‘At least he is reliable,’ Willa replied, ‘and I’m so thirsty I could do with a drink. Besides, he often looks a little lost in these busy Society settings.’
‘I’m not as generous as you are, Willa. Give me the Earl of Elmsworth any day, a man who looks neither amenable nor kind but is devilishly attractive in that dangerous sort of way that all the ladies love.’
Wilhelmina had to smile. ‘Lord Moreland is by all accounts still deeply saddened about his wife’s passing. I do not think he is in the market for another relationship, no matter how tempting the bait.’
‘You think I am tempting?’
‘Of course you are.’
She enjoyed hearing Anna laugh as Bambrook rejoined them, fussing about whose drink was whose.
‘You are a shining knight, my lord,’ Willa stated, grateful for their more secluded position to one side of a pillar. Being out of the way suited her, for she had not caught sight of Phillip Moreland for a good half an hour, though the noise from the other salon alerted her to the fact that he was probably in the big group of men and women enjoying the ball there. She should have left to find her carriage but she could not quite do it, the churning excitement in her stomach from just knowing he was close keeping her at the ball. She knew it was foolishness to feel this way, given her history, but there it was and there was no way to change it. She drank the glass of champagne with haste and hoped it might dull the ache inside.
The first sounds of the music from the orchestra were again beginning to fill the room as strings were tuned in preparation for the next brace of dances when Anna’s surprised expression distracted her.
‘My goodness, could Lord Elmsworth possibly be coming towards us?’
Turning, Willa saw the Earl not five yards away, the darkness of his clothes emphasising the tan on his skin, his blue eyes fixed upon her.
‘Mrs St Claire.’
‘My lord.’
The silence stretched between them, her surroundings falling away, so that it seemed it was only them in the room, the rest of Society disappearing into shadow.
‘I came to ask you for the next dance, if indeed you do have it free?’
Unable to decline, she placed her hand on his arm as he led her through a throng of people, all reappearing now in colour, noise and movement. Such a juxtaposition was dizzying.
‘I got your note thanking me for my hospitality at Elmsworth.’ His voice was quiet, one hand around hers and the other at her waist as they faced one another.
‘I did not expect to see you here, my lord.’ It was all she could give him back, her heart beating so violently she thought if he let her go she might fall.
‘I have heard that exact same sentiment all night from everyone I have talked to.’
The words between them were formal and ordinary, far from their conversation in his kitchen with her dressed only in her night attire and her hair loose.
He sounded slightly bored, as if all this socialising was only to be got through. Irritation gave her own words an edge. ‘Theconjecture, my lord, is because Society in general has so little to be surprised by.’
He looked at her directly now, his blue eyes sharpening. ‘Then perhaps my role tonight is to give others a small rest from such perpetual tedium?’
At this she did laugh and she felt the knots in her stomach begin to loosen. He was not different. He was exactly the same, his words affecting her here as they had done in the night-time kitchen of Elmsworth Manor.
‘A worthy aspiration.’
‘I thought you might see it as such.’
She could feel the breath of his words against her cheek.
‘I imagine after such a long time away in another land England feels somewhat different, my lord.’ She was starting to find her feet again, his manner giving her cues back to normalcy, the relief of it all a reprieve.
‘Indeed, it does. The formality here is something I’d forgotten about.’
She nodded. ‘I understand what you mean exactly. When I arrived in London I was newly widowed and out of my depth with Society here. It was a difficult time.’
‘You do not look uncertain now.’
‘London’s diversity doesn’t allow one to hide away.’
