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This was /him/?
His eyes were fixed on hers. His dark, angular face was filled with mockery. "My grandfather doubtless wishes," he said, "that he could simply make my cousin his heir and cut me out of everything that is his. It ca
She was saved from the necessity of saying anything at all. "Your newly betrothed swain is approaching to claim his dance," the earl said, looking beyond her again. "It is as well, Maggie, is it not? I have shocked you to the core. I shall take the liberty of calling upon you tomorrow and hope I will not find the door barred against me. I have so very little time in which to find someone else, you see." She had not even noticed the one set of dances ending and the next begi
The marquess raised his eyebrows as she set her hand on his sleeve.
Margaret smiled at him. There was no point in trying to explain, was there? She owed him no explanation, anyway.
But really… /My love/.
He had eloped with a married lady the night before his pla
Could any gentleman be further beyond the pale of respectability? /And he wanted her to marry him/.
He would indeed find the door barred against him if he should have the effrontery to come calling tomorrow.
Could any day – any evening – be stranger than this one?
5
MARGARET felt very embarrassed as she danced with the Marquess of Allingham. She would have felt self-conscious anyway under the circumstances – though fortunately he had no way of knowing what her expectations had been when she set out for the ball this evening.
But he had heard the Earl of Sheringford calling her /my love/, and though she had told herself that it was none of his business what anyone else called her, nevertheless the words seemed to hover in the air about them as they danced. It did not help that they danced in silence for the first ten minutes or so.
She smiled until her lips felt stiff.
Did he know who the Earl of Sheringford /was/?
But /of course/ he must know.
He was the one who spoke first. "Miss Huxtable," he said gravely, "forgive me if I am speaking out of turn now and forgive me if I did not speak when perhaps I ought. I /ought/ to have taken that fellow to task for the familiarity with which he addressed you, when I daresay you have never met him before this evening." /That fellow/? Yes, indeed he knew. "Lord Sheringford?" she said lightly. "Oh, I did not take offense, my lord. He was joking. I am relieved you did not take any more notice of his words than they merited." "But as your friend," he said after hesitating a few moments, "I feel that I ought to warn you to keep your distance from the Earl of Sheringford, Miss Huxtable. It would pain me to see your reputation tarnished by any co
Oh, dear, she /had/ behaved foolishly this evening.
She was not proud of herself. She had always been the soul of propriety and discretion. She would remember this evening for a long time and with considerable discomfort. She turned hot and cold again when she remembered all that she had poured out to the Earl of Sheringford – all her most embarrassing and humiliating secrets. That was surely the worst thing she had done all evening.
Whatever had possessed her!
Vanessa and Katherine were both waiting for her when the marquess returned her to their sides. Elliott and Jasper were conversing with a group of gentlemen nearby. "Meg." Vanessa linked an arm firmly and possessively through hers. "I was never more happy in my life than to see you dancing with the Marquess of Allingham. Whoever presented you to the Earl of Sheringford?
If it was Lady Tindell, she really ought to have known better and I will not scruple to tell her so. The earl is absolutely beyond the pale." "He even /looks/ disreputable," Katherine added. "And downright dangerous. Meg, do you know that – " "Yes," Margaret said, interrupting. "I /do/ know that he eloped with his bride's sister-in-law five years ago. I ca
And there – finally – would be an end of the matter.