Page 72 of The Lyon Whisperer
But the veneer of being the sort of calm, no-nonsense female he preferred cracked the moment she’d told him of her affair with Tully and how she brought him to heel, revealing an ambitious streak he had not recognized until it was nearly too late.
Thank God she’d set her sights on Tully.
“Good evening, Lady Tully,” he said coolly.
“Good evening, Lord Culver. Is it true? Have you wed the Earl of Fallsgate’s daughter?” She gestured to Amelia as if she were not there.
Chase had the inane urge to step in front of her.
“As a matter of fact, yes. The two of you have never met?”
“I have never had the pleasure, my lord,” Amelia said in her velvet-soft voice that never failed to stir his senses. He wondered if anyone else experienced her voice the way he did. He certainly hoped not.
He glanced down at her, gratified to see she held herself with the unflappable countenance of a queen. An elegant little smile played at her rose-colored lips.
“Allow me to introduce you to an old friend from my Oxford days, my dear. The Countess of Tully.”
He regarded Millicent. “My wife, Lady Culver.”
“I am ever so happy to meet you, Lady Culver. All of London is agog with the news of your elopement. I could scarcely believe it when I heard and simply had to hear it from Culver himself and see for myself with my own eyes.”
Amelia’s ability to mask her reactions, which had become a source of irritation for Chase, now seemed a godsend. She smiled at Millicent with bland politeness even as her small hand squeezed his forearm like a vice.
“How lovely to meet an old friend of my husband’s. As to the rest, I have no doubt but that thetonwill find something else with which to amuse itself by the end of the week.”
Millicent glanced between Chase and Amelia. “I don’t know about that. Well? Don’t leave me in suspense. Was it love at first sight?” Her tone was airy and jovial, but her eyes gleamed with a surety that love had nary a thing to do with their sudden marriage, and therefore, something else must have spurred the too-hasty marriage.
She was right, of course. The trick would be to convince thetonnothing untoward had led to their engagement. Business, love, it didn’t matter what anyone concluded so long as no one learned of the bet Uncle Harry lost to Fallsgate. The truth would crush his wife, who would extrapolate her father’s desire to marry her off to Chase as proof of his wish to rid himself of her.
So far as Chase could tell, she’d be right.
He covered Amelia’s hand with his own. “There’s nothing here to titillate the gossip mill,” he said. “Our families have ties that go way back.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. Lady Culver’s late mother was close friends with my aunt. My uncle and her father, the Earl of Fallsgate, as you noted, plotted our marriage for some time.” He smiled down at Amelia with indulgent affection. “I knew from the moment we met I would marry her. I had only to wait for her to accept the fact.”
Amelia flushed a very pretty shade of pink. Her pleasure at his statement was unmistakable—even Millicent could not fail to recognize it.
Some of the joy of the hunt seemed to go out of her. “How delightful,” she said. “Felicitations, Lord and Lady Culver. I’m sure my husband, the earl, will make his way to you tonight to share his own congratulations.”
Not bloody likely.Not if Chase had any say in the matter. “Thank you. Now, if you don’t mind, the viscountess, Lady Culver, awaits our arrival.”
With that, he and Amelia set off.
She said nothing until they were out of Millicent’s ear shot. Even then she spoke in a hushed tone. “Are you quite all right, sir?”
He frowned down at her. “Why do you keep asking me that tonight? Why wouldn’t I be?”
She gave his arm a little tug, urging him forward.
He hadn’t realized he’d stopped walking.
“Don’t draw attention,” she chided. “In answer to your question, I should think it obvious. That was LadyMillicentTully, was it not? Your one-time fiancée?”
“We were never engaged, Amelia, and what little we shared was a very long time ago. Certainly seeing her does not dredge up old wounds, if that’s what you mean.”
“I am glad, although, I’m not sure she remembers your past the same way you do.”
