Stephan had no idea to what degree Caroline was experienced, but if the way she had wantonly returned his kiss was any indication, she would be a willing, quick learner. “Caroline deserves more than just a good time.”
“No argument from me.” Brice shrugged. “Besides, Caroline is as stubborn as you are.”
And she was perfect for him. No way was Stephan going to let a woman like Caroline go.
…
Friday night’s dinner was going to be quite different from the night before, Stephan thought as he entered the banquet room. The prince regent had arrived sometime overnight amidst a personal guard of forty soldiers. Stephan had wondered at the large number until he heard one of them say the prince had not wanted to take the chance on being accosted by the Midnight Marauder. Stephan had a hard time keeping from laughing. His small band of trusted men only stopped individual carriages that were carrying young ladies with a minimal escort. It was easier to divest the gentlemen of coin without anyone getting hurt and shock the hell out of both chaperone and debutante. Trying to stop the regent’s entourage would be akin to walking into Rothschild & Sons Bank in broad daylight and expecting them to empty their safes. A much more likely reason for the large contingent was that the prince loved pomp and circumstance and wanted to impress his guests.
Unlike last night, when the oil lamps lining either side of the banquet room had been lit, tonight candles also blazed from the massive central chandelier held in the claws of a silver dragon, as well as in the lotus-shaped glass shades of the six smaller dragons surrounding it. On the table, dozens of candelabras reflected light off gleaming silverware and crystal. And there were place cards.
Stephan had come down early for that very reason. Guests were only beginning to assemble in the nearby banquet gallery when he’d slipped inside the room. As he’d suspected, Tisdale’s card was next to Caroline’s, and they were seated across from Prinny’s chair near the midsection of the table. Obviously, the prince had chosen not to sit at the head of the table where he might miss too much of the drama. To Stephan’s surprise, his card had been put on the other side of Caroline. Perhaps the prince had already heard of last night’s grand exit along with the challenge issued and had decided the seating arrangement would incite more talk amongst theton. In any event, Stephan didn’t need to do any switching, which was a relief since it eliminated having to explain how such a thing had come about.
He slipped back into the banquet gallery and joined Brice standing near the unlit hearth of a fireplace.
“Did you succeed?” Brice asked.
Stephan smiled. “I did not have to do anything. I was already seated next to Caroline and directly across from Prinny.”
“And Tisdale?”
His smile faded. “On the other side of Caroline. I think Prinny is looking forward to provoking the rivalry.”
“It sounds more like positioning himself to watch gladiators in the Colosseum,” Brice replied.
Stephan shrugged. “If he wants a fight, he will have it.”
“Well, here comes the lady in question,” Brice muttered.
Stephan turned and inhaled sharply as Caroline entered the gallery on the arm of her father. She was wearing a russet-colored gown of watered silk that shimmered as she moved and brought out the reddish highlights in her chestnut hair. Her hair was loosely swept up again with a few shorter strands loose to frame her face. Stephan longed to pull the pins out and let the rest of it fall down around her shoulders. He frowned slightly. Her shoulders needed covering. They were too bare and without the usual lacy fichu, the décolletage far too low. He could see the slight swell of her breasts from where he stood, damn it. While the sight made his cock stir and his hands itch to cup those luscious mounds, they were also exposed to every other man in the room. And Tisdale…
Stephan had no more than thought the name when the earl appeared behind Caroline, almost as though Stephan had materialized him. She gave him a startled look and moved marginally closer to her father. Stephan found his own feet moving in her direction.
Tisdale tried to block his path, but Stephan had spent too many years aboard pitching and rolling ships to be stopped by a human obstacle. He simply sidestepped as he might a coiled line and slipped between Caroline and Tisdale’s suddenly rigid frame.
The moment it took the earl to turn around was all Stephan needed. He bowed and quickly took Caroline’s hand before Tisdale could claim it. “Miss Nash, allow me to escort you inside.”
Her father frowned. “My daughter already has an escort.”
“So I see,” Stephan answered and unabashedly tucked Caroline’s hand inside the crook of his arm. “Now she will have two.”
“Now see here,” Tisdale said. “I was about to ask.”
“You should have been quicker, then,” Stephan replied.
A sulky expression crossed the earl’s face. “I got here first.”
Stephan smiled.
Sir Reginald groaned and then stepped back. “Both of you may escort Caroline.”
Stephan’s smile faded. Evidently, Caroline’s father was not going to be of any help. So be it then. Stephan would have whisked her into the banquet room before Tisdale had a chance to claim his spot, but protocol required all the guests to wait to allow the prince regent to enter first.
Thankfully, the wait wasn’t long. The prince entered the banquet gallery at precisely six o’clock. Caroline had managed to keep her other hand free by patting her hair, pretending her skirt got hooked on something, then smoothing it out and finally fingering the small heart locket she wore. She was about to run out of things to do to keep from taking Tisdale’s arm. If the glowering look on his face was any indication, he was aware that she was trying to avoid him.
As was the custom, the lords and ladies fell into rank behind the prince regent to march the few feet into the adjoining room. Stephan thought the whole promenade preposterous given the short distance, but Prinny did love ceremony. Tonight, he escorted Isabella, the Marchioness of Hertford, who had been his primary mistress for the past ten years. Although the woman’s aging face was still quite arresting, she looked rather like a peacock in a gown of striped turquoise and lime green with a headpiece of purple plumes.
The majordomo, list in hand, stood a few feet from the entrance, checking off guests. Or rather, checking their rank and title. Stephan bit back a grin as the man frowned when they stepped up.