Page 63 of When the Marquess Was Mine
With a quick motion she opened the door and went in. Sterling came to his feet, his face alight with sly laughter. He delighted in teasing Lady Sidlow, who endured it with frigid politeness. Sterling, Georgiana remembered, was very fond of teasing, and he was so clever it almost always made her laugh.
“There she is,” he said, coming toward her. “I’ve missed you, darling.”
Even though she had known him for years, and had thought his likeness indelibly etched on her memory, today it seemed her mind was playing tricks on her. He was shorter than she remembered. His hair was lighter brown. His eyes were brighter green. It was disorienting, even more so when she realized with a start that she had somehow expected him to look more like Rob.
Do not think of Rob.
She smiled and took his outstretched hand. “I didn’t expect you today, Sterling.”
He laughed. “No, I thought to surprise you! I hope I haven’t caught you off guard or unprepared.”
She’d been back in London almost a week. “A little,” she said. “I haven’t seen you for weeks! You might have surprised me on the day of a ball, when I would have dressed with more care.”
He smiled. “Did you not take care today? I wouldn’t notice—you look even lovelier than I remembered. It’s been an eternity since I laid eyes on you.” He bowed and kissed her hand, and for a moment the familiar affection shot through her. “Letters are a poor excuse for seeing you.”
That reminded her that he’d written her only once in the weeks she’d been away. Georgiana snuffed that thought. “I’m delighted to see you again, too.”
He led her to the sofa and took the chair opposite. Lady Sidlow rang for tea, which Mary trundled in almost at once. The countess always presided over Sterling’s visits with a stony expression, as if she found this part of being a chaperone tedious beyond bearing. Georgiana had often wondered why, but today she looked at Sterling’s face, relaxed in amusement, and realized that Lady Sidlow did not like him.
Sterling, it must be admitted, did not like Lady Sidlow, either. In private he called her stuffy and prickly, and usually Georgiana agreed. Today, as usual, he turned in his chair, angling himself toward Georgiana and putting his shoulder to the countess. “I trust you had a pleasant visit to Derbyshire,” he said as she served the tea. “A school friend, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. My friend Kitty, now Lady Winston, and her new baby.”
“Oh yes, a baby,” said Sterling, with the air of someone just remembering something. “How charming. I trust she’s well.”
She’d told Sterling at least five times that she was going to visit Kitty because of the baby. She’d written to him of the baby as well. She’d written to him almost every week, until Rob landed in her life and commanded her entire attention. She was just now noticing that, along with only sending her one letter in that time, he didn’t seem unduly concerned thatherletters to him had stopped some time ago.
Of course, Sterling was busy here in town and it wasn’t a significant point. He’d never been a reliable correspondent. She hurried on. “Yes. She has a beautiful daughter named Annabel.” She hesitated, then asked, before she could think better of it, “I don’t suppose you saw Sir Charles here in London?”
Sterling coughed a bit over his tea. “Who? Charles Winston? Yes, of course I saw him. The usual haunts, you know.”
“The Vega Club?”
He grinned at her over the rim of his cup. She’d long been fascinated by the Vega Club, where Sophie had once been a member. It always sounded unbearably illicit and thrilling to her. Sterling knew she liked a bit of excitement, and he’d never reproved her for it. It was one of the things she loved about him. “Might have been.”
“Then perhaps you heard about his wager.” She told herself she was asking for Kitty’s sake, and nothing to do with Rob. She was done with Rob.
“Georgiana,” said Lady Sidlow sternly. “This is not a suitable topic of conversation for a young lady.”
Sterling’s eyes danced. It always amused him to provoke Lady Sidlow. “I did,” he agreed. “Beastly thing.”
Lady Sidlow inhaled loudly, but she did not scold Sterling. She never did, even though she always made clear her disapproval.
“What did you hear?” Georgiana asked. “We received such a tale from Charles, in his letters.”
Lady Sidlow clucked under her breath. Georgiana ignored this, too.
“Ah...” Sterling glanced at the chaperone. She glared but said nothing. His devilish grin reappeared. “Well, one doesn’t like to gossip... but itwasa bit of a scandal. Winston and some mates of his got caught up with Westmorland and Heathercote and that lot, and came out much the worse for it. Westmorland took the deed to the house without so much as a blink of his eye, not even when Winston appealed to his decency and mercy.” Sterling looked vaguely contemptuous. “Cold fellow, Westmorland.”
Georgiana instinctively bristled at that description of Rob, but bit it back. She wanted information, not an argument, and she wasn’t supposed to know Rob anyway. She widened her eyes in affected dismay. “That’s what Charles told Kitty! Although... why did Charles risk the deed to his house?”
“Things happen at Vega’s,” said Sterling. “Westmorland wouldn’t give Winston the chance to win it back, then disappeared from London and hasn’t shown his face since. Damned scoundrel.”
She prayed her face wasn’t flushed. “Yes, perhaps. Still, I’m astonished at Charles, and wonder how he wound up a wronged party.”
Her fiancé’s brows went up. “What’s that?”
“Wagering the deed to one’s home is a very stupid thing to do,” she replied. “I’d have been furious with him if he’d been my husband.”
