could they not notice?
“I don’t imagine he would take kindly to the request,” Louisa said with a bit of giggle.
“Pity,” Sebastian murmured. “He does look the part.”
Annabel took another shallow breath. When Sebastian dropped his voice like that, soft and husky, it made her positively squirm.
“Oh, here we are,” Louisa said excitedly. “What do you think of this scene?” She reached past Annabel to hand the book to Sebastian. Which of course meant that he had to reach past Annabel, too.
His hand brushed her sleeve. His thigh leaned into hers.
Annabel jumped to her feet, knocking the book out of whatever person’s hand it was in (she didn’t know; didn’t care, either). “Excuse me,” she squeaked.
“Is something wrong?” Louisa asked.
“Nothing, I, ehrm, just…” She cleared her throat. “I’ll be right back.” And then: “If you’ll excuse me.” And then: “Just a moment.” And then: “I—”
“Justgo ,” Louisa said.
She did. Or rather, she tried. Annabel was in such a hurry she wasn’t paying attention to where she was going, and when she reached the doorway she only just managed to avoid crashing into the gentleman entering the room.
The Earl of Newbury.
The giddiness bubbling along inside Annabel died in an instant. “Lord Newbury,” she murmured, dipping into a respectful curtsy. She did not wish to antagonize him; she merely wished tonot marry him.
“Miss Winslow.” His eyes swept across the room before coming back to hers. Annabel noticed that his jaw tightened when he spied Sebastian, but other than that, the only expression on his face was one of satisfaction.
Which naturally made Annabel nervous.
“I shall make the announcement now,” he told her.
“What?” Somehow she managed to make that not come out as a shriek. “My lord,” she said, trying to sound placating, or if not that then at least reasonable, “surely this is not the time.”
“Nonsense,” he said dismissively. “I believe we are all here.”
“I haven’t said yes,” she ground out.
He turned to her with a withering glare. And then said nothing else, as if nothing else was necessary.
He did not even think her worthy of a response, Annabel fumed. “Lord Newbury,” she said firmly, placing a hand on his arm, “I forbid you to make an announcement.”
His face, already florid, turned nearly to purple, and a vein began to bulge in his neck. Annabel removed her hand from his arm and took a cautious step back. She did not think he would strike her in so public a setting, but hehad punched Sebastian in front of their entire club. It seemed wise to distance herself.
“I have not said yes,” she said again, because he was not responding. He was just looking at her with a thunderous expression, and for a moment she feared he might actually have an apoplectic fit. Never in her life had she witnessed another human being so angry. Spittle was popping from the corners of his mouth, and his eyes were huge and froglike in his head. It was horrific.He was horrific.
“You don’t get to say yes,” he finally spat out. But his voice remained a harsh whisper. “Or no. You have been bought and sold, and next week you’re going to spread your legs and do your bloody duty by me. And you will do it again and again until you produce a healthy boy. Are we clear?”
“No,” Annabel said, making sure that her voice, at least, was perfectly clear, “we are not.”
Chapter Twenty-three
Let’s see, Lady Louisa, which scene have you chosen?” Sebastian grinned as he reached forMiss Sainsbury , which had fallen to the carpet after Annabel knocked it from his hands. What fun that he should be doing a recitation from his own work. A bit absurd that he should be playing Miss Sainsbury, but he had enough confidence in his manhood that he felt he could carry it off with aplomb.
Besides, he was rather good at this sort of thing, if he did say so himself. Never mind that the last time he’d read for an audience he’d fallen off a table and dislocated his shoulder. He didn’t regret it in the least. He’d had the housemaids in tears. Tears!
It had been a beautiful moment.
He scooped up the book, straightening to hand it back to Louisa so that she could find her place again, but when he caught her worried expression, he paused. Then he turned, following her gaze.
Annabel was standing near the doorway. So was his uncle.
“I hate him,” Louisa whispered vehemently.
“I’m not terribly fond of him myself.”
Louisa grabbed his arm with a force he would not have imagined she possessed, and when he turned to face her, he was startled by the ferocity in her eyes. She was such a colorless thing, and yet at that moment, she was positively ablaze.
“You cannot let her marry him,” she said.
Sebastian turned back toward the door, his eyes narrowing. “I don’t intend to.”
He waited, though, to see if the situation would right itself. For Annabel’s sake, he did not wish to cause a scene. He was well aware that Lady Challis had planned the house party with the Grey-Winslow-Newbury love triangle as the main source of entertainment. Anything that even hinted of scandal would be on every London gossip’s tongue within days. Unsurprisingly, every eye in the room was set firmly on Annabel and Lord Newbury.
When they weren’t stealing glances at Sebastian.
Truly, he’d had every intention of staying put. But when his uncle began to shake and seethe, his skin mottling with fury as he hissed something at Annabel, Sebastian could not stand by.
“Is there a problem?” he asked in a cool, smooth voice, coming to stand slightly behind and to the side of Annabel.
“This is none of your concern,” his uncle spat.
“I beg to differ,” Sebastian said quietly. “A lady in distress is always my concern.”
“The lady is my affianced bride,” Newbury snapped, “and therefore she will never be your concern.”
“Is that true?” Sebastian asked Annabel. Not because he believed it might be; rather he wished to give her the opportunity to make a public denial.
She shook her head no.
Sebastian turned back to his uncle. “Miss Winslow seems to be under the impression that she isnot your affianced bride.”
“Miss Winslow is an idiot.”
Sebastian’s gut tightened, and his fingers got a strange, tingly feeling, the sort that forced one’s hands into fists. Still, he kept his demeanor cool, merely raising a brow as he commented dryly, “And yet you wish to marry her.”
“Stay out of this,” his uncle warned.
