“I have not seen them, no.” Nancy shook her head.
“Well, worry not for us,” Helena said with ease. “They may be here, but they will not ruin our enjoyment of the event. Will they, Julia?” She looked at her sister to see Julia was gulping from her punch eagerly. Their gazes connected over the rim of the glass.
She is hiding something. I am certain of it.
“There they are.” Nancy waved a manic hand across the room.
“Careful, people will notice you staring.” Helena kindly took her friend’s hand and lowered it, not wishing to draw attention to themselves. She had been raised to be proper by her parents. She remembered the lessons vividly from when she was a child. Even her first memory in life was of her mother telling her how to sit in a chair in the right manner, so people did not stare at her. These were not lessons she forgot easily.
Despite her wish not to stare, Helena still turned her head and looked in the direction that Nancy had pointed to.
Across the room, she caught sight of Lord Sheylough and Lord Robert first. The former was talking animatedly, captivating the attention of those around him, whereas the latter was looking across the room. His light brown hair danced around his ears as he turned his head back and forth.
At last, Helena saw the Duke of Bridstone. He stood beside his brother, sipping from a glass of wine, disinterested in the event around him. His golden hair was messy. It had not been waxed or coiffed as it should have been for an event such as this. His carelessness rankled Helena.
He never dresses as a duke should do for events.
His green eyes raised from his glass of wine. Set above firm cheekbones and a wide angular jaw, those eyes were intense as they darted across the room and found Helena.
He looks at me again.
Then he looked away as sharply as Helena did.
I wish they had not come tonight.
“Come, let us avoid them,” Helena said and took her sister’s arm, leading her away with Nancy following the two of them. Yet Julia’s pace was slower than she had expected.
What is wrong with Julia tonight?
CHAPTERTWO
“And who would you be staring at across this ballroom, Christopher?” Percival asked in his usual joking way, elbowing Christopher in an effort to get his attention.
Christopher sighed deeply, looking away from Lady Helena Carter and standing tall, raising his wine glass to his lips. He detested these events as they were, and having constant questions from his cousin hardly helped. He would have happily spent the night in the corner of the room, talking with his brother or some good friend. Instead, he had been dragged into a conversation with a wide group of people.
“No one,” Christopher lied and turned his back.
“As you see, my friends, he is a man who keeps to himself,” Percival said with good humor, facing the group once again.
Christopher took a few strides away with Robert following at his side.
“He holds court like no other man I know,” Robert jested.
“That’s certainly true. Let him; I prefer not to be stared at with such attention.” Despite his words, Christopher was well aware of how people stared at him. Each time he lowered his glass and looked around the room, he found eyes upon him. Women whispered behind fluttered fans, pointing at him, and men raised their chins, looking down their noses in his direction. “Speaking of which, why are they staring at me this time?”
“I’d argue it’s because you’re a duke therefore an eligible bachelor for their children.” Robert laughed as Christopher raised his eyebrows. “I know, I know. With the rumors, it is far from the truth. Did you not see another scandal sheet was published this morning? You were mentioned again.”
“Those damned things.” Christopher gulped the wine in his glass, enjoying the pleasant burn in the back of his throat. He had no wish to entertain what was in those sheets. Long ago, he had started burning them when they came to the house. These days, if he couldn’t get to the post in time, his butler hid the sheets so his mother and aunt could not see them before he then had the chance to burn them. “Pray, don’t tell me what the one this morning said. I don’t want to know.”
“Perhaps that is why Lady Helena Carter stares at you. She must have read it.” Robert nodded in the Lady’s direction.
Christopher looked at Lady Helena again then tore his gaze away and found she did exactly the same thing.
We often do this. It must be our mutual distaste for one another’s presence.
He cleared his throat and pulled at the cravat around his throat that suddenly felt a little tight. Lady Helena was a beauty, that was something he couldn’t deny even though he wished to. The large blue eyes in her heart-shaped face could be captivating, and her black hair offered an intoxicating darkness to her good looks. Yet it was a beauty Christopher was not permitted to stare at.
She’s a Carter. That means she is my enemy.
