“Of course,” she said with a smile and took Julius’ arm. They did make a handsome couple. Their children would be handsome too. As would Caius’. Hopefully there would be an announcement in that regard soon. It would tie Caius to England. He wouldn’t abandon a child. It wasn’t in his nature. It would solidify the marriage too. Neither of them could justify living apart if there was a child to care for.
If they would only hurry up and make that happen.
It was a little frustrating that Julius refused to see that the relationship was still precarious. It felt as if it was so close to being safe, just this last push to take them out of peril. Nothing could interfere.
“Oh, Lord Fortescue,” Eliza said, her attention being drawn to a man just entering the house. “I didn’t realize you would be here tonight.”
“Mrs. Hennington, what a pleasure,” the man said. This was him, Lord Fortescue, the one who’d been calling on Eliza. Octavia couldn’t bring herself to smile. His interest in Eliza hadn’t even been hidden, and now he was here. How in the world had that happened? “Apologies, I mean Lady Warwick, of course.” His attention turned to Caius and he bowed sharply. “A pleasure to see you both here.”
By the look of him, he didn’t think it was a pleasure at all to see Caius here. His affection was very much for Eliza, that much was clear. Lord Forthill received him like he would an old friend. They knew each other? It must be.
The man hadn’t stopped to be introduced to her or Julius, and he now chatted with Lord Forthill. Rude to boot. Octavia hated him. There was something much too...artful about him.
Heat rose up her body. She was upset by this development. Why in the world did this man have to be here? This was most unfortunate. Eliza was obviously too innocent and amiable to tell him to go jump in the river, so he still hung around, dropping his little pleasantries whenever he saw her. He didn’t still call on her, did he?
Eliza looked too distracted for Octavia to ask her. This was not good. Octavia’s mood had just been utterly ruined by this man, this fox in the hen house, intent on wreaking havoc and making off with the most plumb hen. Over her dead body.
Chapter 6
THE PARTY WAS MUCH larger than Finn had expected. It was an explosion of colored silks and finery. A few faces he recognized. In the past, he would have stayed clear of any social engagement that included matrons of any kind. Lord Forthill had been kind in inviting him, and news had even reached him that Lord Warwick’s brother was betrothed to one of Lord Forthill’s daughters.
Although this wasn’t a ball, there was a space for dancing, but the music was more ambient in nature, barely heard over the din of chatter. A games room was over to the right and some of the gentlemen were taking their permanent seats for the evening. Perhaps he would make his way in there at some point, but gambling had never appealed to him. It was a loser’s game as far as he saw. Whatever excitement drew men, he didn’t feel it, only the stupid loss of money.
Accepting a drink, he wondered what to do with himself. On the other side of the vast room stood Eliza with her husband, while the husband chatted with a man. They did seem in accord, but looks could be deceiving. If she truly was happy with him, Finn wouldn’t interfere. In his experience, though, someone who acted callously had the propensity to do it again. People who sought dramatics continued to do so. Eliza was definitely not that kind of person. She was calm and self-contained. And beautiful.
At some point, he would ask her to dance and they could speak. It was perfectly reasonable that they chat. Well, her being a tenant for his warehouse wasn’t at all normal, but such was their situation. And maybe he wanted to see if that husband of hers would be overcome with jealousy and anger if a man so much as asked his wife to dance. That would indicate a very unstable relationship.
It wasn’t as if he believed Eliza needed to be rescued, because she knew how to stand up for herself, he had learnt firsthand. But women could be reticent to act with men they loved, even the ones who didn’t deserve their affection. Saying that, she was sensible and she’d survived quite well without her husband. It was true that the man was in the position to ruin her company entirely. Finn had assured her that he would stand by her as a landlord if that happened, and he hoped she understood the offer was still open.
For a while, Finn distracted himself by chatting to a man he’d known in his youth, someone who was now married and had some years ago graduated to these kinds of parties. Now the proud father of three small sons. For all that his thoughts had strayed to a more settled life, hearing others talk about theirs was exceedingly dull.
Time passed and it seemed they were readying themselves for supper. Alcohol made the conversation more relaxed as people enjoyed themselves.
Finn introduced himself and made his way around the room. More than a few matrons were taking his measure, subtly enquiring how estates had fared this year, and encouraging him to talk about it. Their lack of finesse bored him.
Eventually, he made his way to where Eliza and her husband were. “Hello, again,” he said with a nod of his head. “I hope you’ve found the evening pleasant.”
“As pleasant as they come, I’m sure,” the husband said.
“And will you be dancing tonight?” His gaze was on both of them, but shifted to Eliza.
