Thank goodness for the distraction. To have a bath. No. To dunk her body in ice-cold water.
“That nonsense. Doesn’t he see how important our work is?”
Our.She liked the ring of his opinion. “What time is it? My goodness the whole day has vanished. Maybe it will be good for you to get out and seek entertainment, clear your mind.”
“Or clutter it. Nonsense and absurd is the human mating game.”
“It can be fun, too,” she coaxed.
“I suppose having your teeth pulled is fun.”
Rachel moved past him in a swirl of skirts, confining her laughter to a snort. “You have to escort me. It wouldn’t be proper otherwise.”
“You didn’t think about having a proper chaperone once today.” Anthony grumbled, the words in him like electricity, dashing itself against glass.
She noted Anthony’s scowl. “I did but we are friends. No. More like brother and sister, and this is in the interest of science.”
“That’s what you call it. Very well, off to the broodmare competition.”
“You are terrible.”
“I thankyoufor the compliment.”
Chapter Five
Anthony could not fathom a more hostile environment: a huge, hot press of overdressed giddy people with nothing to do but drink and talk to one another at the top of their lungs with their singular blend of nonsense and idiocy. So full of noise, that the wall of sound blasted enough to make his ears bleed. To lay on a bed of nails for the evening had more appeal.
“I suppose the whirl of silks and satins, the orchestra and so on, must be exciting for you, Miss Thorne.” He wrinkled his nose. Women’s stale perfume and oceans of flowers exuded a cloying sweetness that testified to the fanciful tendencies and ostentatious taste of their host.
She fanned her face with her hand. “I feel like Cleopatra, out to conquer the world.”
His gaze dropped to her lips. “There are other things in the world besides a ridiculous ball. I have long embraced the estimation that the quantity of noise that anyone can tolerate undisturbed survives in inverse proportion to his mental capacity, and consequently viewed as a reasonable good measure of it.”
Up close, Miss Thorne was exceptionally beautiful. Best of all was her mouth and her eyes. Together they created a sort of wry, amused liveliness, as if whatever occurred to her, she would remain calm, composed and unruffled through it all, and then she would find some value in it to make her smile.
“You must admit that the ball is thrilling.”
He leaned into her, dipped a formal bow. “I get the same thrill a chimney sweep does, shimmying down the chimney into a hotbed of ashes.”
She angled her head up. Her lush mouth mocked him. “We must not squander away life in a small corner of the world. To be nourished with new actions, new aspirations, and new events will lend us new visions.”
“More like revelations akin to a rapid current of guests flowing like negative charges into a single room.” He spoke to the air as she whirled away with yet another partner.
Lord Humphrey and his father, the Duke of Banfield, moved beside him. Long time neighbors and good friends of the Rutland’s, it had always been assumed that Lord Humphrey and his sister, Abby would have married.
“You look bored, Lord Anthony,” said Lord Humphrey.
“This is my excited face. You haven’t seen bored.”
“Miss Thorne presents a picture, don’t you think, Lord Anthony?” The Duke of Banfield, pressed on his cane for support. “She hasn’t missed one dance.”
“Our Miss Thorne is definitely enjoying herself with all her suitors,” added Humphrey.
Anthony rolled his shoulders, his frockcoat suddenly tight.Like dogs after the butcher’s cart.
“I see she is leaving the punch table and being guided out of the ballroom with that rake, Sir Bonneville,” said the Duke of Banfield. “Don’t you think someone should do something about it?”
Already on the move and cursing under his breath, Anthony stalked after the dandified profligate. He cursed under his breath. Miss Thorne was a naïve Colonial unaccustomed to the nuances of a degenerate like Bonneville. Or was she? He really had no idea of her character. Was she as innocent as he thought? They had vanished. Anthony parted servants in their finest livery and laden with heavy silver trays of wine glasses and appetizers. He searched down one hall, and then another. No doubt, Bonneville dragged her off to the farthest reaches of the house. Standing where one hall met another, he heard Bonneville’s wheedling voice.
