Page 8 of One Night for Seduction
Diana returned Thad’s smile with warmth. He was more like a brother than a guardian. Plus, the fact that her family were slugabeds was a boon. By the time they exchanged greetings each day, her true work was already done.
“Chess tonight?” he asked.
She arched a brow. “Aren’t you tired of losing?”
He shrugged and reached for the platter of fruit and cheese. “I’ll get you someday.”
Diana doubted it, but very much appreciated the effort. She and her father had often played chess deep into the night. She still felt the loss of those precious moments keenly, but it was a little better now that she had Thaddeus.
Ever since the day he’d caught her playing a lackluster chess game against herself, he’d immediately offered himself as her partner.
Although not as skilled a player as her father—a man whom Diana had only managed to best on three exceedingly rare occasions—Thad was upbeat and cheerful, keeping up a steady one-sided conversation of on-dits and jests until Diana’s sorrow faded to the background and she began to enjoy life again. She owed Thad for that. He was not just a cousin, but a friend. Her dearest andonlyfriend.
Which made his next words all the more shocking.
“I think you should take advantage this Season and find a husband.” He winked at her. “You’re not getting any younger.”
Diana’s fork clattered against her plate.
“You’re not getting younger, either,” she spluttered. “Why don’t you find a wife?”
“I intend to,” he said with a shrug. “Eventually. Fortunately for me, unwed gentlemen of two-and-thirty are not labeled ‘spinsters’ but rather ‘a fine catch.’”
“You’re a terrible catch,” she grumbled. “No matter how many times I tell you not to lead with F4, you insist upon opening yourself up to a two-move checkmate.”
“I have no idea what you’re saying,” he said cheerfully as he served himself a healthy portion of meat. “F4, 2B, 86, XD. It sounds like a military cipher you’ve intercepted from some foreign shore.”
“I wish Icouldjoin the military,” she muttered. “I would make a splendid secret agent for the Crown.”
“Eat your vegetables,” Thad advised her. “And don’t make such scandalous claims in polite company, or you’ll never have a suitor.”
Exactly the plan.
Chapter 4
“Finally.” Cole leaned forward off the squab and reached for the carriage door.
“Stop that,” Felicity scolded with a devilish twinkle in her eyes. “Younger sisters are supposed to drag their elder brothers to these things, not the other way around.”
“It’s the first major rout of the Season,” Cole protested, moving his fingers closer to the door handle. “Everyone will be there. Including us!”
With a laugh, Felicity knocked his hand from the door. “At least wait for the coach to stop before you leap out to catch up with four hundred and one of your closest friends.”
“Four hundred and twelve,” he corrected solemnly. “I’ve been busy since breakfast.”
Cole’s propensity to befriend everyone he met was a long-running family jest based firmly in reality. For him, the greatest advantage to owning a tavern was not the unlimited supply of fresh-brewed ale, but the equally unlimited stream of old friends and new faces.
He felt much the same about society gatherings. Any fête that styled itself “the crush of the Season” meant he was bound to bump into bosom friends he hadn’t seen since last Season, old schoolmates he hadn’t seen since Oxford, as well as a new crop of strangers a mere introduction away from becoming casual acquaintances or possibly even friends.
When the tiger swung open the door to hand Felicity from the coach, Cole all but bounded out on her heels.
In moments, the butler greeted them at the door, their winter outerwear was spirited away by industrious footmen, and he and his sister stood at the head of a beautiful staircase. Sparkling glass chandeliers illuminated the sprawling ballroom beneath.
Fashionable gentlemen, elegant ladies, sumptuous refreshments, an extravagant orchestra… Cole could scarcely wait for their names to be announced so that he and his sister could join the fun.
“His Grace, the Duke of Colehaven, and Lady Felicity Sutton.”
At last! Cole grinned at his sister and held out his arm to escort her into the grand milieu.
