Page 26 of Inconvenient Honor
Horsefeathers. You know everything.
“I came with the Earl and Countess of Chadbourn,” she replied, giving Catherine a pleading look.
“We insisted,” Catherine said, coming forward.
“And we’re glad we did. Doesn’t she look lovely?” the earl added. Lily thought laughter lurked in his eyes, but she couldn’t see anything humorous. He seemed to be studying Glenaire.
“The dress becomes you,” Glenaire said, searching her person rather more thoroughly than Lily found comfortable. His eyes came to rest just where her mother’s pearls lay at the juncture of her neck and shoulder, a place his mouth had found frequently the night they?—
I will not think of that, she told herself firmly.
“It suits you,” the young woman on Glenaire’s arm added. Lady Sarah studied Lily avidly and watched the marquess with a proprietary air.
Glenaire snapped his attention away from Lily. “Lady Sarah Wharton, may I present Miss Lilias Thornton. Miss Thornton’s father is in service to the Foreign Office.”
Lady Sarah nodded in acknowledgement and smiled. “It is good of you to take an interest in the people who serve under you,” she said. Her smile held no sweetness.
“The dress does become you,” Lady Sarah went on. “Most women could never wear that shade of green,” she said.
“Lily is lucky it shows her eyes to perfection,” Catherine rushed in.
“One finds that some people look well enough in gowns that are not quite the height of fashion,” Lady Sarah crooned. “You are to be congratulated, Miss Thornton. Isn’t she, Glenaire?” She sparkled up at him.
Lily’s dress had come from Saint Petersburg by way of Paris. It had subtle sophistication and none of the flounces popular in London ballrooms.
Glenaire ignored the beauty at his side. Lily squirmed under the intensity of his gaze.
“Glenaire?” Lady Sarah repeated.
“Miss Thornton does not require the changing whims of fashion to look well,” he said.
“Quite so,” Catherine agreed. Lady Sarah’s smile grew wider and less sincere.
“Your gown is exquisite,” Lily said to Lady Sarah. She told thetruth. It must have cost the moon. She will make a beautiful ornament on his arm if they marry.
Lady Sarah nodded her head as if to acknowledge the deference of an underling.That one is born to lord it over us mere mortals. They make a perfect pair.
A discreet tug on his arm, one Lily didn’t miss, must have alerted Glenaire to his partner’s impatience. He made his bows and walked away. They moved slowly enough that Lily couldn’t miss Lady Sarah’s question as they did. “Who is that woman? Is she someone who matters?”
“An empty-headed debutante,” Catherine mumbled.
“Not so empty,” Lily said. “She is quite bright, and she knows what she wants.”
“I don’t like her,” Catherine said with characteristic bluntness.
“She’s the Duchess of Sudbury’s choice for Richard,” the earl pointed out.
“Yes, but is she his?” Catherine asked.
“He has said as much,” her husband sighed. “I don’t think he feels much enthusiasm. That may be why he delays. He seems to be waiting for something.”
Waiting for me, Lily thought.Waiting to hear if he must do his duty to impending offspring.What had Glenaire told Chadbourn?
“They make a perfect pair,” she said out loud. “Lady Sarah was born and bred to be a duchess.”
The earl grunted. “She’ll turn out like his mother. He will hate it.”
“I think not,” Lily said. “He will merely work around it as long as she adorns his table, just as he works around his mother.”
