The very same night that Melissa happened upon Lord Spurnrose in the park, she sat in the drawing room of Lord and Lady Fenchurch, awaiting the dinner gong to be rung. Ever loyal and protective, Flit remained at her feet, sleeping with one eye open quite contentedly as the lord and lady sat opposite them.
Though the day had been warm and wonderful, the evening was quite cold, and the fires had been lit throughout the townhouse to ward off the chill. Yet, whenever she thought of the events of that afternoon, Melissa still felt chilled to the bone.
Having sat silently nursing her drink for several minutes since coming down from dressing for dinner, Melissa finally looked at her friend and said, “Daisy, you will forgive me, but I think it may be time for me to retire back to Oxford.”
Almost at that very same moment, the sound of the brass door knocker on the front door sounded, and a wide smile spread across her best friend’s face. “I think perhaps you might reconsider.”
“Excuse me?”
“Daisy, sweetheart, what exactly are you up to now?” Anthony put in as his wife continued to smirk.
“My thoughts exactly,” Melissa said, scowling at her friend.
Daisy simply chuckled and turned her attention to the door as their butler appeared to announce their latest dinner guests. “The viscount, Lord Elijah Spurnrose, and his cousin, Mr Harold Spurnrose.”
Still half-bowed, the butler stepped out of the way to allow the two noblemen into the room, yet, even as they wandered in with friendly smiles upon their faces, Melissa could not believe her eyes or her ears.
She darted one final glance at her friend, and her expression was enough to tell her she wasn’t imagining things.
It was only when Flit jumped up from her feet that Melissa was distracted from angrily glaring at Daisy. She jumped up, instinctively opening her mouth to call him back, fearful that he might take it upon himself to begin barking or maybe even growl or snap at one of the men.
Her jaw almost hit the floor when the dog threw himself at Lord Spurnrose’s legs, and instead of attempting to maul him, he nuzzled his face into the man’s palm.
Even more shocking was how the nobleman dropped into a crouch and started to tickle the spaniel behind the ears without any protest from the animal.
“Well, Mel, would you look at that?” Daisy exclaimed, “It seems Lord Spurnrose has gained a friend for life after this afternoon!”
“Indeed,” Melissa breathed out, barely able to believe what she had just seen.
“Am I right to believe that he usually loathes men?” Daisy put in, and Melissa felt heat rising in her cheeks. She tried not to think too much into it, but even as she nodded, her heart betrayed her. Flit had never treated any man that way before.
“Well, I am glad he has taken a liking to me,” Lord Spurnrose announced, and looking over the dog’s head as he continued to give him a fuss, he added, “heis beautiful.”
Though the way he looked into Melissa’s eyes as he spoke suggested he wasn’t truly talking about the dog.
Feeling her throat constrict, Melissa turned to Daisy, and instead of responding to the lord’s comment, she asked, “Is anyone else joining us for dinner this evening?”
“Come now, Melissa, we do not always have elaborate dinner parties,” Daisy insisted, sweeping across the room to wrap her arm through Melissa’s, “sometimes we choose to have something a little moreintimate.”
Almost as if to answer Melissa’s question more accurately, the butler announced, “My Lords and ladies, dinner is served.”
The sound of the dinner gong rang throughout the house in formal tradition, and before Melissa could protest or excuse to miss dinner, she found herself being dragged from the drawing room.
As if she sensed the tension within her, Daisy hissed into her ear, “Just enjoy it!”
But Melissa couldn’t enjoy it. All throughout dinner, she felt awkward, especially remembering how Lord Spurnrose had stepped in between her and Doctor Wallis in the park. Even worse was remembering how close she had been to kissing him a few minutes before that in full view of half theton.
It didn’t matter how mundane the conversation, Melissa simply couldn’t concentrate on anything but Lord Spurnrose’s handsome face, and she was forced to try and keep her gaze on her food. Every time she met his gaze, whether purposeful or accidental, she felt her heart skip a beat.
Only halfway through dinner, she realised she could not take it anymore. And not for the first time, Melissa jumped up from her seat and squeaked, “Please, forgive me, but I am feeling unwell.”
Surprise lit on the faces of those around her, but the face of Lord Spurnrose caught her attention. She could already see disappointment spreading across his features, his eyes darkening.
“Please, excuse me,” she added, dipping her head and stepping out from her chair before a servant could pull it out for her.
Hurrying from the room, she did not even look back when Daisy called out to her.
“Dear, let her go,” she heard Lord Fenchurch suggest, and not for the first time, Melissa was glad of the level-headed gentleman her best friend had married.
