Page 18 of The Earl's Christmas Deal
He allowed Lady Seraphina’s constant stream of chatter to fade into the background and, as discreetly as possible, began to eavesdrop upon the group’s discussion.
“Miss Fairfax has always been a terrible influence,” Emilia was saying over the protestations of her friend. “She once took me down to the side of a lake near her home and pushed me in.”
“I did no such thing. This is slander!” Miss Fairfax exclaimed.
Emilia was smiling heartily now. “There is a sordid rumour that I fell, but I maintain I was pushed. She also led me into a cave once!”
Adam found himself smiling. Emilia seemed to be telling the tales for Lionel’s benefit, who had barely taken his eyes from Miss Fairfax.
“A cave?” Lionel asked, taking a sip of his wine as Charlotte tried to contain her laughter.
“It was not acave;it was a small overhang beneath the rocks, and I thought I had seen a den beneath it.”
“Wolves, no doubt,” Emilia said darkly.
“Wolves do not dwell in caverns, nor do they roam England!” Miss Fairfax protested and all of them fell about laughing. Adam could not help but smile along with them.
“My Lord?”
Adam looked back to his dinner partner. Seraphina’s eyes flickered between his and Lady Emilia’s, her smile seeming rather more fixed than it had been.
“Yes, my Lady?”
“I was asking you where you had travelled to,” she seemed crestfallen. “That is what we were discussing.”
“Of course. Yes. I believe my favourite destination is Paris. What is yours?”
Seraphina Cheswick seemed to recover herself a little and began speaking of Bath again, whilst Adam tried to look interested in the topic. Without conscious thought his mind began to imagine showing Lady Emilia Paris. He had always intended to go with Anastasia, but her illness had prevented it. He wondered what Lady Emilia would think of the beauty he found there, his love of the city and its artwork, not to mention its music.
“I have always longed to go to Paris,” Seraphina concluded, drinking the last of her wine, her cheeks slightly flushed.
“I am sure you would adore the city. And there is nothing to prevent more travelling in later life,” he mused. Perhaps he might return to Paris someday; he had missed it.
The look on Seraphina’s face transformed instantly into happy joy, and Adam’s gut clenched as he saw her mother looking at them meaningfully. The marchioness was watching them with a gleam in her eyes, and Adam placed his glass on the table, grinding his teeth.
This was precisely why he had wanted to avoid such a party. Every interaction became something to remark upon between a man and a woman at this kind of occasion. He could not even have an innocent discussion on travel without others assuming he was pursuing a new match.
He looked around the table, observing the machinations of the society he had been separated from for so long. Everyinteraction, when observed from a distance, had a double meaning. Ladies who were polite to one another were often rivals, vying to get their daughter married to the same man.
All of the men were pontificating about their accomplishments—Frederick and the duke included. It reminded Adam of a nest of vipers trying to eat each other to become the strongest versions of themselves.
As Lady Seraphina began speaking of the many candles on the table and how exquisite the decorations were, Adam allowed his gaze to wander, taking in Lady Emilia’s laugh and her bright, twinkling eyes.
As she took a sip from her glass, Emilia was aware of the earl observing her and felt a fluttering in her chest at his scrutiny. She had been rather downcast to see him sitting with Lady Seraphina at the table but Lord Spencer was excellent company.
She was pleased that he seemed to have eyes only for Charlotte. They were a handsome couple, with Charlotte’s dark hair matching that of Lord Spencer. Both of them weretall and elegant and he was clearly intelligent which would please her friend.
As Lord Spencer and Charlotte spoke together, they touched upon a topic that Emilia was less familiar with. Both of them adored the book Gulliver’s Travels, which Emilia had yet to read. As she allowed them to have their time in relative privacy, her ears were attuned to another conversation further down the table, where Caroline, Penelope, and Sophia Easton were sitting with their father.
Emilia had been relieved not to be placed beside the duke at dinner, but now she realised her foolishness in assuming she would escape his attentions entirely.
“But this is the issue, is it not?” Sophia asked loudly, her fork hovering above her plate with a perfect cube of meatspeared on the end of it. “Scandal dogs one’s steps forever. There is no escaping it. A good name can be tarnished for all time by the slightest misstep.”
“Indeed,” Penelope agreed, sounding older than her years. “I knew of a girl who merelylookedat an eligible man the wrong way before she was out in society, and no one would go near her again!”
Emilia kept her back straight, and her head bowed over her food. She did not look in their direction, forcing the embarrassment of the topic away.
“Scandal can be forgiven if it is far enough in the past,” the duke interjected. He had barely spoken until that moment, and his interruption felt pointed. Emilia would have given anything to leave the room.
