The man turned purple with humiliation, for ladies were likely not supposed to know that such a club existed. Floating on a wave of satisfaction, Phoebe turned her back to the two gossiping fellows and peered up into the black eyes of Daniel, her unexpected advocate.
Thank you, she mouthed, his bold gesture soothing any bruises that her pride had taken.
He dipped his head, whispering, “It was the least I could do.”
“However, I do not remember me agreeing to be your friend,” she pointed out, recalling that part of his speech to the gentlemen.
A mischievous smile appeared on his lips. “Call it wishful thinking. If I believe it, it might come true.” He paused. “Friends or, God willing, more than that.”
“More than that?” Her heart lurched, butterflies suddenly set loose in her stomach as her mind swirled.
What could he possibly mean by that?
He blinked, seemingly realizing what he had said. “I meant… we might be family.”
“Oh, I see. Yes, I understand now. Well, as I told you before, do not raise your hopes too high.” She forced a smile, wondering if the wine was too strong, addling her mind somewhat.
Of course, that was what he had meant.
CHAPTERTEN
Agifted pretender, Daniel made his way through the rest of the dinner with a pleasant smile on his face, engaging in more ordinary conversation with Phoebe and the other guests around the dining table. Inside, however, his blood still burned with irritation at the gall of those two gentlemen.
Who did they think they were, insulting Phoebe like that?Hedid not even know them, for they were the guests of two of his old school friends, and he still had half a mind to turf out that stubborn one.
However, as the dinner party split into ladies and gentlemen, the former venturing to the drawing room while the latter ventured to the smoking room for port and cigars, Daniel withdrew to his own corner, where he could simmer in peace without ruining everyone else’s enjoyment of the night.
He had just managed to find some semblance of calm when a shadow stretched across him.
“Is Society no longer agreeing with you?”
Daniel looked up, shooting a weary smile at his good friend Nathaniel. “I fear it is my age, rather than Society, that is no longer agreeing with me. I am not the man I used to be.”
“You are six-and-twenty, not two-and-sixty,” Nathaniel replied with a laugh, sitting down opposite.
Another welcome figure approached. “I believe I have found my corner,” Evan said, sitting down with a groan. “Goodness, is anyone else struggling with such elaborate dinners these days?”
“We are young men!” Nathaniel insisted. “What is the matter with the pair of you?”
Daniel cast his friend a pointed glance. “We do not all possess your athletic nature. HowisBill, by the way?”
“As stubborn as ever,” Nathaniel replied. “He still will not be persuaded to take the gamekeeper’s cottage, but when I last saw him, therewassome good news.”
Bill was Nathaniel’s oldest friend, and sometime father figure, who had trained him and kept him safe from childhood and through the years of him becoming England’s most famous boxer, “The Highwayman.” It was a title and a pastime that Nathaniel had dispensed with after falling in love with Leah, but he had transformed one of the outbuildings at Bergfield Manor into his own training ground, to maintain his good health. Yet, Nathaniel still ventured back to London whenever he could, to see his old friend.
Daniel leaned forward, intrigued. “Oh?”
“Jonathan has finally received the money from his estate and vanished from England’s fair shores,” Nathaniel said, breathing a sigh of relief, for Jonathan Coombs had very nearly destroyed everything between Nathaniel and Leah. A wretch of epic proportions.
Daniel clapped his friend on the back. “Your wife must be delighted.”
“It feels as if we can breathe more easily,” Nathaniel confirmed, his use of the word “we” tingling in Daniel’s chest.
When do two people become a “we” or an “us?”he pondered absently, trying to imagine himself and Joanna as a “we” instead of individuals living their own lives as separately as possible.
“I am pleased to hear it,” Evan said, pouring port for the gentlemen. “We should toast to it.”
Daniel took up his small port glass, inhaling the potent fumes. “What shall we toast?”
