He held up his hands in surrender. “As you wish.”
She took a deep breath. “We’d better return. Joan will wonder where I’ve gone.”
He nodded, a little let down. What had Lady Brentwood done to discompose her? “The young lady looked very pleased with her situation, when we left.”
The shadows in her eyes lightened. “She did, didn’t she? I do think Burke is in earnest.”
“If he is not,” Richard replied lightly, “I will be happy to show him the error of his ways.”
She laughed. “Oh no! I believe my niece would be capable of putting him in his place, if he needed it.”
He grinned. “Let us go see. I wager you a farthing she’ll not have noticed your absence.”
Evangeline grinned back at him. “I hope so, darling.”
Her hand around his arm, they left the quiet parlor and returned to the supper room. It was full now, crowded with guests at long tables. Footmen were bustling about with platesof food and trays of drinks, gentlemen were fetching wine and punch for ladies, and the chatter filled the room.
They did not spy Miss Bennet or Lord Burke at once. The supper was being served across three rooms, with doors wide open between them. Richard and Evangeline strolled through the first room, stopping more than once after being hailed by someone or other. Sir Paul Brentwood appeared out of nowhere and tried to divert them to his table, but Richard put him off.
This was what he longed for. She walked close beside him, where he could smell her perfume and feel the warmth of her touch on his arm. To his silent satisfaction, not one person blinked at the sight of them. Everyone greeted them equally, and warmly. He hoped Evangeline had also taken note. No vicious rumormongers would spoil this evening. This could be their life.
In the second room, Evangeline pointed out some of her niece’s friends, the Misses Weston. “Oh my,” she said in surprise. “I thought Joan would certainly be near them...”
The two young ladies, one dark and one fair, sat at a table with two gentlemen and a pair of other ladies. The blonde girl looked openly bored, and the dark-haired girl more politely bored, nodding slightly as one of the gentlemen spoke to her. At a nearby table sat an older couple; their parents, from the looks of things. The father kept shooting glances over his shoulder at the girls, only to be tapped on the knuckles by his wife.
“Perhaps Burke wished more privacy to declare himself,” Richard said, having to lean close to speak to her. The conversational roar around them had grown louder in this room.
Evangeline brightened. “Yes, very likely. But let’s look in the next room just to be certain.”
They went into the third room, where the rogues and scoundrels had made themselves at home. A pair of dandies in tight coats were balancing champagne glasses on each other’s heads, and at least one seduction was being waged in the corner,where a rake was whispering into a young widow’s ear as she smiled coyly.
“I don’t see her,” said Evangeline slowly.
“We must have overlooked them. Let us go back.”
But they didn’t see Miss Bennet or the viscount on their second trip through the rooms. Even more people tried to stop them, asking Richard if he meant to speak about Egypt or Delhi after supper, and Richard had to put them off as Evangeline grew increasingly tense. In the first room once more, he spotted Gerhard, and made for the man in relief. “Perhaps my sister or Rieger has seen them,” he told Evangeline.
Gerhard greeted Evangeline warmly, as did Clemency. Richard leaned close to his friend. “Have you seen Burke recently?”
“Ja, he was dancing with her young lady.” Gerhard nodded toward Evangeline, meaning her niece.
“Since the dancing ended,” Richard clarified.
Gerhard’s eyes slid toward Clemency, who was speaking to Evangeline. “We came in here as soon as the music stopped, to secure seats. I lost sight of them.”
Richard nodded.
“Mrs. Murray hasn’t seen them,” Evangeline whispered, plucking at his arm.
He led her out of the room, back into the blissful quiet of the ballroom. Servants were scurrying around, tidying the room, and the musicians had laid down their instruments and gone to have a bite in the kitchens. “Perhaps they stepped outside for a breath of air.” Tall French windows led onto a narrow terrace outside.
Her face softened with relief. “They must have.”
But when Richard opened the door and stepped out, the terrace was deserted. There was no garden, merely a stand of trees to screen the view of the outbuildings. He went tothe railing and looked down, but saw no one. Miss Bennet’s shimmering golden gown would be visible in the moonlight. He turned back to Evangeline, but saw from her face she knew.
There was no sign of Miss Bennet or Viscount Burke.
Chapter 30
