“So, youdidsee me?” she urged.
He nodded slowly. “I did. I had no choice but to seek you out again, in daylight, where I could look upon your beautiful face and admire it in all its glory.”
Isolde expelled a breath, jittering with an excitement she could barely contain. She was not yet entirely certain that the gentleman standing before her was the gentleman she sought, but it looked promising. And she supposed she did not have to rush her investigation, for Lord Spofforth was pleasant company and she did not want to scare him away… or dash her hopes earlier than necessary.
“Are you attending Lord and Lady Montrose’s garden party this week?” she asked brightly, beginning to walk with him again in the gorgeous afternoon sunlight.
He visibly relaxed, his easy smile returning to his lips. “I was not intending to, but if there was a tempting reason to be there, I would assuredly reconsider.”
“I do not know that I can offer a “tempting” reason, but I shall be there, and I would very much like to speak with you again,” Isolde replied, chuckling.
He is amusing too, with plenty of witty things to say.It would certainly make the garden party more exciting, for she had been dreading it since Vincent told her that he was going away, and Edmund would be watching over her. If Lord Spofforth was attending, she would have something to look forward to.
Lord Spofforth flashed a grin. “I should like that too, Lady Isolde. Indeed, I have just this moment decided that Iwillbe going to the party. I cannot think of anything more stimulating.” He turned to face her once more, and keeping his gaze upon her, he lifted her hand and kissed it. “Until then, my sweet Aphrodite.”
“Until then,” Isolde murmured, suddenly flustered.
Slowly, he released her hand. “I am afraid I must take my leave of you, but I have heard that absence only makes the heart grow fonder.” He clasped his own hand to his chest and, with a wink, made his way out of the private park, leaving Isolde reeling andaltogether more determined to find out if he was her mysterious champion.
“Shall we have some tea?” Isolde’s mother asked as the small group of three returned to the townhouse across the road. “I cannot begin to dissect that lovely outing without a cup of tea in my hand. Perhaps a cake too, Edmund?”
He should get nothing but a wedge of lemon to match his sour face.Isolde smiled secretly at her jest, still thinking about Lord Spofforth and the bold manner in which he had kissed her hand. She did not doubt that most of the other walkers had seen the moment, but she hoped it would not become fodder for the scandal sheets.
Edmund bowed his head politely. “That would be delightful, Lady Grayling.”
“Julianna, please,” Isolde’s mother urged. “We have known one another long enough that you are practically one of us.”
Edmund seemed to hesitate. “Nevertheless, I would prefer to be courteous to a lady of your esteem.”
“Such exemplary manners.” Isolde’s mother sighed, patting Edmund lightly on the shoulder.
Isolde leaned against the banister of the curving staircase in a rather unladylike fashion, exhausted by keeping up appearances. “Am I not permitted a cake too, Mama?”
“I think not,” her mother replied. “With so many callers, and likely more to come, you ought to be cautious of how many sweet treats you indulge in. A lady ought to maintain her figure, always.”
With that, Julianna wandered off up the black-and-white tiled hallway to the kitchens, to request the offered tea tray. Isolde had no doubt that her mother would indulge in a cake herself, while Isolde would be left with a growling stomach until luncheon.
I did not have a crumb of anything in Lord Spofforth’s company…Isolde did not know if that was a promising sign or not, though she tended to resort to nibbling the cakes and tarts when a caller was exceedingly dull or made her feel awkward. But with Lord Spofforth, she had been more interested in him than what was arranged on the tea tray. Thathadto be a good sign.
“And you claim not to need my assistance,” Edmund muttered, drawing Isolde out of her thoughts.
She shot him a look. “Evidently, I do not.”
“You thought that went well?” His eyebrow rose, his expression blank.
“I thought it went very well, actually,” she replied a note too quickly. “He is handsome, he is charming, he is witty, he is everything a young lady might hope to meet during her debut Season.”
Edmund laughed coldly. “He is the last gentleman a young lady should hope to meet during their debut Season, unless they wish to find themselves cast out of the marriage market altogether, their names strewn across the scandal sheets, their reputations in tatters.”
“Nonsense. He was a perfect gentleman,” Isolde insisted, folding her hand over the one that Lord Spofforth had kissed so daringly.
Edmund stepped closer to her, where she continued to lean against the banister. As he closed the gap between them, her breath caught in her chest, her throat tightening again as she tried to glare up at him. That feverish prickle swept across her skin once more, her back pressing harder into the banister as if she feared he might not stop until he was practically flush against her. If he were to bethatclose, she did not know what she would do.
Shove him, perhaps. Or kick him in the shin.Thatwould be the only reasonable response.
So, why was her mind conjuring veryunreasonable responses? Notions that made the feverish prickle run hotter, her heart thudding faster, her hands not instinctively rising up to push him in the chest. If anything, they felt more inclined to fall ontohis shoulders, to hold her steady, despite being the cause of her unsteadiness.
Edmund paused a step away and jabbed a finger toward the townhouse door. “Lord Spofforth is no perfect gentleman, Lady Isolde. He was trying to take advantage of you. He was trying to lure you, and you fell for it like a doe wandering obliviously toward a hunter’s pit.” His sudden anger seemed to propel him forward another half step. “Iknowwhat a lust-filled man looks like, andthatman is a well-established rake who likely spends more of his meager fortune paying for other people’s silence than on anything else.”
