Chapter One #3
He halted at the corner where his small shepherdess had disappeared, then took a left toward the ballroom.
It shouldn’t be too difficult to find her.
How many shepherdesses could there be? Quickly, he strode down the corridor until he reached the ballroom.
Stepping across the threshold, he scanned the room, searching out his innocent angel.
His optimism dimmed as he counted the women with the same costume. Eight? Did not anyone have any originality? Then again, ladies were not meant to. With a sigh, he started toward the closest shepherdess. He just hoped he could speak to each before the dinner bell was rung.
He slowed his pace. How was he to know which one to speak to? Moving to a column near the dance floor, he took stock of what he knew.
She was petite. Looking at the eight possible ladies, he found four that were of smaller stature than the others.
Of those, all four wore white half-masks like she did.
Her lips had been soft, and her taste comforting, as if she’d recently drunk hot cocoa.
No, not cocoa, more like…clove. Even as he remembered, his tongue lingered beneath his top teeth as if he might still taste her.
That was hardly helpful. He couldn’t very well kiss each of the ladies to see which one it had been. His palms began to sweat. He hated not being completely comfortable with himself. It itched at him like a coarse woolen horse blanket after a naked dip in a lake.
The music ended and the dancers left the floor as others filed on, preparing for the next dance. A lady passed near him, her lily-of-the-valley scent far too strong for his liking. He stepped back to breathe a bit easier.
That was it! He would know his little shepherdess by her scent. Surreptitiously, he lifted his sash and sniffed. Vanilla. Resisting the urge to take a deeper breath, he searched out his first lady with a smile. All would be rectified soon.
“There you are, Tamworth.” Lord Durham stepped in his path. “I heard you bet against Harewood on the Seasprite and won. That was a risky endeavor. I admit to a certain amount of awe over your courage. I didn’t know you had it in you.”
Christopher gave Durham a nod, accepting the compliment, especially coming from a man who bet on everything, winning and losing fortunes daily. But he was a good sort who’d left Oxford early to help his ailing father with their estates. “Believe me, it was a calculated risk.”
“Ah, then you knew something about the ship that none of us knew?”
“Hardly. Unless no one else is familiar with that route and the accompanying winds. I was also familiar with the captain’s penchant for promising a later arrival than he expected so as to appear early or on time and never late.
It was information anyone could have discovered if they wished to.
” Though obtaining the information through his older brother’s marriage to a Mabry was perhaps easier for him.
Durham stared for a moment before laughing and slapping him on the shoulder. “I should have known you’d investigate everything before going up against Harewood. I’m surprised he didn’t discover the same.”
“He very well may have, but he is also a pessimist and expected a winter storm to delay the ship.”
Durham chuckled. “I swear you take all the excitement and anticipation out of a bet. I find the thrill of not knowing truly invigorating.”
“Did you bet on the Seasprite?”
“Not at all. I would never bet against Harewood. He’s right too many times to be exciting. My latest bet is on how long the Viscount of Barrington will be able to juggle two mistresses before one discovers the other. I do believe it will before the end of this month.”
Christopher couldn’t imagine betting a fortune on so trivial a matter—not that when a ship came in was monumental, but at least it was more dependable than the whims of women. “You’ll have to let me know when that happens.”
“Are you looking for a new mistress, then?”
He grinned, not willing to lie outright. Let the man assume what he would.
“Then may I suggest Miss Frances. She recently left the Earl of Conway and is looking for another to warm her bed. It seems that being the by-blow of Lord Worthington allows the woman to be choosy.”
Thankful that the music covered their conversation, Christopher looked past the earl to search out the shepherdess he’d been about to approach. “Thank you for that information.”
“There you are, Tamworth. You sneaked away on us.”
He turned to find Lord Manning and Lord Wellsley approaching him. His friends were inadvertently making it much harder to accomplish his mission, which was far more important than any news they might impart. “I thought to ask a lady to dance.”
“We can’t have that now. First, you must settle a minor dispute between us.”
He tried to find the petite shepherdess he’d identified by looking between the two men, but they were having none of it.
“Come now, Tamworth. We will show you the object of our disagreement.”
As the two men forced him to head toward the terrace doors, he looked over his shoulder one last time in search of the lady he sought, but instead Durham waved him off before Christopher was ushered outside into the cold.