Eventually, Mr. Alden was called away, and when Lord Tensford made to leave, she stepped right out into his path.
He stopped.
She ignored the jolt to her heart at his closeness. “I’m quite persistent,” she warned.
“And determined, if I can correctly read the glint in your eye.”
“I’m afraid so. Your wisest course would be to just allow me to have my say.”
“Very well.” He folded his arms. “Have at it.”
She set her shoulders. “I do most humbly beg your pardon. That night—you saved me. You were most heroic. They tried to disparage you and I defended you. The last bit—about you acting tenderly—it was just a whisper, meant for no one but myself. But it was heard, and just look at the mischief it’s caused you.” She shook her head. “I am truly sorry.”
“Forgiven.” He straightened. “I must offer my regrets as well, for stalking off the first time you attempted your handsome apology. I couldn’t trust myself not to vent my anger.”
“I would have deserved it,” she said humbly, and meaning it.
“You would not have. Neither of us is to blame in this. It is the beau monde.”
“They are behaving badly.” She sighed.
“The young bloods are vainglorious, overeager pups, without a care who is harmed by their fun. The ladies are as bad—empty-headed sheep, willing to follow anyone whistling the latest on-dit.” He shrugged. “I suppose I should thank you, though. At least it’s become fashionable with some of the ladies to encourage my reformation. There are more than a few now, who manage not to drop or run when I draw near.”
“A small blessing,” she murmured, feeling worse than ever.
“Not that any of their fathers will entertain an offer from a notorious, pockets-to-let fellow like me. But not to worry,” he said ironically. “My mother and aunt both have bridal candidates they wish me to meet. And that will be my fate, in the end.” The resignation in his tone set her heart to aching. “Some merchant’s daughter or cit’s girl will take me, and I’ll be grateful enough, if it allows me to set things aright at Greystone.”
“Oh, dear.”
“But not quite yet,” he said, becoming more animated. “First I mean to make the most of this Season.”
Surely he was too young to have worry lines at the edges of his green eyes? And it was a certainty that she shouldn’t be wishing to smooth them with a finger. “Looking for a girl with wits enough to see what a fine gentleman you are?”
“Lord, no. There’s no use in wishful thinking. No.” He rubbed his hands together. “I mean to attend all the scientific events to be had, dance with a pretty girl or two, and finally . . .” He lowered his voice to a dramatic baritone. “I will unmask the mysterious Lady X.”
That startled her. “Unmask Lady X? Do you think that wise?”
“Why not?”
“Because you may not find what you expect. Who knows why she writes her gossip? Perhaps she has a good reason.”
“A good reason to interfere with the lives of others? No. She is a shepherdess with an acid pen and she’s put it to use in altering the course of my life. Why should I not return the favor? Perhaps, in the process, I might even shake a few ladies of the ton awake. Who knows? They might even begin to think for themselves.”
“You don’t think much of women, do you, sir?”
“And should I? It was my own mother, sister and aunt who started all of this—all because I cut their profligate spending and forced them to tighten their belts like the rest of us at Greystone. One sent her story of my cruelty to her friends, and the other two were not to be outdone. Tales of my harsh, miserly ways and the horrors I subjected them to spread and caught the attention of Lady X. And thus my fate was sealed.”
“But not all women are so short-sighted.”
“True. I know more than a few good, kind and worthy women, but none of them are in the peerage. Society ladies are too often silly, shallow and short of both sense and intellect.”
She took a step back. “I think you forget who you are speaking to, my lord. I am a lady of the peerage.”
He merely grunted and rolled his eyes. “Well, present company excepted, of course. You don’t think I would include you in such a list of deficiencies?”
“I think you easily could. You barely know me, after all.”
“I know enough,” he said gruffly.
She dipped her head. “I thank you for the compliment.” Lowering her brow, she stared at him.
“What now? I think perhaps I know you well enough to be nervous at that look.”
“I am getting an idea.”
Now he truly looked alarmed.
“You’re right,” she said baldly. She was happy to see that he was smart enough not to relax. “It is a problem, is it not?”
He frowned. “Which? I’ve more than enough to choose from.”
“The marriage mart.” She waved a hand. “The whole process by which the ton contracts a marriage. Titles, money, political power—they are reason enough for some people to marry. Clearly, some are happy to choose using such criteria. But not all of us. Not you, I think, sir.”
“And not you?”
“Definitely not me. I have different measures of a man. Is he kind? Responsible? Can he laugh at the absurdities of life? Does he have enough heart to feel the sorrows?”
He laughed. “Good luck finding such a paragon.”
“He’s out
