“A strange request from the woman who refuses to trust me.”
“I have trusted you with more than you realize.” She gave him a cryptic look that made him grit his teeth. “Have a good evening, Lord Raines. This conversation is over.” She hurried away, sweeping across the room with the grace of a swan gliding across a waterway.
More guests filed into the room, closing her off from his sight.
Elias rolled his shoulders and stretched his neck, wishing he hadn’t tied his cravat so tightly. His tensed muscles ached, and he couldn’t breathe due to the need to chase after Celia, ranting and raging until she came to her senses. He sucked in a deep breath and hissed it out through clenched teeth, struggling to regain a sense of calm. With the heavy rains, a walk outside to cool down was impossible.
“Any luck?” Monty appeared at his side and handed him another drink.
“None whatsoever,” Elias answered sourly. He tasted the liquid that smelled like port, then caught himself before revealing a grimace that would be perceived as quite rude. “What is this ghastly stuff?”
“Not sure.” Monty lifted his glass and frowned at it while smacking his lips. “I believe it was port before they watered it down. They invited so many bloody people to this incorrectly describedintimatedinner party that they probably feared running short. If Prinny shows, as I heard that he might, for their sakes, I do hope they offer him something better.”
“Might I suggest you run, dear brother?” Elias didn’t look at Monty. Just kept his gaze focused straight ahead.
“Why?”
“The odious Lady Bournebridge and her rather pinched-face daughter are headed this way, and I know they arenotcoming for me.”
When Monty failed to answer, Elias turned his way and discovered him gone. He laughed and forced down another swallow of the disgusting port. When they were children, Monty had often slipped past Nanny and the governesses to bring Elias the treats their father had always denied his second son. It was good to know that his brother hadn’t lost his gift of being neither seen nor heard.
As predicted, Lady Bournebridge puckered a fiercer scowl and halted midway with her daughter in tow. She gave Elias an unpleasant smirk that he assumed she meant as a smile, then grabbed her daughter’s hand and changed course, parting the guests much as Almighty God had parted the Red Sea.
Elias took the opportunity to forge his way through the mingling masses to rejoin the dowager duchess and Celia. The duchess still sat where he had placed her. Celia sat beside her, and the rest of the Hasterton entourage hovered nearby as though on guard. Placing himself in front of the duchess and Celia to keep the crowd from pressing in on them, he said with forced brightness, “Lovely gathering. Is it not?”
The duchess arched a cynical brow and resettled her fingers on the handle of her cane. “It is quite the gathering.” She turned to Celia, then tipped her head in Elias’s direction. “Do be a dear and fetch me some refreshment. With this many in attendance, I fear that the light repast we were promised will either fail to be served or completely run out before it reaches us. I am sure Lord Raines would be happy to go along to ensure you are not trampled.”
“I would, indeed.” Elias squared his shoulders and smiled, daring Celia to refuse.
Her eyes narrowed the slightest bit before she forced a polite smile. “Thank you, Lord Raines. Your assistance is most appreciated.”
The dowager waved Lady Sophie’s mother out from behind the chairs and patted Celia’s seat. “Hurry and sit, Nia, before we lose the chair.”
Elias laughed as he edged into the throng and cleared a path for Celia. When she reached his side, he casually extended his arm behind her for protection but took care not to touch her in what anyone might perceive as an embrace. He cleared their way with his other arm, edging sideways until they reached a long banquet table that had very little remaining in the way of food or drink.
“This is ridiculous,” he said for Celia’s ears alone. “Intimate dinner party, my eye. Hurry and snatch something for yourself and your mother.”
Panic flared across Celia’s face, but she recovered quickly. “I shall get something forHer Grace,” she said louder than necessary, then shoved forward, snatched up a napkin, and started filling it with whatever she could grab.
Elias felt like kicking himself. If anyone had overheard his mistake in referring to the duchess as Miss Bening’s mother, word would spread faster than red wine spilled on fresh linen. “I shall fetch Her Grace something to drink, Miss Bening,” he called out loudly. “And one for yourself as well.”
She cast a nervous smile back at him, then forged onward, trying to gather up the meager pickings.
If the prince regent did show up, Lord and Lady Whitfield would be ruined even more than they already were by putting on such a disastrous affair. Elias elbowed his way farther down the table and claimed the last two glasses of punch. He held them high to protect them from sloshing and made his way back to Celia.
“The last two,” he said to her.
“Well done, you,” she said with such sincerity that his heart swelled. She held up the bulging napkin. “A bit of cheese and bread was all that was left, but hopefully, it will be enough to keep Her Grace steady until we get home.”
By the time they worked their way back to the duchess, the poor lady was fanning herself. Elias hurried to hand her the punch. “I am sorry it took so long, Your Grace.” The woman’s pallor concerned him. He bent closer and whispered, “Shall I get you to a less crowded room?”
Celia knelt beside Duchess Thea and looked up into her face. “I shall order the carriages brought to the door immediately. You do not appear well at all.”
“Do not fuss and draw attention,” the dowager told them both. She sipped at the drink, then hugged the delicate cup to her chest and bowed her head.
Elias decided to take matters into his own hands. “We are done here, Your Grace.” He flagged down Monty and gave him the signal they had worked out long ago that meanttime to leave.Then he caught the attention of a footman and waved the man over. “Her Grace’s carriages. To the front door. Immediately.”
The man bobbed his head and took off as fast as the crowded room allowed.
