He could barely hear her reply. “You are distraught. I’m sorry.”
“Are you?”
He held her gaze for a moment, understanding what she meant. “Not completely, I’m afraid,” he said with a sigh. “Forgive me.”
“I would be more apt to forgive you if you were less mercenary.”
“If I were truly mercenary, I would accept your sister’s overtures and discard her when I was done.”
Claire grimaced. “She is truly naive.”
“Not entirely,” he softly replied. “And I don’t mean to impugn your sister’s character, but she has a kind of determination that’s not uncommon with women who are-” he hesitated.
“Looking to ensnare a husband,” she finished with a small sigh. “I understand and I don’t mean to be ungrateful, Ormond.”
“James, please.”
“You must know I am unsettled by all this.”
“I’ll treat you kindly.” He touched her hand. “You have my word.”
She looked away before she met his gaze once again. “And Harriet will have her husband.”
“I promise.”
“Very well,” she said as if she were mounting the scaffold. “I shall endeavor to please you.”
“You do without trying. Just looking at you makes me smile.” The outrageous significance of his remark went unnoticed, so beguiled was he by
“Claire.”
“Thank you.” Stepping from the carriage, he turned and offered her his hand.
As she placed her fingers on his palm, she felt a delicious, heated jolt race from her fingertips through her body with such velocity, she gasped.
He heard and engulfed her small hand in his for the briefest of moments. “Until tonight,” he murmured, his voice hushed and low, helping her step to the pavement before releasing her hand. “I may need more than one dance,” he whispered. “I hope you don’t mind.”
What she minded was that she couldn’t resist his allure. “What if I said I minded?”
His smile was instant. “I wouldn’t believe you.”
“Damn you,” she muttered.
“I have no control either if it helps,” he said. “I’m seriously thinking about throwing you back into my carriage and taking you somewhere far away, and damn the consequences.”
“Easy for you to say,” she pointedly retorted.
“I stand corrected,” he said, instantly contrite.
She smiled again, his boyish contrition charming. “I’m not sure I’m going to be able to handle you.”
His brows flickered in amusement. “An interesting concept, darling.”
“I’m not your darling.”
“I rather think you are.”
“For the duration, I suppose I am.”
He nodded toward the door. “Go,” he muttered, “before I don’t let you go.”
The covetousness in his gaze was so stark, she immediately turned away and hurried toward the house.
“Good idea,” he whispered, drawing in a breath of restraint.
How the hell was he going to get through the evening without mounting her? “Damn, damn, damn,” he softly swore. He was going to need every shred of self-control he possessed.
Chapter Seven
The level of joy in the Bellingham household was so resounding, Claire couldn’t help but be drawn into the excitement.
Harriet had come running the instant she walked in the door, waving the invitation. “Cleery, LOOK, LOOK what Lord Ormond delivered today! You won’t believe it, but we’ve been invited to a grand rout at Lord and Lady Harville’s! Auntie bought me the most gorgeous gown in all the world and the most gorgeous silk slippers and the most,
“Let me see.” Claire took the invitation from her sister and quickly perused it just to make sure Harriet was correct and Ormond was telling the truth. “My goodness,” she murmured, astonished at the friendly tone of her ladyship’s note.
“Lady Harville says a Lady Whiteside knows of you, Cleery! What do you think of that! Maybe even
Maybe she already had, Claire thought, although she was not naive enough to consider Ormond precisely a beau. A sexual partner, a lover, a charming companion. And for now, she would be content with that. Since John had died, she’d never thought of marriage again anyway. Ormond was looking for amusement, and maybe she was ready for a diversion as well after so many years. “Show me your new gown, darling,” Claire said, smiling at her sister. “I’m sure you’ll be the belle of the ball.”
“Of course I will,” Harriet cheerfully agreed. “I’m always the most beautiful woman in the room.”
And so it went in the hours before the viscount arrived. Harriet was in ecstasy, their aunt was dispensing advice at every turn, and Claire was trying to find something in her wardrobe that would suit for an elegant entertainment such as the one tonight.
Perhaps she wished to look her best for other reasons, too.
Not that she openly acknowledged those feelings, but she took special care with her hair and found her mother’s pearl ear bobs that she’d put away and even wore a gown that she might have considered too youthful yesterday.
It was a watered-silk in apple green, the style several years old, the fabric worn slightly at the hem, but in a crush such as the one she expected, her hem wouldn’t show. She wondered if the scooped decolletage exposed too much bosom and apparently it did, for her aunt sniffed on seeing her.
“Really, Claire,” Mrs. Bellingham said, her lips pursed. “Don’t you think your gown is a bit daring?”
“It doesn’t matter, Auntie,” Harriet brightly proclaimed. “You said yourself that Society ladies show almost their entire bosom. Don’t worry, Cleery, no one will notice.”
Claire understood that Harriet meant no one would notice her when she stood beside her pretty, blond sister. She didn’t take affront; Harriet always spoke without thought for other’s feelings. And in that regard, Claire hoped Ormond was right and noblemen wouldn’t regard anything but Harriet’s beauty. To date, that certainly had been the case, although their aunt’s social circle was very distant from the rareified world of the
When their parents were alive, their entertainments had been generally small house parties to which the gentry in the neighborhood were invited. As a retired colonel and the younger son of a younger son, their father had not had the resources to entertain on a grand scale.
Since Harriet was still in the schoolroom when their parents had died, her experience with country Society had consisted largely of making her curtsy at teatime and answering the usual questions put to children.
Not that she hadn’t taken to their aunt’s bourgeoise entertainments like the veritable duck to water. She adored being the center of attention. She was a natural flirt. And she confidently viewed the male admiration directed at her as her due.
Claire hoped that Harriet would attract as many gentlemen in the fashionable world.
She was, after all, paying a considerable price toward that end.
The knock at the door came precisely at half past eight and Harriet’s squeal of delight resonated throughout the house.
“For heaven’s sake, child, hush!” Mrs. Bellingham cautioned. “No man likes a raucous woman.”
Harriet instantly put her hand over her mouth and said, “Yes, Auntie,” through her gloved fingers.
