Page 13 of Avoiding the Merry Viscount
“And so much for what we heard about Elias and Jude’s ‘rules’ too,” Diana said, then lowered her voice. “It appears Elias had some kind of arrangement with Lady Billings.”
Lydia jerked her head toward Diana and fought to soften her expression, hoping Diana wouldn’t notice her reaction. Lady Billings was a young, pretty widow who captured the attention of many men, especially those who weren’t marriage-minded. It shouldn’t surprise her that he would take up with the woman, but something about the realization irritated her.
“You don’t say,” Hannah said, bringing her hand over her mouth, then dropping it back to her side.
“He wasn’t happy when he learned she was a guest,” Diana continued. “I wouldn’t have invited her if I had known, of course. But Papa and I found it to be quite hilarious.” Diana smirked and then glanced over at her brother for a moment.
Lydia didn’t find the notion hilarious at all, which made no sense. He was nothing to her, and what difference did it make to her who he bedded? Lydia pushed off the thoughts and focused on how the siblings appeared to jab at each other. She often thought about what she had missed from not having any siblings of her own.
Glancing between them, Lydia studied the siblings. Even as Diana mocked her brother to Hannah, it was obvious that she carried a deep affection and respect for him.
Suddenly, Elias glanced in their direction and caught Lydia’s gaze. She hadn’t even realized she still stared at him. A shiver jolted down her spine under his attention and she forced herself to remember that he had perfected his ability to control the affections of any woman with that very gaze, and she wouldn’t fall prey to such a man again.
Chapter Four
Elias
Elias mentally chastisedhimself for how he continued to seek out the tempting Miss Cary. She already seemed to have become good friends with Hannah and his sister. Although, he supposed he shouldn’t find that surprising, given that Diana had invited her to the party to begin with. He didn’t recall seeing Miss Cary at any of the balls, or among Diana and her friends, so they must have met during daytime events when Elias had escaped to his club to recover from his late-night entertainment.
All throughout dinner that evening, he kept glancing at the lady when he believed she wasn’t looking. She sat near Matt, and they appeared to be in conversation the entire meal. It irritated him to no end, and he’d have to gauge his friend’s interest once he could get Matt alone.
He wasn’t certain why he cared. She was an attractive woman, and that was that. He was a warm-blooded man who rarely went for long without a woman beneath him, so of course he took notice when one of the most beautiful women of thetoncrossed his path. Well, not just crossed his path, but was also sleeping under his roof.
The realization did nothing to ease the tension that he carried in his shoulders, among other places. A trip to the tavern appeared to be in order. If only to get his mind off of the innocent marriage-minded miss who would be laid in a bed in the guest wing of his home—fartoo close to his own chamber—for the next several nights.
If there was one thing he had learned, he didn’t dally with members of theton, nor did he dally with innocents. He glanced down at the other end of the table and caught Betsy, Lady Billings, staring at him. Based on the heat in her expression, she wasn’t harboring pure thoughts. Another reason he no longer thought of her as Betsy, and she was only Lady Billings to him. He had tried to put the formality back in their acquaintance, but she hadn’t made things easy.
He shifted his gaze again and caught Diana’s, who gave him a knowing look. Elias fought not to roll his eyes. The events were just another reminder of why he had rules, and why he would depart back to Town as soon as his sister’s party had concluded.
He noted how Jenny whispered to Grace about something, and then Grace covered her mouth to hide her giggles. Jenny caught Elias watching them and then straightened a bit in her chair with a wide look in her eyes before giving him a one-shouldered shrug. He was almost certain she had said something about him. The younger girls would be allowed to attend some meals with the rest of the party and a few of the activities but would be with their governess directly after dinner. It was the agreement they’d made with Papa since the girls weren’t out in society yet.
Elias decided that making eye contact with any of the women at the table wasn’t in his best interest, so he kept his eyes trained on his plate while maintaining a bit of conversation with Hudson, seated to his right. If Hudson had dalliances, he kept them to himself and, in turn, stayed out of such awkward situations. Smart man.
When dinner ended, the gentlemen hung back to enjoy their port while the ladies departed to the drawing room. Elias knew that when the men joined them, they would find that Diana had set up some kind of game to force everyone to play. It had been like that at Christmas for many years. Diana always fought to keep all of them busy so they wouldn’t have time to miss their mother.
He understood why she did so, especially for the benefit of their father, but sometimes Elias just wanted to miss his mother. He wanted to remember her and speak about her. They had all been too afraid to upset their father that they hardly spoke about her. Jenny and Grace couldn’t even remember their mother, and how would they if he and Diana didn’t tell them what she was like?
So far, all they know is that she was a beautiful woman from the paintings that were done of her, and that she loved horses. They mostly know that second part because of their father’s aversion to allowing any of them to ride. Elias had learned before his mother passed, but didn’t get to practice often unless he was away from his father, given how much any of his children riding upset the man.
Father had been adamant that the girls wouldn’t learn to ride at all, much to Diana’s dismay. She pleaded with him several times, to no avail. One of the few times Elias had argued with his father had been over horseback riding, so he found it easier to just avoid the topic altogether in his father’s presence.
“She was watching you,” Jude said, capturing Elias’s attention when he moved to the seat on Elias’s left.
Confused, Elias narrowed his eyes. “Who?”
“Lady Billings,” Jude said, with a tone that conveyed it should have been Elias’s first guess. “Who else?”
Elias waved him off, masking his disappointment. It would have been far more intriguing if Miss Cary had taken notice of him. Even though nothing would come of it, he could still imagine what the miss might be like. And he didn’t want Lady Billings giving him a minute’s thought. “I hoped she would have moved on by now. Why don’t you fall on the sword, as it were, and keep her occupied?” Elias asked, nudging Jude’s shoulder.
Jude didn’t bother to temper his chuckle. “So that I can have her pining after me? I think not. I warned you not to dally with women of theton.”
“I recall,” Elias said through gritted teeth. He didn’t need the reminder. Another reason that even fantasizing about the beautiful Miss Cary was likely a terrible idea.
Jude brought his drink to his lips and swallowed. “But I shall join you when you wish to venture to the local tavern.”
Elias took a healthy swig of his own drink, swallowing the burn of the amber liquid. “Soon. Tomorrow, perhaps.” Escaping from the women of the house would provide a much-needed reprieve.
“That Miss Cary is a delightful conversationalist,” Matt said, moving to join them. He almost took the seat in front of Hudson, then thought better of it and shifted a couple of seats down to sit across from Jude.
