“Is your supper set claimed yet, Miss Faraday?”
Unthinking, Lucas spoke before Miss Faraday could. “Yes, I have claimed it.”
Colbert seemed to just then notice that Miss Faraday still stood on Lucas’s arm. He raised a brow, but Lucas could not tell if it was in surprise or challenge. “Then I shall take your next available if that is agreeable.”
Miss Faraday agreed to a reel then bid Colbert farewell before meeting Lucas’s eye, brows lifted. “I was not aware we had agreed upon a dance, Lord Berkeley,” she said under her breath. Though the crowd no longer surrounded her, there were still a few straggling gentlemen and even a lady or two come to bid their group hello.
“Oh?” Lucas hedged. “Had we not?”
Her eyes narrowed. “I never knew you to have a faulty memory.”
“My mother will wish us to dance,” he said by way of excuse.
Her narrowed eyes relaxed, but they were replaced by an expression of... confusion? Disappointment? “Oh, I see.”
“I did not mean—”
Unfortunately, at that moment, the musicians concluded the previous set, and one of the lingering men cut in to take Miss Faraday’s hand. Watching her be escorted to the dancers lining up was causing that heat in his stomach to burn hotter, so Lucas bid his mother farewell and strode for the card room. He ought to have gone with his original plan and escaped there immediately.
He sighed, slipping silently into the parlor, where numerous men were seeking respite in the form of drink and cards.
“Berkeley!”
Lucas looked about for the man who had called his name, and his face split into the first smile he’d donned all evening.
“Henry, it is good to see you.” The men met in the middle of the room, surrounded by card tables and chairs. A question Lucas should have acted on days before sprung to mind. “I tried to come visit you but was told the house had been let.”
Henry’s expression changed, pulling inward. “Ah, yes. Julia did not like those lodgings.”
Lucas had never known Henry’s sister to be that particular.
“Where are you lodging now?”
Henry looked over Lucas’s shoulder then said, as if he had not heard his friend, “Did I see you with a woman just now? Has a lucky lady turned your eye?” Henry grinned, a crooked twist of his lips.
“Ah, no. Simply a favor of sorts for my mother.” The falsehood sat uneasily on his tongue.
“Good. I cannot lose both my friends to marriage.” Henry laughed, a tint of bitterness in his tone.
Lucas did not need to answer, as Henry immediately launched into a monologue on the misery that was life in London. The twomen headed for a pair of armchairs at the far side of the room. Henry poured himself a drink as they passed the assortment of strong beverages. Lucas turned down Henry’s offer to pour him one as well and frowned.
Henry and Lucas had been close since their years in school, but since James’s marriage two years before, Henry had seemed to begin a downward spiral. Or perhaps he had been spiraling long before then. The man had always been jovial and lighthearted, but now he tried much too hard at merriment and leaned heavily toward cynicism. He also spent far more time in his cups than he likely even realized. Lucas was growing alarmed, but he did not know how to interfere. Or if he even should.
Henry continued his one-sided conversation with Lucas until they were settled in their seats, giving Lucas time to stew in his own thoughts.
Everything had grown muddled lately. How would he regain control? Between the club, Miss Faraday, and the increasing belief that Marietta would be disappointed in him, he was feeling unsettled with his life.
Was it because he’d opened himself up to some happiness? Had allowed himself to enjoy time with Miss Faraday when he knew nothing could come of it? Was this the world reminding him he did not deserve it? Yes, he found a sense of contentment with his friends and family, but he could never allow his control over his actions and emotions to waver. That was how he made mistakes. That was how he’d lost Marietta. If he’d been better prepared and had his wits about him the day their carriage had been attacked, he could have kept her from danger. He knew he could have.
That was why heneededto be more careful with Miss Faraday. He could not let his emotions act for him—he needed to be logical about who he aligned himself in marriage. Though, logically speaking, Miss Faraday was a fine lady. She wasthe ward of a baron, and though she might not have many connections otherwise, that one was sufficient. She was a good conversationalist. Witty. Not to mention beautiful and kind.
“And then I jumped into a lake and swam with the swans.”
Lucas nodded along with whatever Henry was saying.
His friend suddenly laughed loudly, drawing Lucas from his thoughts to raise a brow at Henry.
Henry shook his head, still chuckling. “You are not listening to a word I am saying.”
