Chapter One #2
“Oh how wonderful!” Another voice interrupted as a woman in emerald green swept toward them, a pale brown-haired daughter trailing eagerly behind. “Lord Powis! Lady Weatherby, and this is my darling Amelia. We simply must—”
“Lady Weatherby,” Diana said smoothly, stepping slightly closer to Graham, “how lovely to see you. My brother asked me to make sure Lord Powis attends him directly on a matter of importance.” She smiled apologetically. “Perhaps you might catch his lordship later in the evening?”
Lady Weatherby’s face fell, but she couldn’t argue with such polite deflection. “Of course, Lady Diana. We look forward to speaking with you, my lord.”
As the woman retreated, Diana turned back to Graham with a satisfied expression.
“That was smoothly done,” Graham said, surprised to find himself genuinely amused. “Do you make a habit of rescuing gentlemen in need?”
“Well I am quite good at it, it would seem,” she teased, her adorable deep dimples on full display as she smiled up at him.
“I had better remain close to you then. If the events of the evening have been any indication, I am certain I will require the services of a beautiful knight on a white horse to come to my aid.”
She released a laugh that sounded like the tinkling of bells. “Perhaps not on a horse, but I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Do you not enjoy horses?”
Wouldn’t that be his luck: to meet an enchanting woman, only to learn that she despised horses?
“I adore them,” she answered quickly. “I just never learned to ride.” She glanced toward her brother and then back to Graham. “I’m not allowed.”
The admission caught him off guard. “Not allowed? By whom?”
“My father.” Her voice carried a note of frustration that she quickly tried to mask. “He forbade it after my mother died in a riding accident when I was eight. Elias can’t even ride a horse in his presence.”
Graham felt something twist in his chest at the sadness that flickered across her features. “I’m sorry for your loss. It must have been difficult to lose your mother at such a young age.”
He wasn’t that much older than her when he lost his father. But he wouldn’t allow any thoughts of his father to ruin what had become the most intriguing conversation he’d had since he’d arrived in London.
“Thank you.” She lifted her chin slightly, and he could see the effort she put into composing herself. “But enough about that. Tell me, what have you found most surprising since you have joined us here in London?”
“Surprising? The sheer number of lemon cakes I’ve been promised tonight. Evidently, the single greatest weapon among the matchmakers is in their baked goods.”
Her dimples flashed as she laughed. “It could be worse. You might be promised pianoforte recitals instead of pastries. Those, I assure you, last much longer and are far less satisfying.”
He couldn’t help but grin like a school boy at the clever woman before him. “A fair point. I shall certainly run the other direction.”
“That shall only make them chase you harder, I’m afraid.”
“And here I thought it was the women who preferred to be chased.”
Her eyes sparkled with mischief, and everything around them fell away. All he could focus on was her.
“Ah,” she started, “but perhaps we prefer to let men think they are the hunters, when really we’ve been leading them all along.”
Her words caught him off guard, clever and bold in a way he hadn’t expected. He should have laughed, offered some reply, but instead he found himself studying the curve of her smile and the way her eyes glinted with challenge.
The moment stretched, charged with something he couldn’t quite define. He tried to form coherent thoughts as he scrambled for a witty reply.
“Powis,” Matt called to him, breaking through the moment, “Lady Harrowby is approaching. She’s the one I warned you about.”
He did his best to hide his irritation at their conversation being interrupted. Graham glanced up at an imposing older woman in diamonds and an impressive number of feathers in her turban moving with purpose in their direction.
“Brace yourself,” Diana murmured with amusement.
“Lady Harrowby,” Matt said as the woman reached them, “It’s lovely to see you as always. May I present the Earl of Powis?”
Graham bowed over the lady’s gloved hand. “A pleasure to meet you, your ladyship.”
She studied him with sharp eyes that seemed to see everything. “So you’re the new Powis. I knew your cousin, you know. Dreadful man. I trust you’ll be an improvement.”
“I certainly hope so, my lady.”
Something about the woman made him straighten up out of fear. Matt was correct in his assessment that the woman was nothing short of a dragon.
“Hmm.” She continued her assessment. “At least you have proper manners. That’s more than could be said for him.” Her gaze shifted to Diana. “And I see you’ve already met our dear Diana. Excellent judge of character, that one. If she can tolerate your conversation, you can’t be entirely hopeless.”
She looked him up and down and then continued on her way, waving her hand toward them as she passed. “Enjoy your evening.”
“Did I just pass some sort of test?” he asked, leaning closer than he should have to Diana. The scent of lavender radiating from her did little to ease his desire to move even closer.
“She never stops testing any of us,” Diana said with obvious amusement.
Before Graham could respond, a new voice interrupted them. “Lady Diana?”
They turned to see a tall, raven-haired gentleman standing before them, extending his arm to Diana. He was impeccably dressed and carried himself with the easy assurance of someone who had never questioned his place in the world.
“Lord Ockham,” Diana said, taking his arm.
Her blue eyes didn’t seem to sparkle the same way that they had when she was speaking with him. But she didn’t appear unhappy to see the man either, which grated on his nerves. A realization that he refused to explore any further.
“I believe this is our dance,” Ockham said to her.
“Indeed it is. I’ve been looking forward to a chance to speak with you.”
Did she have some kind of understanding with the man?
Was she already spoken for? Not that it should affect Graham in any way.
He couldn’t consider the notion of courtship with the debts he faced.
They’d call him a fortune hunter and only after a woman for her dowry.
And he had promised himself long ago that he’d marry for love.
But regardless of his situation, he still didn’t enjoy the idea of her being courted by another man.
Ockham’s gaze shifted briefly to Graham, assessing. “Powis, isn’t it? I heard you’d arrived in town.”
“Good to meet you, Lord Ockham.” Graham inclined his head, using all of his control to fight the irrational surge of irritation coursing through him.
“I hope to see you at our club soon,” Ockham replied. His tone was almost friendly, which only irritated Graham more. The man nodded toward the floor. “I believe the dance is about to begin.”
Diana glanced back at Graham, and he caught what might have been reluctance in her expression. Or perhaps that was just what he wanted to see.
“It was a pleasure meeting you, Lord Powis. I do hope we’ll have occasion to speak again.”
“The pleasure was entirely mine, Lady Diana.”
As Ockham led her toward the dance floor, Graham watched them for a moment, noting how easily Diana moved with the other man, how right they appeared together.
More so than she would with a horse breeder turned earl who faced the wrong end of a pistol if he didn’t pay off the lowlife his cousin owed money to.
He tried to force himself to look away, but then her eyes found his. And in that reckless moment he forgot the debt, the danger, the noose tightening around his neck. A man could lose everything to a look like that from a woman who was unlike any that he’d ever met.
And he suspected he was about to.