“But she’s your grandmother.” Unless the woman had tried to sell her grandson in marriage to a monster, Netta couldn’t understand how such a close family member could be ignored.
“Your point?” He tucked the opera glasses into his coat pocket.
She pursed her lips. “My point is that she’s your grandmother.” This shouldn’t be hard to comprehend. “You are a product of her loins. Doesn’t that deserve a greeting upon meeting in public?”
“Perhaps you should refrain from speaking on matters of which you have no knowledge.”
Her spine snapped straight. “And perhaps you could give me such knowledge so I can speak with more authority.”
They glared at each other.
“Is this a bad time?”
Netta started. A man with a startingly bushy beard held back the curtains to John’s box. The woman next to him had thick auburn hair and curious eyes. The top of her head just reached the man’s shoulder.
John stood. “No, I welcome any interruption.”
Netta huffed but rolled to her feet, as well.
“Netta, may I introduce you to Maximillian Atwood, Baron of Sutton, and his charming wife, Colleen, the baroness.” John waved his hand at Netta. “Max, Colleen, this is Miss Antoinette LeBlanc. Netta to those she delights in bedeviling.”
Netta dropped a curtsy and smiled tightly. “I can assure you that only the earl finds me such. I am a positive delight to those who are worthy of my good graces.”
John looked heavenward.
The baroness laughed. “I can readily disbelieve his description of you as he has so misconstrued my own character. No one has ever called me charming before.”
“I think you’re charming,” her husband protested.
She patted his arm. “As you are legally obligated to do since we wed.”
Sutton grumbled. “I always thought it.”
John pressed his fists into his lower back and stretched. “How are you enjoying the show? I believe Miss Luciano is having a particularly superior performance tonight.”
Sutton tugged on his beard. “I didn’t come here to talk nonsense about performances. Step out with me. I’d like a moment of your time.” The words seemed more demand than request. Having delivered them, Sutton lumbered outside, letting the curtains fall shut.
John pressed his lips together. “If you ladies will excuse us. I’ll return with refreshments, after knocking some civility into my friend.” He picked up Colleen’s hand and kissed the back. “Never doubt it, my dear. Compared to your husband, you embody all the charm in the world.”
Colleen watched the curtain drop closed and crossed her arms. “That man knows how to give a double-edged compliment like nobody else.” She turned. “But I’m certain you are already aware of that.”
Netta gestured to the chairs and both women took a seat. “Have you known him long?”
“Summerset?” Colleen shook out her russet skirts. Her gown was simple, but of a fine chiffon and expertly made. “Not nearly long enough to understand him. I met him shortly after I met my husband. He helped us out of a difficult situation.” Her face softened. “He is a good friend, to the both of us.”
Netta leaned on her armrest. “Yes, of course.” John would be someone his friends could depend upon. He certainly took his role as his brother’s protector seriously. “But do youknowhim? What happened to his brother? Why did he stop studying chemistry? And what is the dispute between him and his grandmother?”
Colleen blinked. “Well.” She blinked some more. “Now I feel that I don’t know him at all. He has always been a bit of an enigma beneath his mask of indifference. I didn’t know he studied chemistry, much less that he had a grandmother.” She tilted her head. “Well, I’d assume he had a grandmother. Everyone does somewhere. But not one with whom he had a fraught relationship.”
Netta slumped back into her chair. This had seemed a golden opportunity to do some of her own poking about. Perhaps she should try to corner Lord Sutton. He would be better informed.
“I do know that he has taken his separation from his service to the Crown most ill,” Colleen said. “All of the men in their group worry about him.”
“His service to the Crown?”
Colleen slapped her hand over her mouth, her eyes as wide as a doe’s before a hunter.
“It’s no use covering your mouth now.” Netta leaned towards her. “I will know what you mean.”
