“My lady.” Campion gazed back at her with crystal blue eyes. Tall, lanky, handsome as sin, and Evangeline felt the heat of his smile deep in her bones.
“Sir.” She ducked her flushed face as she curtsied.
“He has come to regale us with stories of his adventures into the dark heart of Africa.” Lord Allen pushed out his chest proudly. “I expect you’ve seen all manner of beasts and savages, eh, Campion?”
“Yes.” He flashed a distracted smile at his host before his gaze veered back to Evangeline, like a compass needle seeking north.
Still scrambling for composure, Evangeline put up her chin. “Savages! Of what sort?”
Campion seemed startled. “Oh—some of the tribes treat each other quite brutally, ma’am. They are fierce warriors.”
Evangeline thought she’d take some of the dragons of the ton over any warrior, any day, for fierceness. God above knew they’d shreddedherto pieces.
“Savages,” drawled Fanny, sounding disappointed. “How novel. Do explorers ever encounter anything else? Are there no civilized, gentle, or even kind peoples in the greater world?”
“I daresay not,” Evangeline cut in as Lord Allen’s face turned a shade of puce. “Do the Africans cut off their peoples’ heads with guillotines, as the French do? Or make public spectacles of hanging them, as the English prefer?” She tipped her head to one side and tapped one finger to her lips as both men stared at her in dumbfounded silence. “It would take some doing to surpass the brutality of our own land, I imagine.”
Lord Allen seemed to be choking. “Yes, well, that is a very harsh view, Lady Courtenay. I beg your pardon, my ladies, but I must introduce Sir Richard to our other guests.” He forced a laugh. “He’s much in demand, you know!”
“Of course we know,” said Fanny tartly. “That’s why you invited him—to lure in the rest of us.”
Evangeline was fighting hard not to laugh at the men’s expressions, Lord Allen offended, Campion thoroughly nonplussed. She smiled at them. “That is quite true! And see how splendidly it has succeeded. Go forth and encourage people to donate generously, Sir Richard, for the children’s home.”
“I—” His disconcerted gaze jumped to Fanny, then back to Evangeline. “Naturally I will, madam.” His words were faintly clipped with an accent she hadn’t noticed before.
Because you could barely hear him over your own racketing pulse, ninny.
“Right, right!” Lord Allen shuffled sideways, as if he would break into a run at any moment. “This way, Campion.” And he all but dragged the explorer away.
Fanny watched them go. “The man was tongue-tied—almost an idiot. It seems unlikely his speech will be exciting.” She turned to Evangeline. “Hopefully he recovers his wits when he’s not staring at you.”
She snapped open her fan and tried to chase the blush from her face. She could still feel her blood throbbing recklessly. “I’ve been rendering people speechless for years. Why should he be any different?” She gave a tiny huff. “Allen likely put a flea in his ear about wicked women. He must have thought he’d encountered one in the wild tonight.”
Fanny snorted. “If so, I think he’d like to make a closer study of the species. I may be old, my dear, but I am not blind.”
“You are not old,” Evangeline returned, “merely a busybody.”
Her friend laughed. “That’s a privilege of age. I never felt at liberty to speak my mind until I reached the age of forty.”
“And then it all came spilling out without subtlety or discretion.” She pointed her fan at her friend. “Do not start plotting to throw me together with Richard Campion.”
“Plotting.” Fanny snorted again. “As if I need to! He’ll do that himself, mark my words.”
Evangeline said nothing. The last man who had looked at her with such open interest, and elicited such a response in her, had been Court. Fortunately for her, this time she knew better than to fall for it.
The speakers surpassed Fanny’s dour predictions. Mr. Cambridge, the geologist, spoke with enthusiasm and energy about his studies. Lord Michael meandered a bit, talking rather a lot about the ancient Greeks and their study of the heavens, but Sir Richard lived up even to Fanny’s hopes, portraying himself as a modern Gulliver, visiting foreign lands where he was both humbled and honored, and speaking with a genuine reverence for all he’d seen.
“I never knew ordinary rocks could be so enervating,” said Fanny as the crowd applauded at the end. “But that Campion fellow was worth every farthing, even before he dances with you.”
Evangeline choked on a sip of champagne. “Fanny.”
“Don’t scold me,” murmured Fanny, her gaze fixed over Evangeline’s left shoulder. “I’m only giving you warning.”
Evangeline turned around and came face to face with the explorer, just as Fanny had said.
“Lady Courtenay.” He bowed. “I hope you remember me.”
“Of course.” She smiled brightly—too brightly, probably. “It’s not even been two hours since we met.”
