Page 54 of The Earl Next Door
Not so for his son. Lyon had never found it within himself to be as forbearing as Marksworth with people who wanted a favor, an introduction, or to just be seen with a man who wore a title along with his name.
“Good evening, Marksworth, Lyon.”
Lyon shifted restlessly. Annoyance shuddered through him at the voice but he and his father turned and acknowledged Viscount Thurston with polite greetings and exchanged pleasantries about the celebratory ball. Because the viscount was a member of Lyon’s gaming club, he knew Thurston to be a fair gentleman in all his business dealings and treatment of others. He was good with a bow and a pistol, and a blade. He could handle a horse better than most. The two got along amicably, and the man had visited at Lyonwood a time or two. Lyon hadn’t disliked the viscount until he’d shown an interest in Adeline. He couldn’t blame the man for that, but Lyon now saw him as an adversary.
“I wanted to ask a favor of you, Lyon,” Thurston said.
“What’s that?” he answered, though he knew exactly what the viscount wanted.
“I was hoping you’d introduce me to Lady Wake tonight. I understand she’s going to be here.”
“Unless you find someone else who can do it,” Lyon answered, seemingly uninterested, when truthfully the thought of her smiling at Thurston had Lyon tight as a violin string. It would be a cold day in Hades beforehe’d introduce the viscount or any other man to Adeline. He had no intention of helping another man pursue her.
“I’m not sure how many people remember her or have been formally introduced to her. I dare say not many are asfamiliarwith her as you seem to be”—he smiled—“with her being such a close neighbor.”
Lyon’s hand tightened on his champagne glass as his eyes narrowed. If Thurston was trying to rile him, he was successful. “You dare say?” he repeated the viscount’s words, feeling the string about to snap.
“I’ll do it for you, Thurston,” Marksworth said in an easy tone that took the matter at hand away from both men. “Be happy to as soon as she arrives. I’ll find you and do the honors.”
“Thank you,” Thurston said with a nod, noting that the marquis was dismissing him as well as humoring him. “Very kind of you. I’ll look forward to it.” He gave another nod to Lyon and walked away.
Certain his expression hadn’t changed, Lyon looked at his father. “I thought we agreed you stopped speaking for me when you sent me off to Oxford.”
His father clapped him once on the back gingerly. “I’d never do such a foolish thing. A father never ceases to come to his son’s aid. You were about to give away every card you had in your hand. Next time you might want to look at them before you start laying them down. I don’t think you are holding a fist full of aces when it comes to the countess.”
Lyon shrugged off the truth of his father’s comment. “I don’t care if Thurston knows. I’d rather chew nails into powder than introduce him to Adeline.”
“The man has the right to ask for an introduction. From what I understand, you still haven’t claimed her.”
He had. He just couldn’t announce it. Until Adeline was ready. Her reservations about marriage and what she wanted had to be respected. Whether or not he agreed with her wishes.
“Stay of out this,” he muttered to his father and stopped another server to exchange his empty glass for a filled one.
“Wouldn’t dream of getting involved in your life,” Marksworth said with an easy smile. He turned back to the gentlemen standing with them and continued his conversation about the Prince.
From the corner of his eye Lyon saw Prichard. The man nodded to him and then tilted his head toward Thurston. Lyon grunted under his breath. Was every man who saw Adeline at his house going to ask for an introduction? He’d known tonight wouldn’t be easy. Gentlemen were already lining up to win Adeline’s favor. His gut twisted. He didn’t know a one of them who would reject an offer to just be a lover. Hell, that’s what most of them would want anyway.
Ignoring the man, Lyon went back to watching the door, and a few moments later Adeline stopped at the entranceway with Lady Kitson Fairbright and Mrs. Brina Feld. Each looked stunning, but he had eyes only for Adeline. She wore an amber-colored gown banded with thin strips of yellow ribbon. Her beautiful, slender neck was perfect for the choker of amber stones nestled around it and woven into her hair.
Lyon quickly glanced around the room. A few ladies had stopped their conversations to watch the threewidows. Others joined them. The noise level softened around the room as more people looked their way. There were nods, glances and whispers. He wanted to be the first to greet her, gently squeeze her fingertips and kiss the back of her gloved hand as a proper gentleman would do. Instinct told him that wasn’t the way to woo her. She knew she already had his attention and she needed no show of outward affection from him. He’d let her settle into the room, talk with people, maybe even have a dance or two before he approached her. It’d be a struggle, but he would manage. This was her first evening back in Society. He had to let her handle it as she wished. He would talk, laugh, and sip his champagne. Maybe he’d have a dance or two himself. Anything to hurry the night along.
The Duke of Sprogsfield, Lady Kitson Fairbright’s father-in-law, walked up to the three ladies. Not surprisingly, the young and strapping Mr. Harvey Brightstone was with him and the first eligible gentleman to sidle up to the three ladies as they descended the steps into the ballroom. Brightstone had been looking for a bride with a plump purse for two years. Mr. Edward Wallace was another and he was the second to approach the threesome.
The crowd around the widows quickly became so thick Lyon could no longer see Adeline.
As he suspected, there would be no small amount of gentlemen standing in line for Lady Wake and her two friends this evening. Nor it appeared would there be shunning by any of the matrons of the ton. They watched for a few seconds longer and slowly went back to their conversations as if completely uninterested inthe widows’ arrival. Perhaps his father and his aunt had nipped the gossip in its tracks after all.
Marksworth turned away from the other men standing with them and in a quiet voice said, “Lady Wake is here.”
“So you remember her,” Lyon said.
“No. I don’t remember ever seeing her before, but I remember the two widows with her so I’ll pretend I do when I speak to her later this evening. It’s easier to do that than go through an introduction. Lady Kitson Fairbright and Mrs. Brina Feld didn’t quit Society after they married as did the countess. But recognizing the other two ladies isn’t the reason I knew the countess had entered the room. I felt the change in you.”
“That’s not good.” Lyon stopped a server and again exchanged his empty glass for a full one.
“Don’t worry. No one else knows you as I do.”
“Somewhat reassuring,” he answered and sipped his drink.
