Page 24 of When He Was Wicked
“My lady, please come inside.”
She took a steady breath and stepped inside.
“May I take your coat my lady?”
With a nod, she unbuttoned her pelisse and handed it to Fenton.
“The ballroom has been prepared, if you will come this way, my lady.”
She hesitated. “And is the earl in the ballroom?”
“No, milady. He is in the library. I will inform him you have arrived after I’ve escorted you.”
“Thank you, Fenton,” she said with a smile. “I will inform the earl I’ve arrived. Please do not trouble yourself.” Verity could never abidewaitingwhenever she was overly anxious.
At the library, she knocked once, then opened the door and proceeded inside. James stood by the fireplace, dressed as a distinguished gentleman. Even the cravat seemed perfectly tied. He held a drink in his hand, and his face held an air of serious contemplation.
“A shilling for your thoughts, my lord,” she said, trying to ignore the flutter of heat low in her stomach.
He leveled his regard on her. “You are wearing a dress.”
She wore a sapphire blue evening gown, with matching gloves and delicate slippers. Her dress bared the creamy swell of her shoulders, her décolletage, and flattered her shape to its best advantage. Verity removed her hat and veil but kept them in her hand. “Ladies do tend to dance in these, you know, not trousers. I thought you would appreciate that bit of authenticity while we practice.”
Despite her attempt at levity, there was a tension in the air, the memory of their passionate kisses in his eyes. Verity fought the heat rising in her cheeks and moved further into the room.
“You arebeautiful.”
That was almost said with a reverent whisper.
Considerably shaken, she shifted away so he could not see her expression of similar want, for there could be no mistaking the provocative desire in his brilliant eyes. Verity made her way over to the sofa and lowered herself. Folding her arms demurely in her lap, she said, “Compliments should be elegantly expressed. Your utterance just now was filled with too much passion…and would likely perturb a young lady.”
James arched a brow. “I suspect you are not jesting.”
Verity grinned. “I am not.”
His penetrating gaze searched her face. “A lady would prefer practiced flattery instead of genuine admiration.”
“Some.”
“What do you prefer?”
His question flustered Verity, and it was a full minute before she was able to answer him with some semblance of composure. “I’ve never given it much thought.”
His regard warmed with something teasing and tender. “Did you appreciate it when I told you just now, how exquisitely ravishing you are?”
She looked at him rather helplessly. “You said beautiful.”
“They hold the same meaning,” he said with a smile which crinkled the corner of his eyes.
“Yes,” she said with a touch of asperity. “My heart jerked with a thrill I have never experienced in my entire life.”
Verity bit back a smile as she realized, with satisfaction, that she had succeeded in discomfiting him. “Are you blushing, my lord?”
He scowled. “Of course not.”
Yet there was the slightest tinge of flush along his rugged cheekbones. The notion she could ruffle the feathers of a man so self-assured sent a dizzying surge of warmth through her veins. She flashed a mischievous smile at him, and murmured, “Another lesson: compliments must not be overly bold or familiar lest the line of propriety is breached. They must be tender, subtle, yet artful.”
“Lesson noted.”
