonder how long we’ll be able to speak together before someone comes to whisk you away.”
Iris tilted her head to one side, her blue eyes crinkling with amusement. “I think it far more likely that you’ll grow bored with me and seek out another.”
“And how would that make you feel?”
