“Not unless you are a little more polite to me,” he replied. There was that glimmer of mischief in his eyes as he spoke, and Diana found it simultaneously infuriating and charming.
She bit her lip. “Please,” she whispered. “Leave me be, and go to Grace.”
He smiled. “You see, if you had spoken to me like this form the moment we met, then I would never have been able to say no to you.”
Diana let out a huff. He really was impossible. “Now you have got what you want, I demand that you leave.”
He shrugged. “As you wish,” he murmured, then turned on his heel and left the room, the door swinging closed behind him.
Left alone in the room, Diana’s cheeks burned at the memory of her thoughts when he had stood so close to her. She could not allow him to fool her, she resolved. He was a rake, and he could not be trusted, not with her sister, and not even with her.
CHAPTER 10
“Oh my goodness,” Grace breathed as she gazed out of the window. “Look at the house!”
The carriage rattled along, its wheels creaking against the pitted road as Diana, Grace, and their father approached the Windgrave Estate, the ancestral seat of the Earl of Silvermere.
Like Grace, Diana could not help but admire the elegant façade of the house as they drew near. But even so, a sense of disquiet was rooted within her, simmering just beneath the surface, at the thought of what might happen over the days to come.
It had been the right thing to do to accept the earl’s invitation, Diana reflected as the carriage drew up outside. Cecilia would be there, along with Alistair, and many others of their acquaintance, and Diana tried to allow herself to look forward to it. But of course there would be no escape from the earl. And she suspected that his sole purpose in arranging the party was to spend more time with Grace.
“Do you think there will be dancing?” Grace asked, her eyes sparkling with anticipation as she adjusted her bonnet and prepared to dismount from the carriage.
In spite of her anxiety about the whole situation, Diana could not help but smile at her sister’s enthusiasm. She was young, and of course she would be excited about the prospect of a party. She could not quite make out her sister’s feelings when it came to their host, though; her behavior when it came to the earl had been rather strange.
“I am sure there will be dancing at some point,” Diana replied. “But you must be careful, Grace.”
Grace huffed. “I am quite capable of managing it all myself.”
Diana frowned, then glanced at her father, who clambered out of the carriage then offered Grace his hand. As always, he added nothing of any value to the conversation, and Diana knew that it would be down to her, and her alone, to protect Grace from the attentions of the wrong type of gentleman throughout the house party. And the host himself, of course, fitted into that category. The thought of him made her stomach twist with both annoyance and a strange thrill. It was maddening how one man could evoke such a range of emotions.
Upon entering the grand hall, they were greeted by the earl himself.
“What a pleasure to see you all,” he said with a broad smile, his gaze falling first on Grace, then Diana.
Diana looked away, not wanting to meet his eye. The memory of his behavior only a few days ago, when they were alone in the parlor, had not left her, and she did not trust herself to look at him.
“Thank you for the invitation, My Lord,” Grace said, smiling demurely. “I have been very much looking forward to it.”
“And I have been looking forward to spending more time with you, Lady Grace,” the earl replied smoothly. “Now, do come into the drawing room. Some of the other guests have arrived and we are having tea. The staff will take your luggage to your rooms, and you can go up shortly to prepare for dinner.”
The drawing room was filled with the buzz of conversation, and Diana scanned the crowd, searching for Cecilia’s familiar face. She saw her at last, standing near the fireplace, and made her way over immediately.
“Ah, you are here at last!” Cecilia said. “I am glad of it.”
Diana smiled, trying to feign some enthusiasm. “Indeed, we are here.” She glanced across the room and saw that Alistair was also present, standing by the window with two gentlemen who Diana did not know. She felt no regret now about what had passed between them, but his presence always made her feel a little uneasy.
Cecilia chuckled. “You do not look very pleased about it, if I might venture to say so.”
Diana frowned and lowered her voice. “I cannot explain it but every time I am in the earl’s presence, I feel that something bad is going to happen.”
“You must try not to think of him so poorly, Diana,” Cecilia said. “Come, now, you know his family, myself and our brother Nathaniel too. We are not such awful people, are we? Surely you must see that Tristan is from a good family, that he is respectable.”
Diana felt her cheeks redden a little. She did not want to offend her friend. “I am sorry, Cecilia. Of course I know that you are all respectable, I would not want you to believe for a moment that I thought otherwise. But there is something about Tristan that makes me nervous, that is all.”
She looked away nervously, keen to change the subject, and scanned the room. “Nathaniel is not here, I think? Nor Evie?”
Cecilia shook her head. “They are off on their travels again. I believe they are in Italy at the moment,” she replied. “I think that this must be their third honeymoon! You know that they both have such a thirst for adventure, and do so enjoy seeing the world together.”
