Page 50 of A Tempest of Desire
“The rest, but not all of the before or how you feel about it now.”
Normally she took a great deal of pride in her ability to capture someone’s rapt attention, but she was rather wishing Langdon would turn his focus elsewhere. Instead, his gaze was thoroughly assessing her as though searching for rips in the fabric of her being, much as she’d searched for tears in the silk of her balloon. Did there have to be a full moon tonight that made her so easy to see? She cleared her throat. “The announcement came as a complete surprise because I was unaware he was even courting anyone. No hints appeared in the gossip columns, so it was a bit of a shock. Did you know he was wooing someone?”
“No.”
“As Lady Euphemia Harrington is a dear friend of your sister’s, I assume you know her. What can you tell me about her?” She hadn’t meant to ask, wasn’t interested in others’ opinion of the lady. She’d thought she only cared what Hollie believed. Strange to realize she cared a great deal more for Langdon’s assessment.
“Her father is the Earl of Wakefield.”
She detected a measure of sympathy in his voice. She’d never been comfortable with sympathy, had always believed that receiving it indicated a weakness in herself, a lack of strength when it came to facing the world. And yet from him, it seemed more comforting than it should.
“I’ve always found her to be agreeable,” he continued.
If it wouldn’t have started her lip bleeding again,she would have laughed uproariously. “That’s very noncommittal.”
“She’s very much the opposite of you.”
“Upstanding and without sin.”
He shook his head. “She blends into the wallpaper, but even wallflowers are worthy of attention. I doubt her name will ever grace a gossip column. Do you love him?”
She was very skilled at reading the messages relayed in men’s posture. She’d picked up the talent from Hollie. When they’d first begun their association, whenever they went to a club and wandered through it, he’d pointed to one man or another and asked her what he was conveying without words to his partner or someone else to whom he was speaking.
The language of the body, Marlowe, is always far more honest than the language of words, he’d told her.
And so it was that based on the tightening of Langdon’s jaw and the subtle stiffening of his body, he was bracing for a blow. She wished she could climb into her balloon and go up into the sky where it was remarkably quiet and still, so she could decipher why he might react in such a manner. Reading a man’s body didn’t always allow her to read his mind.
“Quite possibly but not in the way to which you might be... alluding. Certainly, I hold a great deal of affection for him, but I’m notinlove with him.”
“Love is love.”
“Poppycock. There are as many different facets to love as there are stars in the sky. You should seethe stars from a balloon, up above the earth. They are like diamonds strewn across black velvet. They look close enough to pluck.”
“You fly at night? You didn’t get caught out after dark by accident?”
“Dusk is the best time to go. You can see the magnificence of the sunset from on high. In addition, at night, the wind currents are at their calmest. It’s like being surrounded by peace.”
“That’s what you were looking for. Peace.”
Perhaps he was as skilled as she at reading people. “I had always assumed when Hollie met the woman he intended to wed or began a courtship—whether or not it came to fruition—he would seek my opinion on the matter or at least extend the courtesy of letting me know his thoughts were occupied with someone else. I’ve not seen him in a little over a month, but that’s not uncommon when the Season isn’t fully underway and he’s spending more time at his estate than in London. Still, I can’t imagine that he hasn’t been pursuing her for some time.”
“His talk of another woman wouldn’t have made you jealous?”
It should have, shouldn’t it? However, she’d never considered him truly hers. He was simply... on loan. She liked him well enough, enjoyed his company, but she’d never invested her heart, because she’d known as an earl, he was obligated to marry. While he was perfectly comfortable flaunting her about London, he’d never flaunt her inside a church. She was someone with whom he couldhave a bit of fun. Not someone to whom he’d have a duty.
“Mistresses don’t have the luxury of jealousy,” she said, wishing she didn’t sound so bitter about it. “So now you know why I made such a poor decision the night of the storm.” And why she’d asked to put off her return to London. And then decided it all needed to be faced.
She felt the tears sting her eyes and furiously blinked them back. “Truth be told, I have been melancholy... and angry that Hollie hadn’t the courage to tell me to my face but had left me to discover his future plans in the newspaper.”
“For what it’s worth, he should have told you before having the announcement printed.”
“Is that what you would have done?”
“If I had a mistress and a similar situation arose.”
“You say that now but when it comes to actually facing a woman’s hurt or wrath—”
“I’m not a coward.”
