At this point, Claire felt the need to interject, “Yes, I would mind it terribly, if you did not send in your card first.”
Lord Draydon looked quite taken aback at first by her forwardness and Claire desperately wanted to take her words back when a genuine smile appeared on his lips.
“Of course, I will follow protocol, Lady Claire.”
She nodded quietly and refused to say anything more unless the question was directed at her. It seemed it had taken all of her to say that one brief, witty, bordering on rude, statement.
Although, in her defense, he was beginning to take liberties with both ladies and they needed to remind him of complying with propriety to maintain their pristine reputations. After all, both she and Lady Suzanna were unmarried ladies and there was still Trixie to be worried about in the future.
And as it happened, she felt Lord Draydon was looking at her with a newfound respect, which made her sit up straighter on her horse all the way to the townhouse.
Oh, I might be feeling the first stirrings of love, but I will love with my dignity intact!
* * *
After their short jaunt down Rotten Row and meeting with Lord Draydon, seemingly fortuitously, the ladies both had their breakfasts, after which, Claire begged to be excused.
As Lady Suzanna still had a lot of things to do as the lady of the household, she waved off the younger girl and rifled through the calling cards that had come in earlier. True enough, Lord Draydon had submitted his card to Marley. She knew that Claire probably meant it as a witty joke but it was a fair warning that he was not to toy with the reputations of both ladies.
A job well done, Lady Claire,she applauded in her heart.Now he knows that you are not as much of a pushover.
In her experience, men tended to take liberties when they felt a female going soft on them. Claire, showing a glimpse of her steel spine, would either scare the insipid ones off or draw in the stronger, more capable ones.
“My lady, His Grace would like to speak with you,” Marley informed her. “He is awaiting you in his study.”
Lady Suzanna threw the cards back into the tray, determined to respond to them as soon as she spoke with her brother.
Recalling how he was so out of sorts in the morning, she surmised that he was dealing with a bigger problem and it would be best if she was able to help him as soon and as best as she could.
After all, that was what siblings were for.
She knocked softly in that same pattern they had established before letting herself into the study.
Oliver was already seated behind the gigantic mahogany desk he had inherited from their father, his handsome features drawn into a pensive frown. His fingers met together in a steeple as his gaze trained far, far away.
“You will look like a grumpy old man before your wedding if you keep looking like that,” she teased him softly.
Her gentle voice seemed to draw him out of his thoughts and he stared at her somberly. “What do you think of the Marquess of Draydon?” he asked her suddenly.
Lady Suzanna was taken aback by his question but did not show it in her posture or her face. Instead, she languidly sat on the chair facing her brother and quirked an eyebrow at him.
“Well, he was rather handsome, I would give him that,” she started, a small smile tracing itself across her lips at the scowl that immediately formed on her brother’s face. “He was also rather charming, witty, albeit mysterious. Claire seems to be quite taken by him, although she did stand up for herself spectacularly earlier this morning when he was being rather forward.”
His gaze snapped up to hers so quickly, Lady Suzanna felt a strange satisfaction in garnering such a reaction from him. All their lives, Oliver had tried to be the responsible heir and when their parents died, he fought to live up to their name and reputation.
It was rare to find him showing such negative emotions.
He sighed and closed his eyes. “I first met Artemus when we were at school. He was not as successful as he appears now and most of our classmates steered clear of him. He was…not exactly a very sociable person back then.”
“Well, he seems to have acquired a skill for it now.”
“All I am saying is that you should not trust him so easily,” he warned her. “He disappeared from Society a couple of years ago and there were numerous rumors surrounding his sudden disappearance. Some say that he is involved in several illegal dealings. I just want you and Claire to be safe.”
Lady Suzanna mulled over her brother’s words. It did seem to her that Lord Draydon was hiding something. She was not particularly sure what it was but she felt there was a dangerous edge to him that she had never noticed in their peers.
In any case, she would trust her brother more, and keep him at an arm’s length.
“Very well, I can see that you have rather valid concerns,” she said slowly. “Should we forbid him from calling on us?”
