“Clark, sir. Elsie Clark.”
“Miss Clark.” He smiled, and though Clara was now immune to the potency of that smile, the waitress was not. When he pulled the tray from her hands, poor Elsie Clark scarcely seemed to notice.
“I do need your help,” he went on, turning to set the tray on the table beside him. “You see, my friend here has been most injudicious with his feminine companion.”
That seemed too much for the poor girl to take in, for she frowned in bafflement. “Sir?”
“Honor demands he break with a girl,” he explained. “She’s far too good for him, and he knows it. He also knows the right thing to do is abandon his courtship, for he’s a considerate, gentlemanly chap.”
Clara gave a snort, but fortunately, the other three didn’t seem to notice.
“But he can’t bear to let her go,” Adonis went on. “He’s quite shattered about the whole thing, really, and he has asked my advice on the subject. I should like to demonstrate for him how he can postpone the inevitable end as long as possible, and that is where you shall be of invaluable assistance to me, Miss Clark.”
To Clara’s way of thinking, a man who bedded a woman, declared love, refused to offer honorable marriage, and saw nothing wrong with continuing to bed her with no intention of ever doing right by her was not in any way a gentlemanly chap. She glanced between the palms at the man seated beside her, and though his appearance seemed that of a benignant and amiable fellow, Clara knew he was nothing of the sort. He was a contemptible deceiver, and so was his friend.
Her gaze slid up, and she watched as Adonis lifted the waitress’s hand in his own. “So, Miss Clark, are you willing to assist?”
If Miss Clark’s beatific expression was anything to go by, she’d have been willing to do anything this man asked of her. When she nodded, he pulled her hand, bringing her closer.
“My darling girl,” he began, “you talk of marriage, but how can that be possible between us? I am no one. I have nothing. You are a lady of breeding and quality, so lovely, so fine.” He paused, cradling her hand in both of his, then he said, “You deserve so much more than I could ever offer you. You may think right now that the vast difference in our station doesn’t matter, but it does, and I know that one day, you will realize it. And when you do, it will come between us and cast an unresolvable pall over our happiness.”
Damn, Clara thought, a hint of reluctant admiration breaking through her anger,this man might be a rake, but he’s a talented one.
She dared another peek at him and found that he was still gazing at the waitress, his attention fully fixed on her. As for Elsie, her upturned profile and enraptured expression only served to confirm Clara’s opinion of this man’s rakish character and talent for duplicity.
“Marriage,” he went on, “brings harsh realities that, little by little, turn love to dust. I couldn’t bear for what we have, the mad passion we feel, to be eroded and destroyed by the mundane tedium that marriage inevitably brings. What would become of us then?”
Elsie didn’t answer. She probably couldn’t, poor girl.
“No, my dear. Marriage isn’t possible for the likes of us. You deserve it, of course, but we must be honest about our circumstances. I don’t have the blunt to support you, and I certainly don’t have the breeding to be worthy of you. And what of your family? They would surely turn against you if you married a lowborn chap like me. How could I ever cause such a breach between you and your relations? Do you really think me such a cad?”
“I think you’re lovely,” Elsie whispered, a declaration that further outraged Clara’s feminine sensibilities, partly because of the worshipful tone in which the words had been uttered, and partly because she’d had the very same mistaken opinion of him not a quarter of an hour ago.
“It tears me apart, for I’m wild about you, but I cannot bear the torment that would come with knowing I’ve ruined your life with matrimony. If a husband is truly what you want, I shall have to step aside, for I am not worthy of the role. Thus, I fear we must part forever.”
He moved to pull his hand free, but the girl clutched it tight, obviously unwilling to end what was perhaps the most romantic moment of masculine attention she’d ever had. “Is there no place for us?” she asked, sounding nauseatingly desperate as she clung to his hand.
There was a pause. “I can think of only one, and that is where we are now. One day, you will end things between us, I know, and it will break my heart. But I beg of you,” he added, pressing a fervent kiss to her hand, “do not let that day be today.”
Elsie sighed again, the fact that he had just reversed his entire position on ending things seeming to go right over her head. She stared up at him in dazed and silent wonder, but she was given little time to savor the romance of the moment. With a dexterity Clara couldn’t help but admire, he slipped free of Elsie’s grasp, leaving the girl’s hand still hovering in midair.
“You see, Lionel?” he said in a conversational tone as he resumed his seat and forced Clara to again look away. “It can be done.”
“I suppose so, if one does it the way you just did,” his friend agreed, laughing.
“What do you think, Elsie?” Adonis asked the waitress, obviously so confident of his powers of attraction that he felt free to call her by her Christian name, the cheeky devil. “If you were the lady, would you go? Or would you stay?”
“I believe...” Elsie paused and gave a little cough as if working to recover her poise. “I believe I’d stay,” she managed at last. “Not forever, mind you,” she added, as if to emphasize that she still possessed a scrap of pride. “A girl’s got to look out for her future, you know.”
“Quite right.” Teacups rattled, and Clara’s gaze slid sideways to watch as he lifted the tray and held it up to her. “Thank you for all your help.”
However amiable his voice, his words were clearly a dismissal, and the girl realized it. “You’re very welcome, sir,” she mumbled. Taking the offered tray, she dipped a curtsy and departed.
“Well?” Adonis asked, returning his attention to his friend as Clara turned hers to the waitress coming around the palms with her order. “What do you think?”
“I think you should be on the stage,” Lionel said as Elsie set Clara’s tray on her table and began placing tea things before her. “And I believe you have resolved my dilemma.”
“Doing this buys you time, Lionel. That’s all. Put that time to good use.”
