Chapter 3 #2
Thornhill turned as if he had been waiting for her. Though Lavinia suspected he always turned as if he had been waiting for a beautiful woman to approach him. He sept his gaze in an appreciative glance that might have unsettled a less willful woman.
“Lady Lavinia Ellsworth.” His voice was warm honey, easily poured and just as seductive. “What an unexpected delight.”
Vivy smiled politely, but she was unimpressed. “I wonder if anything is unexpected to you, my lord.”
A flicker of surprise crossed his face, as quick as a blink. Then his smile deepened, as though he liked the challenge. “Touché, my lady.”
He offered his hand to her. “May I fetch you lemonade? Or should I risk a scandal and offer something stronger?”
“I require neither,” Vivy said sweetly. “Only a conversation.”
“How dire.” Thornhill pressed a hand dramatically to his chest. “And here I had hoped to ruin your reputation by making you laugh.”
“I am certain you ruin reputations with ease,” Lavinia returned. She did her best to keep her tone as light as the one he used with her. “It must be exhausting.”
This time, his laughter was genuine. He sounded both soft and delighted with her. He leaned closer and lowered his voice as if sharing a secret. “It is much easier when the lady helps me.”
Vivy tilted her head and met his gaze with and replied calmly, “Then you are unfortunate tonight. Because you are not the man I wish to ruin my reputation.”
For a heartbeat, he only looked at her—really looked. His charm did not vanish, but he seemed to adjust to her statement with startling ease. As if he realized flirtation would not loosen her tongue, but perhaps something else would.
“How may I be of service then, Lady Lavinia?” he asked at last, still pleasant, but more careful. “Do you need assistance with telling a certain man you wish for him to ruin you?”
“Not at all,” she said as she tightened her fingers on her fan. “I am quite capable of handling my own downfall.” And wasn’t that the truth. “I thought perhaps you could help me on another matter.”
“You surprise, me,” he said with a tone that suggested his curiosity had overtaken him. “You are not at all what I expected.”
“Oh?” She raised a brow. “Pray tell…what did you expect?”
“An uptight prudish woman raised to be the epitome of what society expects,” he said bluntly.
She laughed. How could she not. “Well, there are certain expectations a lady must live by.” She leaned in a little closer.
“But I have never truly been entirely proper.” Where was all this flirting coming from?
She had never been so bold in her entire life.
“How acquainted are you with The Duke of Lionston? He recently married one of my dearest friends.’
Thornhill’s smile remained. “I am acquainted with half of London. Lionston merely happens to be among the more interesting half.”
“Do you know the Earl of Ravenwood?”
A pause so small most would not notice. Vivy noticed.
“Ravenwood is not easily described.” Thornhill’s eyes stayed on hers. “But I hear you may be more familiar with him than most. Didn’t he dance with you at the Whitcombe ball?”
“No,” Vivy agreed softly. “He is not.” She purposely ignored his question about the previous ball. Though he may believe that was why she was interested in him.
Thornhill’s gaze sharpened, curiosity pricking through charm. “So, you are acquainted with him.”
“I have danced with him once,” Vivy admitted. “I am not given to embellishment.”
“How refreshing.” Thornhill’s tone turned playful again. “And did he make your heart flutter, as he seems determined to do to every woman who looks in his direction?”
“My heart is none of your concern.” Vivy’s smile did not waver.
She tilted his head to the side. “But that makes me think you do not know him at all. He is not a consummate flirt.” He rarely spoke to anyone at social events.
She had watched him before he left for the war, and last evening he had rarely spoke to any of the guests.
In fact, the only person other than her and her mother he had spoken to was the Duke of Lionston.
His brows lifted. “Touché again. I begin to think you might be dangerous, Lady Lavinia.”
“I have been told I am difficult,” she returned.
Thornhill’s eyes glittered. “I prefer difficult. It suggests you may have a bit of intelligence at your disposal.”
Before Vivy could reply, the air behind her shifted.
There was no sound or a breeze that would be more noticeable.
No this was something far more subtle. The unmistakable sensation of a shadow falling across candlelight.
She straightened her spine and she did not need to turn to know what she would find. She turned anyway.
Lord Ravenwood stood beside them, his expression composed enough to pass as polite, but his eyes were hard, the gold-green flecks caught the light from the chandelier like a warning.
He flicked his gaze to Thornhill first. It was sharp and assessing as he studied him, and then he met Vivy’s gaze. His gaze lingered on her with an intensity that made her pulse stutter.
“Lady Lavinia,” he said, voice even.
“Lord Ravenwood,” she replied, matching his formality, though her temper rose. But she could not explain why. Perhaps it was something in the way he stared at her.
Thornhill bowed, unbothered. “Ravenwood. I did not realize you were attending tonight.”
“I decided at the last moment,” Ravenwood said. His gaze did not leave Thornhill’s face. “One does so, occasionally.”
The words were mild, but the meaning was not.
Thornhill’s smile returned…slow and knowing. “I was just enjoying Lady Lavinia’s company.”
“I see that,” Ravenwood replied.
Vivy drew her brows together. “Is there some objection I should be aware of, my lord?”
Ravenwood snapped his gaze to hers. For a fraction of a second, she saw something there, something rawer than annoyance. Concern, perhaps…and beneath it, a warning he seemed desperate to keep unspoken.
His voice remained controlled as he spoke. “You ought not to be troubled with certain company.”
Thornhill laughed softly. “Certain company? How ominous. Am I suddenly suspect, Ravenwood? I shall be wounded.”
“You are rarely wounded,” Ravenwood returned in a dry tone.
Vivy’s pulse quickened…not with fear, but irritation. “I am standing directly here, my lord,” she said, her voice sweet enough to curdle cream. “You might consider speaking to me rather than about me as if I am a piece of furniture.”
Ravenwood went very still. Thornhill’s eyes widened a fraction, as if he had not expected her to draw blood so neatly. Ravenwood’s gaze held hers, and the ballroom around them seemed to blur. “You are in danger,” he said quietly, the words meant only for her. “This is not…”
Lavinia lifted her chin. “Then perhaps you should have thought to tell me sooner,” she murmured, equally low. “Instead of hovering and scowling like a man who believes he has the right to dictate my acquaintances.” She narrowed her gaze. “Or ask me cryptic questions while we waltz.”
His jaw tightened. “I have no desire to dictate anything.”
“Excellent,” Lavinia said. “Then you will allow me to finish my conversation.”
Ravenwood’s eyes flashed from gold to green as he seemed to battle with some internal emotions. “Lady Lavinia…”
She turned back to Thornhill before Ravenwood could continue, refusing to let him steal her composure. “Lord Thornhill,” she said, voice calm again, “you were saying?”
Thornhill’s gaze slid between them, his impish charm sharpening into interest. “Was I?” he drawled. “I confess, I have forgotten. Ravenwood has such a talent for…distraction.”
“So, I have noticed,” Vivy returned, without looking at Ravenwood again.
But she felt him there by her side. He was far too close as he watched her. His happiness pouring off of him in cold waves of disapproval.
Somewhere beneath her irritation, a colder truth pressed into her. He had come to protect her. Perhaps she should be kinder to him, but she couldn’t find it in her. Not tonight and not when her whole world was turning upside down.
For reasons she did not yet understand, he had decided she was worth stepping into the trap to protect.
Whether she permitted it…or not, and that made her mind whirl in ways she did not like.
She had been privately in love with the man for years.
How was she supposed to handle having him in her life this way?
Not as someone who loved her in return, but as a man determined to protect her, nothing more, and nothing less.