Louisa also gave her a curious look as they walked toward the front door. Lorelei shook her head. “It is not what you think. Lord Westwood said his friends address him by his first name and he considers me afriend.”
“Just a friend?” Fiona asked, skepticism in her voice. “He certainly was paying attention to ye this afternoon.”
“And Gavin Campbell was doing the same to you,” Lorelei replied.
“’Tis different. Gavin is ourneighbor. We met years ago.” She grinned. “More than likely, he was trying to goad Alasdair by paying attention to me while my brother couldna do anything about it.”
Because Lady Melissa had wrapped her tentacles around him. Lorelei frowned. “Medusa” was certainly a more fitting description. The girl had lost no time in capturing him as soon as he came in the door. She realized how arbitrary her thinking was—she and Fiona had wanted to keep Alasdair occupied—but she kept thinking about how it felt when she’d had her arm entwined with his the day they went shopping and how he’d protected her from being run over by the carriage. Reluctantly, she pushed the thought aside.
“Well, while you are in London, it will not hurt to be seen having a duke’s nephew pay attention to you.” She smiled. “Especially if you want to make Erik Taylor a little bit jealous.”
Fiona blushed. “We only met at the last ball.”
Louisa stopped with one foot on the front step. “I have not met Mr. Taylor, but I thought Mr. Campbell was very nice. Does your family not like him?”
“Ye doona ken how feuds work in the Highlands,” Fiona answered. “We are nae actual enemies, but there are grudges held.” She waved a hand. “Besides, I ken what a…arake, I think ’tis the word—Gavin is.”
“He is not alone in London,” Lorelei said. “I suspect at least half the men are.”
“Lord Westwood is not one of them,” Louisa said. “As far as I have heard, his intentions have always been honorable.”
“Exactly,” Lorelei answered. “Which is why we arefriends. He certainly would not take advantage of someone he met behind potted palms.”
Both Fiona and Louisa raised their brows and she realized how that sounded. Meeting behind potted palms would be theperfectopportunity to take liberties…or appear to. They had been lucky no one noticed. She couldn’t tell her friends she had been trying to hide behind plants in order to watch Alasdair with Melissa, although they were obviously waiting for an answer.
“I…I had been looking for a place to rest a bit where I would not be noticed. Apparently, Randolph—Lord Westwood—had the same idea, since he was already there.”
Louisa nodded. “I suspect he did not want to embarrass Lady Melissa by dancing past her early in the evening.”
Fiona frowned. “Was she nae the one who decidedshedidna want to see him?”
“Yes,” Louisa replied, “but he is a gentleman. As such, he is expected, at least, toappeara bit distraught at being dropped.”
“I doona understand. Why would a man want to act like that?”
“It is a bit of turnabout,” Louisa answered. “Flaunting another woman—or many women—in front of Melissa would be trying to prove he did not care that she had cried off…that his pride had not been hurt. By being the gentleman that he is, ironically, it probably makes her feel guilty.”
Lorelei doubted anything would make Lady Melissa Talbot feel guilty, but Belton had opened the door, so their conversation was finished.
…
“They are not home?” Alasdair tried to keep the frustration out of his voice the next afternoon as Belton informed him that Lady Bute had taken the three girls with her to call on Mrs. Fitzroy, one of the Almack’s matrons. “Do ye ken when they will return?”
“I cannot say for sure.”
Alasdair debated whether to ask the butler if he could come in and wait, but he really had no inclination to lounge about a parlor for hours. His plans to ferret out information had been thwarted by Campbell’s arrival and he’d hoped,especiallyafter Lorelei had left with Westwood from the musicale, to use today’s visit to find out what her feelings were. Apparently, some mischievous faeries had followed him to London.
“Please tell my sister I called,” he said as he turned away.
“Did you wish for me to inform Miss Lorelei and Lady Louisa as well?”
Remembering their “plot,” he hesitated a moment. He didn’t want to join the ranks of young swains who were names on a list of potential suitors for Lorelei, although he would like to get his hands on the damn list, if there was one. Then again, since Louisa was also included, it would be viewed only as polite.
“Aye. Please do.”
“Very well.”
Alasdair had reached the sidewalk and was about to turn the corner when movement caught his eye. Turning, he saw Garth coming from the stables block behind the homes, and paused. Perhaps he could glean a bit of information from a fellow Scotsman?
