Page 29 of A Promising Little Scandal (Sensual Scandals)

Sebastian clasped his hands behind his back and looked before him where a group of musicians were starting to tune their instruments for a quadrille. He clenched his jaw. “I can’t say. One minute you tell me she is highly improper, and the next you expect me to approach her. I suppose the real question is, what would you like me to do?”

“Bah!” The marquess sounded irritable as usual. “You can be an insolent pup at times! Always misconstruing my words to suit your current needs.” When Sebastian remained silent, the cane smacked the floor once again. “I expect you to conduct yourself as a gentleman ought. She is still a lady, regardless of her father’s questionable past. A dance would certainly not be uncalled for; however, I would refrain from the waltz.”

“Is that all?” Sebastian returned dryly.

His grandfather didn’t bother with a reply but gave a disapproving snort and shooed him away with his cane.

Sebastian rolled his eyes but moved along the perimeter of the room. He glanced to where Lady Calliope had been standing, but she was no longer there. A shift of his gaze showed that she was engaged in the dance with the local blacksmith. Sebastian had thought the man to be a pleasant sort, but considering the way he was smiling at Calliope, Sebastian decided that he might recount his initial impression of the scoundrel.

He removed his attention from them and spied a young girl hovering near the back of the crowd, as if she was uncertain about being there at all. She was wearing a pale green dress and had plain, dark hair pulled back into a tight knot at the back of her head. She was thin, and had hollow, brown eyes. Something about her tugged at the compassionate heart he hadn’t known he possessed, but which Mrs. Anning was adamant that he had.

As he drew near to the girl in green, her gaze flashed toward him, then quickly fell to the ground. Not until he paused directly before her and offered a polite greeting did her eyes snap back to him. They had widened slightly, as if she couldn’t believe that he was speaking to her.

He held out a hand. “Would you care to join me for the next dance?”

She blinked and her mouth opened, but no sound came forth. Finally, she dipped into a hasty curtsy and said, “I…er… my lord. I’d be delighted… yes.”

He hid the smile that wanted to emerge and took her hand and threaded it through the crook of his arm. When the quadrille ended and the musicians struck up a country reel, they took their places in line across from one another. He bowed gallantly, while she dipped into another quick curtsy.

It was obvious that she hadn’t danced much, as it took her a moment to pick up the steps, but once she did, her face blossomed with a wreath of happiness. She nearly glowed with it, and Sebastian’s heart expanded in his chest. With all the women he’d escorted about the most elegant dance floors in London, it was a simple girl from Lyme Regis that impressed him the most, because her reactions were genuine. She wasn’t trying to flirt, or act like anyone else. She was innocent and enjoying the entertainment for what it was.

It had been years since Sebastian had felt anything close to this wholesome stirring inside of his chest. It was the sensation that he’d done something good, something worthwhile. He found that he quite liked it.

As the dance ended, Sebastian escorted his partner to the edge of the floor where she was immediately approached by a lad that looked to be close to her in age. “Miss Emily. Would ye stand up wit’ me for th’ next set?”

She eagerly nodded her head and Sebastian was glad to see that she was much more animated than before.

That feeling inside of him expanded and grew.

“That was very kind of you, my lord.”

Suddenly, his chest filled with another emotion entirely. He spun to lock his gaze onto Lady Calliope. “I don’t know what you mean,” he said evasively.

“Oh, I think you do.” She gestured to where Emily and her young swain were laughing together. “She likely would have been a wallflower all evening if it hadn’t been for your attentions. Now, it’s looking very possible that she might have a suitor before the evening is over.” There was a mischievous gleam in her green eyes. “I never knew you were such a successful matchmaker.”

He snorted. “Trust me, I had nothing to do with it. She gained his notice on her own merit.”

She shook her head. “I would disagree, but then, perhaps it is merely that praise makes you uncomfortable.”

And you. But those sentiments he kept to himself. He bowed lightly to her. “If you’ll excuse me?”

He turned on his heel and clenched his fists at his sides, for although he yearned to spend all evening with the lady, he reminded himself that it was a fool’s errand.

He would still be yearning for her when the night was over.

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