He frowned. “Why so?”
“There is someone I would not have minded you biting and carrying off to your lair,” Leah replied, strangely calm in the peculiar company of her handsome partner. He had an unusual sense of humor, that was for certain, but so did she.
Nathaniel’s dark eyes scoured the ballroom as the pair promenaded through a short tunnel of arched arms. “Ah, I see him.” He wrinkled his nose. “Quite the glare he has there. What did you do to receive such scorching disapproval? Did you smack him with an inky hand and leave your brand upon him? Goodness, I hope so. I cannot abide that man.”
“You know him?” Leah swallowed, her heart thudding.
Nathaniel pulled a face. “We schooled together. He was two years above me if memory serves. Used to pretend he was the king of Eton though everyone knew he was a scholarship boy.” He smirked, and Leah could not help but join in. “It does not appear as if much has changed. Why, the old rogue tried to convince me to invest in some sort of business endeavor some years ago, but I refused on Daniel’s advice. An irresponsible speculation, I believe Daniel called it, but I heard the risk was worth it in the end. Not that I mind. Any business endeavor with that fellow would not be worth enough, for it would mean having to converse with him, and I remember him being terribly dull. But pray tell, how doyouknow him?”
Leah grimaced as they formed part of the arching tunnel, stepping toward each other as the last couple promenaded through. “Do you receive the scandal sheets?”
“Only if I am in dire need of tinder for the fireplace,” he replied, making her chuckle.
“Three years ago, I was engaged to be married to that man,” Leah explained. “And I can attest to the fact that he is exceedingly boring when it comes to conversation, for he only ever speaks of himself.”
Nathaniel looked horrified. “Goodness, I am terribly sorry.”
“It gets worse.” She puffed out a breath. “He jilted me. Simply did not arrive at the church and left no word of why. Six months later, I found out he had married that young lady at his side.”
Nathaniel’s horror grew. “But she must have been a child!” He shook his head. “How old is she—five-and-ten, six-and-ten?”
“One-and-twenty,” Leah replied. “Anyway, as you must know from your schooldays, he has a curious dedication to taunting those he deems to be beneath him. He was in the midst of taunting me, and I could no longer endure it, so I… claimed I had a suitor. A beloved suitor. Then, you stumbled through the door, and I mistook you for Daniel. I knew Daniel would help me, you see, so perhaps I just saw what I wanted to see.”
Nathaniel’s expression softened as their palms pressed together, and they turned in slow circles. “So, I ruined your scheme? Mercy, I have so much to apologize to you for.”
“Imistook you. I am to blame, but… that is how I know him, and he will soon discover that I lied, and the satisfaction that will be etched upon his face is almost more than I can bear,” she said grimly.
Nathaniel shrugged as the music began to fade. “It does not have to be a lie.”
“Pardon?” Leah almost choked, her hand flying to her chest.
He smiled brightly, mischief shining in his dark eyes. “Did you not stop to wonder why I was stumbling out of a servants’ corridor, or why I escorted you from the refreshment room as if there were hounds chasing me?”
“I… suppose not,” she replied. “I was thinking of my own troubles.”
Nathaniel nodded as if that made perfect sense. “Well, I was escaping my mother and the young lady she wants me to marry. You might have heard someone screeching my name before the dance began. That was my mother.” He discreetly tilted his head toward two women who stood in the far corner, watching as intently as Jonathan and Dorothy. “Selfish though it sounds, I was trying to save my own skin. You were my rescue as it seems I was yours.”
“But… I am not interested in any sort of courtship,” Leah spluttered, keeping her voice low in case Jonathan overheard. “I lied to spare my pride, not because Iwantto be courted.”
Nathaniel chuckled, the sound so warm and confusing that all Leah could do was stare at him as if he were quite mad. “I am not suggesting anactualcourtship, Lady Leah. I neither want to court nor be courted, either. I am suggesting a ruse, much like this one.” He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Do you see how easy it would be? We are already comfortable in one another’s company.”
She could not deny that shewasoddly comfortable in his company though she supposed that was partially due to the satisfaction of seeing Jonathan in a fury. But to pretend to be in a courtship with this man? It was impossible. It would mean seeing her name in the scandal sheets once again, trailing a second failed relationship behind her, even if it was not real.
“I will take all the blame in the end,” Nathaniel suggested as if reading her mind. “I will conjure a story that shines the best possible light upon you while making me utterly intolerable to the fairer sex. In that way, we both get what we desire: I will save your pride, and you will help me escape marriage in its entirety.”
Leah began to chew her bottom lip; a bad habit that she could not shake. “How do I know, you will not makemelook like the guilty party?”
“Because I am a man of my word, even though you do not yet know me,” he replied gently. “I promise, through the whole of the London season, I will stay by your side as long as you stay by mine when I need you. And when the season concludes, I shall be the villain, and you will be the damsel who has saved herself or is open to the notion of being saved by another dashing gentleman. That shall be your choice, of course.”
Leah could not believe she was even contemplating it, considering she had known Nathaniel for all of ten minutes. Yet, in those ten minutes, she had felt safer with him than she had ever felt in Jonathan’s company. Any man’s, in truth. He seemed genuine and earnest, and judging by the vicious glares he was receiving from the woman who appeared to be his mother and the lady beside her, he was desperate.
“There must be a contract,” she said as the orchestra faded to nothing, and the dancers began to move away, replaced by fresh couples.
Nathaniel grinned. “I would expect nothing less from the lady with ink on her gloves. Indeed, if you show me where you left your inkwell, we could create the contract right now.”
“I would prefer not to,” she replied, for Jonathan and Dorothy were in the way.
Nathaniel bent to kiss her hand. “As you prefer. I believe this ruse will be enough for tonight anyway.” He peered up at her, his lips still touching the stained silk of her gloves. “But might I know of your residence, so that we might correspond? There is much to consider.”
