Page 135 of The Lyon Whisperer
Chase’s cheeks thrummed with uncharacteristic heat. Too many damned people crowded into one place could have that effect. “I treat her with the respect she’s due, as any husband ought.”
At that moment, they passed the open doors leading to a small garden terrace.
As he watched, a familiar looking, tawny-haired man wearing a flamboyant waistcoat and ornately tied cravat reentered the dance hall from the terrace. A flushed chestnut-haired lady, barely out of the schoolroom, clung to the man’s arm.
“Ah. The Earl of Tully strikes again,” Lady Frommer said, noting the couple. “Poor Lord Pickston. He’s only just married the chit, twenty-five years his junior, of course. I s’pose it’s only natural the handsome earl would turn her head. Still. He could exercise some discretion.”
Chase kept the man in his sight as the dowager duchess went on. “When his father was alive, he made a pretense of an effort. Since he ascended to the earldom, however, his audacity seemingly knows no bounds. He’ll find himself facing pistols at dawn before long. It’s wonder he hasn’t been called out yet.”
If she only knew… “As it happens, I need to speak with the earl.”
Lady Frommer eyed him. “I wouldn’t have pegged the two of you as friends.”
“We are not.”
She nodded, as if satisfied.
The song began to wind down. “Kindly deliver me to the supper room, then you can be off about your business. I wish to fortify myself with a small bite before I am forced to play the sentinel in order to catch your wife between dance partners.”
“Of course. You have something to discuss with her?”
“As it happens, I wish to take two puppies off of your hands. I have twin grandchildren whom I don’t get to see often enough. I plan to use your wife’s dogs to lure them to my country estate.”
“I see.”
“I was under the impression you wished to rid yourself of the so-called mongrels.”
He maneuvered them toward the side of the dance floor closest to the supper room. “You are quite correct, madam.”
“So why are you scowling?”
He thought he detected amusement in her tone. Then again, hewasscowling. “I’m simply concerned on your behalf. Which…er…of the three were you hoping to take?”
She shrugged lightly. “I hadn’t really thought about it. Do you have an opinion?”
“I suggest you leave the one-eyed rascal for another to choose. He did not take to the training as well as the other two.”
Chapter Thirty-One
Amelia’s dance partner,Mr. Putney, delivered her to the area where she and Chase, the viscount and viscountess, and several of her friends had congregated most of the evening. She noted Chase’s absence immediately. She supposed she could not be too disappointed. He had stayed by her side most of the evening.
They had even danced the waltz.
“Oh, there you are, dear,” Lady Harriet said, making room for Amelia. “Lady Georgina bid me tell you good evening.”
“She snuck out so soon? Did she agree to dance with any of the gentlemen who asked her tonight?”
“Your husband’s uncle, Mr. Brooks, Lord Denning—”
“Any of the unmarried gentlemen?” Amelia clarified.
“Not a one,” Margaret put in. “The moment she spots one coming, she’s already got her excuses ready.”
“Do you suppose she’s merely shy around the opposite sex?” Amelia wondered aloud.
“If you ask me, she behaves like a woman whose heart is spoken for,” Lady Harriet intoned in her regal manner.
Margaret murmured her assent.
