Page 33 of Defying the Earl
Now Bea had to laugh. “Not particularly,” she said, amused despite herself. “Did you know? The latest production at the theatre is the best one ever,” she said this breathily, in a tone unlike her own.
“Is that a direct quote?” Nathan asked drily, causing Bea to laugh again and nod.
“I am not mocking any one individual, mind you. This was almost a direct quote from every single one of our callers.” Bea shook her head. “It was the strangest thing. I felt as though everyone but me had the script. Why would they all universally speak of the same subject? Are there rules listed somewhere?”
Nathan chuckled. “I have not received them either, obviously, as I have no desire to discuss the theatre with you. Not until we’ve at least attended.”
“That, then can be our conversation on the morrow,” she countered with a grin.
Chapter Sixteen
Nathan didn’t want to feel his heart pick up its pace over the sight of her grin, but that is what happened, making him frown and her smile melt. He wasn’t sure what was wrong with him but he needed to leave. This was getting out of hand.
“I shouldn’t overstay,” he began but his aunts hastily waved away his words.
“You needn’t stand on ceremony with us, Braxton, surely,” Lady Charlotte declared.
“Perhaps not, but I do have a dinner party to oversee and since it is to be my first, I ought to be there to annoy the servants.”
Again Beatrice’s tinkling laughter filled the space between them. “Do you actually intend to annoy them?” she asked with amusement clear in her voice.
Nathan shrugged. “It will not be my intention, but there is a strong possibility that it will be the result. And still I feel the need to be there.”
Beatrice nodded as though she completely understood. “I am always similar when we are hosting. Thankfully the servants are used to my fluttering and we get along famously.”
“I will let you know later whether they all remain in my employ.”
“Oh, no, you wouldn’t be so mean as to toss them out on their ear just because you annoy them,” Beatrice said with dismay.
Nathan chuckled. “No, I was thinking they might quit on me.”
The young woman laughed again and shrugged. “It’s not likely to be the first time you’ve annoyed them, my lord. The fact that you are aware of the possibility actually bodes well. I am sure you and the servants will be perfectly fine together. But if you need, we could probably lend you some experienced footmen.”
Nathan was unaccountably surprised over the way she seemed so sure of herself in the running of his aunts’ household. She was an odd, contradictory combination of qualities. Was she servant or was she gentry? Nate couldn’t quite tell and didn’t much care. He needed to be away from her for a moment to regain his equilibrium.
With almost unbecoming haste, he bowed himself away from his aunts and their companion with the promise that he would see them all later and made good his escape.
What was wrong with him?
Surely he couldn’t be falling under the spell of that little dab of a woman! He wasn’t ready to wed, he was certain of it. He had only just assumed his titles and new role. He was still mourning the loss of both his father and brother as well as his much-loved position in the Home Office. He surely couldn’t be thinking of so drastically altering his current state.
But why did his heartbeat pick up every time he was near her? Perhaps he ought to see the physician.
True to his word, he very nearly sent his housekeeper to bed with a tisane, so annoyed was she with his hovering.But between them all, the household staff managed to follow through on all his carefully crafted plans. Despite his hovering everything developed perfectly for the evening he had orchestrated. His valet did his part by ensuring Nathan was dressed perfectly for the evening, and he found himself pacing his receiving room with minutes to spare before his guests were due to arrive. Nathan could only hope everyone, or at least someone, arrived on time or he would surely wear a path in the carpet.
Why was this evening feeling so terribly momentous? It was really just a small entertainment, almost nothing of consequence. Others would think nothing of it. It didn’t matter that it was his first such event. It was sure to be the first of many. Perhaps it was just the very differentness of it. The fact that he had never done anything remotely like hosting a party. But it was surely not out of the ordinary for a gentleman to do so. He ought to be calm and collected. Considering that he had hovered over everything, he was well aware that his staff had excelled at their tasks. There was nothing to be nervous about.
Except that he actually worried about Beatrice’s opinion. He really was acting a fool.
The knocker sounded and he didn’t have any more time to agonize over it all. His house was soon filled with the colours and scents of fashionable company and his first supper was well underway.
He really tried to pay attention to the conversations to either side of him. Truly, he did. He didn’t have a guilty conscience on the topic due to the amount of effort he had put into it. But he just couldn’t manage to offer anything but lip service to said conversations. His attention sat midway up the table from him, and she was wrapped in the loveliest shade of pink he had ever set his eyes upon.
Nate probably would have felt worse about his inattention to his other guests if not for the fact that it played into the image they were trying to portray of him being lovesick over the beautiful young woman. Well, perhaps lovesick was playing it a trifle too brown, but he was certainly meant to be courting her publicly, so appearing to be a lovelorn suitor surely wouldn’t hurt their cause in any way. And who could blame him, really? She was beautiful, well spoken, moderate, and just all around lovely.Why had no one noticed before?
Thetonwere a bunch of dolts and he couldn’t rightly exclude himself from that assessment. He hadn’t truly noticed her before, despite their flirtation two years ago. He hadn’t thought of those few days in what felt like an eon but he used to think of them often, with regret and longing, on the long voyage to Canada.
The one sweet, innocent kiss he had shared with her had revealed to him that she was as young and inexperienced as she looked, but that very innocence hadn’t bothered him as one would have expected. In fact, it had made him all the more interested in her, if one could believe such were possible. He had for the span of a day, truly considered asking her to be his wife. But that was when he was Nathan Lawrence. And before he got the message from Lord Chamberlain that he was to be on the next ship to Canada.
