Page 38 of Dared By a Lyon
When he found the table with his name, he noticed Lady Paula’s name across from his, signifying she would be his partner. “That’s a bit obvious, don’t you think?” he whispered to himself, as he scanned the player names at the next table, hoping to put her name there. “Two can play at that game.”
“Oh, my lord! I didn’t expect you here so soon,” Lady Paula exclaimed in her shrill voice, approaching him from behind. “I was just trying to find my place. And I wanted to make sure—on Mrs. Dove-Lyon’s behalf, of course—that everything was in order.”
“I was doing the same,” Gabriel said.Damn and blast!Suppressing a frustrated sigh, he slid the name card belonging to Lady Paula into his pocket. “I see we are set to play whist,” he said, turning to regard her with a polite smile.
“Yes, I’m so looking forward to it! Whist is my favorite parlor game. I simply can’t imagine having a house party without playing it.” Lady Paula tittered. “Oh, how odd.” She glanced down at the table. “My name card seems to have gone missing.”
Gabriel looked around the table and, squatting, removed the card from his pocket and pretended to pick it up. “Ah, here it is,” he said. Standing, he set it back down where it had been, across from his. “It must have accidentally fallen.”
“Thank you, my lord. It seems we are partnered once again—how fortuitous,” she said with a coy smile. “I hope you enjoy winning, because I never lose.” She batted her lashes.
“Well then, it promises to be a most interesting evening,” he said, with a slight bow.
“Mother says I have always been competitive,” Lady Paula continued, swishing her skirts with her left hand as she sidled closer to him, laying her hand on the crook of his arm and gazing up at him, licking her lower lip.
She couldn’t have been more blatantly obvious if she lifted her skirts. Gabriel couldn’t abide the fake shyness Lady Paula exhibited while her eyes told him she was a she-wolf.
She gave a forced smile. “Shouldn’t we be taking our seats?” she insisted.
“Yes—well, soon,” he said, arching a brow. “I hadn’t realized the seating for the parlor games would be the same as our seating at dinner. I had thought the idea was to mix and mingle.”
She tapped her pouting lips with her index finger, her face a cloud of confusion. “Well, I don’t know. I’m not sure how these things were decided. I believe Mrs. Dove-Lyon has organized all the events according to her specifications.”
From the corner of his eye, he beheld a rustling of skirts at the entrance to the drawing room. He turned to meet the gaze of Elizabeth, who walked in wearing a sapphire-blue muslin dress. His heart thundered in his chest as he beheld her beauty. “I’ll be back in a moment.”
“Why, yes. Of course,” Lady Paula said, giving him a smile and lifting her hand from his arm. “I’ll visit the refreshment table for a glass of sherry.”
“I’d be happy to bring you a glass of sherry.”
“That would be nice,” she said, her eyes glittering. “I’ll wait for you at the table, with the other players.”
“I’ll only be a moment.”
Meeting Elizabeth at the door, Gabriel took her arm and led her aside to a quiet corner. “You look lovely this evening,” he said in a low voice. “I confess, I wish we were still on that picnic on my estate.”
“Thank you, Gabriel,” she said, smiling up at him. “I would much rather be at your estate as well. This is a very insular group of ladies who seem intent on gossiping in front of the fire while sipping wine or sherry—or talking about the latest fashions—rather than going out for a brisk walk or discussing a good book,” she said with a sigh.
“I understand.” He smiled. He was tempted to whisk Elizabeth back to his estate in the morning rather than staying for the ball tomorrow night.
And then what?
It was a question he didn’t want to answer. At least, not yet.
“It seems that the seats for whist have been assigned, and Lady Paula is my partner. I wanted you to know I will miss pairing with you.”
“I understand. Truly, I do,” she said, giving a little shrug. “Thank you for letting me know.” She pasted a smile on her face, aware that Lord Pervis Ashbourne was making his way toward them. “It seems I am to be partnered with Lord Pervis once again.”
Gabriel noticed the color drain from her face as Ashbourne approached.
“Miss Vickers, it seems once again we are partners. May I bring you a glass of wine or sherry from the refreshment table?”
“Thank you, Lord Pervis. Wine, I think,” Elizabeth said.
“No need to thank me. It’ll be my pleasure,” he said, giving a curt nod to Gabriel before walking away.
“I’ll be here if you need me,” Gabriel whispered, giving her hand a light touch with his.
“Thank you. I’ll be fine. What do they say? Oh, yes. May the best team win,” she quipped, although her smile did not reach her eyes.
