She cast a preoccupied glance at Temple.“I’m sorry.Yes, tomorrow will be fine.”
Aylesbury’s voice rose then.“I just want to know where she is!”He grabbed the woman’s arm again.“I just want to know she is well, Miss Langston,” he said.“Surely you can understand that?I love her.”
Fiona felt the blood drain from her face at his words.He loved her?Who wasshe?
“I said bugger off, Aylesbury!”
Temple frowned at the disturbance.“That’s hardly language to be used when ladies are present.”
“I don’t know,” Miss Langston cried out.
“You’re lying, Miss Langston.”
Despite herself, Fiona couldn’t help but agree with Aylesbury’s accusation.Whoever Aylesbury was looking for, Miss Langston knew something about it.
“Now, see here!”Miss Langston’s father blustered again at Aylesbury’s accusation, slapping a meaty palm against Aylesbury’s chest and shoving him away.
Having been around physical confrontations between grown men for most of her life, Fiona would have expected any man to fall back or at least stumble under the force of the heavier man, but to her surprise, Aylesbury held steady.And instead of retreating, he stepped up again until he was face to face with the other man, his fists curling into the older man’s lapels.
“I will have the truth from your daughter, Langston.”
“Fiona.”Temple eased her away, but she couldn’t move.Nor did anyone else on the dance floor as they watched the potential drama unfold, unable to look away from any scandalous moment that could serve to invigorate what might be a stale evening for some.
“Unhand me!”Langston commanded hoarsely and put both hands to Aylesbury’s chest, pushing him again.This time, Aylesbury did stumble a step backwards, giving Langston room enough to charge Aylesbury like an enraged bull.
All around them, ladies gasped and squealed, stepping back in horror.One tripped over another and fell to the floor amidst calls of surprise and puddles of lace and taffeta.“I say,” Temple called out, stepping into the fray to separate the two combatants.“Enough of this!”
He grabbed the older man's arm and held him back, motioning for the other male bystanders to assist him.
“What is going on here?”their hostess, Lady Onslow, cried out as she rushed through the crowd.“Fisticuffs?My lords!How could you?”
“You’ve gone mad, Aylesbury,” the older man spat, struggling against Temple’s hold.“I hope you never see her again.”
Aylesbury leapt forward, rage evident in every movement.However, whatever attack he had in mind was cut short by the intervention of two other bystanders.He fought their hold only briefly before raising his hands in surrender.“This is not over, Langston.”
“The hell it isn’t!”
Lady Onslow ran to his side, tugging on his arm.“My lord, are you quite all right?”
He nodded shortly.“My apologies, Lady Onslow.”
With a stiff bow, he turned and marched off the dance floor, the crowd that had been gathering around the spectacle parting like the Red Sea before him.He glanced at Fiona as he passed, his eyes filled not with the rage she expected but with sorrow and turbulence.
With a nod, he continued on his way, a scandalized murmur rising in his wake.
However, she had dreaded, anticipated, and pictured meeting him again, Fiona had never imagined him like that.“That was Lord Aylesbury, wasn’t it, Lady Fiona?Do you know him well?”Temple asked, returning to her side.
Fiona put a hand to her wildly beating heart and let loose a shaky breath as she shook her head.
No, that violent, brooding man was not the Harry Brudenall she knew at all.
