“So, I noted. I hope it was not bad news that compelled you to leave town last season.”
Mr. Melbourne sobered and flicked a wary glance at Eliza. She sensed that he was going to tell a falsehood. “I fear it was. My father had suddenly fallen ill and I was summoned to his bedside.” The younger man shook his head and though he appeared to be chagrined, Eliza had the definite sense that he concocted a tale. But why? “Alas, I arrived too late to speak with him one last time.”
Her sense of his dishonesty grew, despite her inability to find a cause for it. “How disappointing for both of you.”
“It was.” He smiled a little. “My inheritance is scarcely a consolation compared to his wise counsel.”
Mr. Melbourne did not appear to be the manner of man who relied upon the counsel of older gentlemen, much less heeded it, but Eliza saw no cause to comment. “I offer my condolences for your loss.”
“And I thank you.”
They danced again in silence and Eliza could not recall that a waltz was typically so long.
Mr. Melbourne frowned. “As you chaperone Miss Emerson, might I entreat you for a favor? You must be within the circle of her aunt’s trust.”
“Perhaps I am.”
“My father was a most excellent judge of financial matters, far better than I am myself,” he said with a smile that Eliza did not trust a whit. “Do you think that my income of six thousand a year would be sufficient that Lady Dalhousie might find my suit acceptable?” He hurried on before she could ask. “I know she did not approve of my interest last season, for my income was granted solely by my father’s indulgence. I can only hope that the change in my circumstance might alter her view.”
“I should be surprised if it did not,” Eliza said, wondering anew at her sense that all was not as this young man insisted.
He smiled with evident relief. “I have no desire to interfere, if Lady Dalhousie has greater plans for Miss Emerson.” He cast a glance across the floor to the maiden in question. “I wish only for her happiness, wherever it might be.”
Oh, he lied.
Eliza knew it to her marrow, but she could not tell whether the sum of his confession was a fabrication or whether just one element was a fiction. “Perhaps you should call upon Lady Dalhousie and declare yourself.”
Alarm lit the younger man’s eyes. “Oh no! She was most resolute last season. I could not do as much, not without surety that I would be received well.”
Eliza did not note that his ardor appeared to have definite limits, though she was tempted. She would never accept a man who refused to endure a difficult interview on her behalf.
“I may have occasion to speak to Lady Dalhousie,” she said instead as the music finally drew to a close.
He bowed, giving her the sense that he was as relieved to part ways as she. “I will be utterly in your debt, Mrs. North, if you might manage as much.”
“I believe we go to the theater on Friday evening. Perhaps we might encounter you there.”
He smiled wolfishly and Eliza thought she glimpsed his truth in that avaricious expression. If Helena had been an heiress, his choices would have made sense, but as it was, Eliza was mystified.
“I believe that can be arranged, Mrs. North.”
And then he was gone, strolling across the floor to where Helena eagerly awaited him. He claimed her hand as the first notes of the allemande sounded and led her to a spot on the floor. Eliza’s gaze flew to Nicholas, but he was watching his sister, a slight frown between his brows.
A cough sounded in close proximity and she found Mr. Galveston bowing before her, his expectation obvious.
Eliza could not see a way around his invitation. She smiled and placed her hand in his, letting him lead her to a spot immediately beside Helena.
Perhaps Nicholas was right and the best way to supervise his sister was to dance.
As the dance began, Eliza realized her brother was no longer seated by Lady Wentworth. In truth, there was no sign of him. Where had he gone at such speed?
Why had Damien come to Almack’s at all?
“The heiress of Hexham will never wed the worthless likes of you!”
The words of Lady Frances Dalhousie echoed in Mr. Ethan Melbourne’s thoughts, as they had since she had first hurled them in his direction. Summoned to a meeting at her townhouse, he had scarcely expected such affrontery—but given her objections, he had been compelled to abandon his pursuit of the delightful Miss Emerson the previous season.
That had been doubly irksome, given that Miss Emerson had wealth.
