“Why not?” He bit into the cake, nodding his agreement after a moment. “It is good.”
She smiled. A rake indulging in something as sweet and simple as a lemon cake. There should be a headline about that. “I’m not feeling the music tonight.”
“How strange. You love dancing. I know at least that much about you.”
“I suppose”—her gaze flicked over his face—“I’m bored.”
He dusted off his hand after finishing the cake. “Bored? This is a grave problem. What shall happen in the years to come if you’re already bored?”
“I expect I shall have someone by my side to relieve my boredom in the future. The present moment is the challenge.”
He inclined his head, eyes sweeping the room. “I suppose after the excitement of this season so far, a good, old-fashioned ball would seem boring.”
“Are you blaming the heiresses and the scandals following the lost betting book of White’s for my boredom?”
“Is it not at least partly responsible?”
“If that were the case, I would be as well off staying home and reading a book.” She couldn’t tell this man about her woes. That wasn’t what they did. Her gaze moved to the lemon cakes. “But then I wouldn’t have been able to taste these cakes. They must be the highlight of the evening.”
“Ah, so my charm can no longer hold a candle even to lemon cakes?”
“Well, they are particularly sweet tonight, the dash of lemon just right.”
“Nevertheless, it’s only natural to discover that there is more to life than beauty and dancing, although most young ladies don’t discover it this young.”
“Twoyoungsin one sentence.” She cast him a humorous glance. “You are talking as though you are an old fox.”
“Iaman old fox.”
“You cannot be older than thirty.”
One brow lifted high. “Thirty is still much older than you. What are you, eighteen?”
“Twenty.”
He seemed surprised. “Ah, eleven years my junior. A mere sprite.”
This sprite will bite you.“I take that back,” Leonora said. “You are old. And not the good kind of old either.”
“And just what is this good kind of old?”
Her smile turned sly. “Eleven years older but not eleven years wiser.”
He clutched his chest in a mocking gesture. “A direct blow to my heart. You have a saucy mouth, you know, Lady Leonora.”
“Well, what can I say?” Her smile widened. “You are here with me, at a table full of tarts, flirting with a sprite eleven years your junior, making it absurdly easy.”
“I’m not sure why, but I now feel the need to point out that youth is just state of mind.”
“Of course. And how many times has that sentence alleviated the heaviness in your mind?”
He puffed out a breath of laughter before admitting, “More times than I care to admit.”
She laughed.
“By the by,” Dare continued, “where is that surly brother of yours? He is rather slow tonight, is he not? Usually, he’d have burled through the crowd to drag you away from my unsightly presence.”
“You exaggerate.” But Leonora felt a prickle of discomfort skittering down her spine.
