Page 100 of The Duke's Sinful Deal
“That is not what I meant.”
A pause followed.
Roderick’s smirk deepened slightly. “Thatis Lord Covington,” he said. “The man your wife once found herself…interestedin.”
The words settled with a quiet precision.
Maxwell became aware, instead, of the exact moment the information took hold, the way it aligned with what he had already observed, the familiarity he had noted but not named. “I see,” he said slowly, even though he really already knew.
Roderick glanced at him, his expression openly amused now. “Do you?”
Maxwell turned then, just enough to meet his gaze directly. “If you have something further to say, you may say it plainly.”
Roderick’s brows lifted slightly. “Plainly?”
“Yes.”
A brief silence passed between them, though it did not diminish the underlying tension.
“I was under the impression that you did not care,” Roderick said at last, the words delivered lightly, though the intent behind them was anything but. “Besides, she is your wife now. It does not matter.”
Maxwell felt something shift in him then, sharper than before, less easily contained. “You thought incorrectly,” he said.
Roderick’s smile widened, as though the answer had confirmed something he had been waiting to see. “Did I?”
Maxwell’s expression hardened, though his voice remained controlled. “You will refrain from further commentary if you know what is good for you, Roderick.”
“I figured you would be indifferent,” Roderick replied nonchalantly.
“Again, how wrong you are— You should quit while you are at it, lest it become a habit.”
Roderick let out another short laugh, though it did nothing to soften the edge of the exchange. “It is a jest, Maxwell. Relax— She is your wife, and she would not have gone with him if you disapproved.”
Maxwell turned back toward the floor then, his attention returning to the movement of the dance, though it did not settle as easily as before.
The music carried Arabella and Covington through another turn, another measured exchange, though Maxwell no longer saw it as he had earlier. The ease he had once noted now grated in a way he could not ignore.
He did not care for it in the slightest.
And as the dance continued, as the distance between himself and his wife remained fixed for the duration of it, Maxwell found that the composure he had maintained throughout the evening no longer came as naturally as it had before.
CHAPTER 23
The dance began as it ought.
Amos moved well enough, with the polished confidence of a man who had spent years practicing how to appear agreeable in crowded rooms. His hand rested properly at her back, his steps were sure, and his conversation at first remained fixed upon the sort of harmless matters a gentleman might reasonably raise with a married woman he had once known in passing. The ball itself. Lady Lampton’s talent for spectacle. The absurdity of masks that concealed very little once people began to speak.
Arabella answered as civility required, though she found the exchange thin almost from the start. Perhaps it was the setting. The ballroom was too bright, too alive with movement for pretended ease to feel entirely convincing. Candlelight caught on polished floors and jeweled masks, and the air carried the mingled scents of wax, perfume, and the faint sweetness of crushed flowers from the arrangements placed along the walls. Laughter rose and fell in pockets around them. Silk rustled.Gloves brushed. The orchestra maintained a measured pace that kept every pair in proper motion.
And still, something about Amos’s attention felt too fixed.
Even through his mask, she could tell he was studying her, not with admiration, but with a kind of indulgent concern that sat ill with her. It made her feel less like a duchess in the middle of a ballroom and more like a child being observed by an elder who had already decided he knew better.
“You look well,” he said at last, his tone warm in a way that was almost convincing. “Though I confess I have spent some time hoping that was truly the case.”
Arabella kept her expression pleasant. “That is kind of you, my lord, though unnecessary. I am very well.”
“I am glad to hear it.” His fingers shifted slightly at her back as they turned. “Still, it has all happened so quickly.”
