She did not venture a reply. She turned away to greet Lord Knowles, who was holding out a large hand for hers.
"Uncle Joshua!" she said, perhaps a little too effusively, and allowed him to pump her hand and kiss her cheek.
For the first time in many hours Lord Kenwood blessed the impulse that had made him raise his head from the fragrance of her hair the night before and question her identity. For the first time he was glad that he had not moved beyond the brink of her. It would have been too easy. Oh, far too easy.
The wager would have been won even without his knowing it. There would have been nothing more to be accomplished during these weeks except perhaps to indulge in a thoroughly pleasant and unexpected affair.
There would have been some triumph in winning such a wager within a week of making it.But no sense of personal accomplishment.He suddenly wanted the winning of this wager to be a moment indeed, a moment to remember. He hoped Diana Ingram would be cold and angry and thoroughly reluctant. He wanted to pursue her with all the skills of courtship and seduction that he had learned in the thirteen
years since he had lost his virginity at the age of eighteen in the arms of a courtesan old enough to be his mother.
He wanted it to be the chase of a lifetime.Something to liven up the dull boredom of a house party.Something to liven up the rather dull monotony of his life.
And then the bedding would be sweet. Oh, very decidedly sweet. She was exquisite. What the devil had she seen in Teddy Ingram?
"Very naughty eyes indeed, Jack," Lady Knowles murmured in his ear as she set a fresh cup of tea at his elbow and seatedherselfbeside him again. "Diana does not come easy, so I have heard."
"And very glad I am to hear it, ma'am," he said, sobering. But when his eyes alighted on the face of the older lady, he could not resist adding a wink to his words.
* * *
"It would be perfect.Quite simply perfect!"The Countess ofRotherham,splendidly decked out for the evening in royal blue gown and turban, a fresh arsenal of rings on her fingers, a set of large sapphires around her neck, had been joined in her sitting room by her husband. It was still a little early to go down for dinner.
The earl chuckled. ''I have not heard tell that he is in search of a wife, dear heart," he said.
His wife made an airy gesture with one hand and clucked her tongue. "No man is in search of a wife until he finds one," she said. "Have you ever heard any man admit that he is looking about him for a bride?Of course not.Men are conceited creatures and fear rejection. But this is perfect, dearest. I feel it in my bones. And of course Lester is all wrong for her. I don't know how I could have considered him."
The earl lowered himself onto a love seat, being careful to arrange the tails of his evening coat in such a way that they would not become creased. "You know that I want what is best for our dear Diana," he said. "She was good to poor Teddy. But I am not sure this would be quite the thing."
"Of course it is the thing," she said. "Trust me.Such a handsome couple, dearest.And Jack needs someone to settle him down.Still unmarried and one-and-thirry years of age.He is much to be pitied."
The earl stroked his chin. "As far as I know, he has something of a reputation with the ladies," he said. "Not quite what we would want for our little Diana, dear heart. I would not wish to see her unhappy. And besides, I doubt if she would have him. She has very much a mind of her own. Remember how surprised we were when she chose Teddy five years ago?"
"Teddy was a saint," his wife said.
"But not, one must confess, the sort of man one would have expected Diana to choose,'' he said. "She would never marry a rake, if you will pardon my plain speaking."
"Then she will reform him," his wife said brightly. "A reformed rake makes the best of husbands, it is said."
"Are you speaking from experience?" the earl asked, tweaking her cheek as she sat down beside him.
"Nonsense!" she said. "You were just a little wild, dearest. I never heard anyone call you a rake. But yes, you have been the perfect husband since our marriage. I could not have asked for a better."
"And you think that Diana and Jack could be as happy as we are?" he asked with a smile.
She thought for a moment. "Yes," she said decisively. "There was a definite spark, dearest. I saw it the moment Claudia presented Diana to him. A definitespark, though they scarce spoke to each other. I shall go to work on the matter immediately. You may expect an announcement before everyone disperses in three weeks' time."
"Poor Jack," the earl said with a low chuckle. "If he only knew it, his bachelor days are numbered. I wonder how hard he will fight."
"He will thank me for it eventually," she said. "You will see. Of course, he will not really come right out and thankme,because I shall manage the matter with such subtlety that he will not even realize when the time comes that he owes his bride to me."
"And Diana?" he asked.
''Diana is probably in love with him already,'' the countess said. "What woman below the age of thirty could look at Jack and not fall in love with him? He is almost criminally handsome and quite irresistibly roguish. What a combination. It should not be allowed."
The earl pinched her cheek again. "I am growing more and more jealous by the minute," he said.
"Dearest," she said, "how absurd you are sometimes. But he is perfect for our Diana.Just perfect.Now what can we do for Ernest? He is eight-and-twenty already."
