It went too far up and not far out, catching Lord Berkeley in the jaw. His head reared back, but then he looked down at her, eyes creased in entertainment. “That had some good force behind it.”
She tried to laugh off her embarrassment. “It does not seem to have affected you overmuch.”
“Yes, well, I am built of solid stuff. Still, it was rather impressive. Now we need only work on your aim.”
He was still standing close to her side, smiling down at her in a way wholly encompassing and intoxicating. Something in the air seemed to shift about them. Where before they had seemed to be dancing around each other—the unpaired couple in a country dance, within the same figure but never together—suddenly, they were partners, inhabiting one another’s space.
She forgot all about her need to forgo marriage. Forgot that this man was far above her in status. Forgot that he was meant to be just her friend. And she began to turn toward him, her hands lowering back to her sides. He seemed to be leaning too, closing the distance between them and sending sparks of energy through the final inches separating them. His hands met her arms, their touch feather-light. His green eyes bored into hers, the depth of them drawing her in. Further, further.
Until he suddenly stopped, gazing down at her with an intensity like fire. His throat worked as he swallowed. Then, in an instant, he stiffened, taking several steps backward and pulling his gaze from hers. “Well done, Miss Faraday. We will make you a pugilist yet.”
She blinked, trying to dispel the haze that surrounded her. Embarrassment flooded in. “Thank you, Lord Berkeley. You are a capable teacher.”
He nodded, stepping back even farther. “You are welcome. I have just recalled a meeting though, and I am afraid I must be going.”
“Of course. I would not wish to keep you.” Her words were rote, stilted.
He pivoted, moving around the displaced table and making for the door with impressive speed. “Good day, Miss Faraday.” He did not remain long enough for her to return the nicety, and somehow, she was fairly certain she would not see him for another several days yet.
Hopefully it would be enough time for her to refocus on her goal of remaining unmarried. Because for a moment there, the pull to Lord Berkeley had felt stronger than the pull to the security and control that her inheritance would give. And that was far more dangerous than she could afford.
Chapter 29
It was a cruel twistof fate—or perhaps a cruel parent—that had Lucas escorting his mother and Miss Faraday to a ball that very evening. Father was unable to go, and Mother had leaned rather heavily on Lucas to take them, with the reasoning that he had not been to a social event in a week. Not since Miss Faraday had come to stay with them.
She was not wrong, but Lucas had hoped to keep it that way, particularly after the afternoon spent in the portrait hall with Miss Faraday. His blood still ran hot just thinking of the way her chin had tilted up to maintain eye contact with him. How soft her skin had been beneath his palm. He’d been about to kiss her, he was certain of it, and if it were not for his years of well-practiced control, he would have.
To own the truth, he had never been more unhappy with that self-control than in the moment after he stepped from the room.
And now he was caught in a carriage with her, working his utmost not to allow his knees to touch hers across the aisle.
“Have you heard from your guardian?” Mother asked Miss Faraday, oblivious to the internal turmoil Lucas was experiencing.
“His steward wrote to me this afternoon, actually. The journey seems to have been difficult on Lord Tarrington, but he still had the strength to relay his wishes for me through his servant.” Miss Faraday sounded marginally amused at that.
“And what might those be?” Mother asked.
“To marry well and quickly.”
Lucas’s stomach lurched, but he tensed his jaw and made no remark.
Mother’s voice turned sly. “I believe we are well on our way to that. Several gentlemen left their cards today while I was resting.I meant to ask, did you find an enjoyable way to spend your afternoon?”
Lucas could not help glancing at Miss Faraday to find that her gaze flitted to his momentarily.
“Yes, indeed. I passed my time in the portrait hall. I find pictures fascinating; they tell so much about a person so long as the artist is competent.” She again glanced over at him, and he recalled the exchange they’d had over his excessive nodding. It was enough to cause the beginning of a smile on his face. How was she able to do that with only a small comment? Come to think of it, how had she managed to get him to teach her any boxing at all? He could say with certainty that he would never have bent to a lady’s request to do that even a few weeks before. What was different about Miss Faraday?
Everything. That was the problem. The way he felt around her was making his plan to marry without affection seem dull, but when he actually thought logically about it all, heknewit was the correct course of action. The pain he’d felt with Marietta’s loss had been beyond compare, and he would not set himself up for such an injury again, not when he could prevent it.
Mother and Miss Faraday had concluded their conversation, and Lucas, so lost in his thoughts, had missed the ending of it. They only had a minute or two of silence before they pulled to a stop in front of the ball. Lucas assisted the women from the carriage, taking care to release Miss Faraday as soon as possible, and determined to escape for the card room the moment they were within the home.
Except that the moment they stepped into the glittering ballroom, a grouping of men seemed to flock to Miss Faraday, and Lucas could not bring himself to leave her side. Uninvited jealousy flared and caused heat to boil in his stomach as the men requested various dances and complimented her on various aspects of her person. All the while, her hand was on his arm,likely because he had closed his other hand over it after his mother had released him.
Speaking of his mother, she was surveying Miss Faraday with pride, as if it were her own daughter garnering this attention. That introduced another emotion into Lucas’s chest. One that was a war of pain and realization—pain that Mother had lost her one daughter and realization that he and Charlie had the capabilities of giving her another through their marriages. Not that Marietta couldeverbe replaced, but certainly Mother would enjoy having a woman to dote on.
That was yet another thing to consider in his future search for a wife, someone who got on well with his mother. As Miss Faraday seemed to.
Mr. Frank Colbert approached Miss Faraday. He bowed over her hand. The heat in Lucas protested that action.
