“You will not speak with me, then?” Lord Brookmire threw up his hands and feigned exasperation. “You will not ask me whether I have enjoyed the ball, how long I have been in London, or what my intentions are for the Season.”
Deborah looked back at him steadily, her gaze unbroken by even a blink.
“No, I shall not, for fear I would give the impression of interest.”
Lord Brookmire did not recoil, however. Instead, he let out a bark of laughter and threw back his head.
“Goodness, Miss Madeley, you are a sharp-tongued thing.”
Deborah did not flinch.
“Or perhaps it is that you are simply unused to young ladies speaking to you with such honesty, Lord Brookmire,” she replied firmly. “You will find that I have no eagerness for conversation with you. I have no interest in your company, and I have every intention of remaining as far from you as I can during the Season.”
The smile which had been permanently stuck to Lord Brookmire’s face throughout the entirety of the conversation thus far immediately began to weaken.
“You seek to injure me, I think.”
Deborah let out a short laugh, her hands going to her hips, her head tilting to the left just a little. She cared not whether she wounded him, but that was not her true desire. The only thing she wished for at present was to be entirely honest, so that Lord Brookmire would not linger in her company - not for this ball or for any ball thereafter.
“If you take injury from my honest words Lord Brookmire, I cannot help that.” Her hands dropped to her sides. “I will not refrain, however.”
Lord Brookmire’s expression faded still further, a glint of steel coming into his eyes.
“You are quite right, Miss Madeley. I havenevermet a young lady such as yourself, who is so free with her words. Perhaps you might consider yourself a little improper to speak so unreservedly.”
Unable to help herself, Deborah let out a short exclamation of laughter, taking no slight from his words.
“I hardly think a gentleman such as yourself, who holds such aparticularreputation, could even imagine speaking the word ‘improper’ to anyone!” Her lip curled as darkness ran through his expression. “Were you an upstanding, honest, well regarded, well respected, and honorable fellow, then of course, I would take your words with great consideration… but then again, I would never speak to a gentleman with such qualities in the way I have done with you. I am afraid, Lord Brookmire, that I do not take my words back. I do not offer even the smallest word of apology for them, and my statement as regards placing a great deal of distance between us remains.” Flicking her fingers towards him as though shooing him away, she sniffed lightly. “I do not think that we have any further need for conversation. There will be many a young lady eager for your company and I suggest that you may enjoy the ball a good deal more if you linger in company with one of them.”
There was a great cloud of tension that swelled between herself and Lord Brookmire as she finished her statement. Lord Brookmire’s face had gone very white, with only a tiny hint of color on either cheek. Deborah did not doubt that he was very angry with what she had said to him, but she did not care. Speaking so would make certain that the gentleman would never again come into her company willingly, which was precisely what she wanted.
Lord Brookmire’s lips flattened and he lifted his chin, his jaw jutting forward. He opened his mouth to say something, only to then let out a huff of breath and turn away directly. As he marched across the ballroom, Deborah let out a slow breath that she had not been aware she had been holding.
“Good gracious.” Lady Elizabeth put one hand to her heart, then giggled. “I do not think he will return to your side! I must say, you spoke very honestly to him there.”
“Which is what is required with a gentleman such as he,” Deborah answered, allowing the cloud of tension to dissipate. “I am confident now that Lord Brookmire will never seek out my company again, not after such a conversation.”
Lady Elizabeth laughed again and linked one arm through Deborah’s.
“Indeed, I am sure that you have pushed him away from you for the rest of your life! But what a very unpleasant gentleman he is.”
Deborah nodded, a light smile of victory on her lips.
“I could not agree more.”
Chapter Two
“Another.”
Scowling, Phillip picked up the brandy glass the moment it was set down on the table before him. Taking a draught, he let his eyes rove around the glass, studying the amber elixir within, wishing it would do what he had intended it to do. This was his third measure since he had arrived at White’s after the ball, and as yet, his meeting with Miss Madeley had not faded from his mind.
It has been his first ball of the Season. The first ball where he was to enjoy himself, to make merry, and to lose himself in all manner of delight. Instead, in the first quarter of an hour, he had met one of the most unpleasant, sharp-tongued young ladies he had ever had the opportunity to be introduced to. What was all the more frustrating was that he could not seem to forget the way that she had spoken to him. It was most uncommon and, to his mind, highly improper for a young lady… but then again, he recalled, he could not criticize any impropriety in the behavior of another.
Wincing, he took another sip of his brandy. Miss Madeley had been correct to throw that back into his face, as much as he’d had no wish to accept it at the time. Yes, such things had been said to him before – most recently, Lord Marchmont had spoken to him about the reputation which Phillip was garnering for himself – but he had not reacted as strongly to Lord Marchmont as he now did to Miss Madeley. Why such a thing should be, Phillip did not know, and he tried to tell himself firmly that he did not care, only for her face to return to his mind.
It had not been pride, but almost an insolence which had filled her features. Her eyes had flashed, her lips had continually settled into a moue of dislike and her sharp turns of the head and her unwillingness to hold his gaze spoke of a clear dislike. She would not be the only young lady unwilling to linger in his company, of course, but to have her speak so sharply to him, and with such vehemence, was most displeasing. It was not as though he expected, nor wanted every young lady in thetonto be delighted with him and, certainly, he did not anticipate that every lady would willingly throw herself into his arms the moment he opened them, but neither did he want there to be such obvious disparagement.
He rolled his eyes at himself.
