“Same to you, Lord Danby. And I am both. The title is something I am still getting used to. Let me introduce you to my first lieutenant, Sebastian Trent.”
“Nice to meet you, Lord Danby.” Sebastian gave a short bow.
“A pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant,” Danby replied. His eyes traveled up all six foot four of Trent. “No one could accuse you of missing your growth spurt.”
Seb chuckled. “No, my lord. My mother couldn’t keep up with feeding me, and that’s how I ended up in the care of his majesty’s Royal Navy.” It was Seb’s favorite tale to tell folks when they brought up his height.
Danby laughed so hard he had to wipe a tear from the corner of his eye. That laugh was one of the things Malcolm remembered the most about George Amberley. George had been the smallest boy in their class, with the biggest mouth. His boundless good cheer and chatter had always made him lots of friends.
Happy memories of school and the friends there that had been like family flooded back. The freedom of being young and carefree. Before everything fell apart. That was it, though; no matter how well you thought life was going, things always fell apart. All the more reason to live in the moment, he learned, like enjoying the company of an old friend.
“How is your family, Danby?”
“Fine, I suppose.” A furrow appeared briefly between his friend’s brows. “My mother’s health is much the same—delicate. And my father is determined to marry off my younger sister. So I am in charge of her at social functions when my mother isn’t well enough to attend, like tonight.”
Malcolm tried to remember anything at all about George’s sister, but only an impression of dark ringlets underneath a blue bonnet surfaced. At thirteen, he had hardly paid attention to girls of any type. “How old is she now?”
“Twenty-three. She missed much of the coming-out fanfare because of my mother’s poor health. But you won’t hear her complaining about it. I think the only man she would want to marry is Magellan.”
“Pardon?”
George waved a hand around. “Oh, nothing. She is a great girl, simply a bit too clever for polite society.” The furrow between his brows returned as he frowned. “My father will marry her off to anyone with enough coin to make it worth his while. I’m trying to seek some decent gentlemen for her, though.”
“You’ll have to introduce us. Seb here is always willing to dance with a pretty girl. Right, Seb?”
“Absolutely,” Sebastian replied with a grin.
George turned to scan the dance floor. “She’s dancing out there somewhere. Petite, dark curls, wearing peach tonight.” After a moment, he pointed. “Ah, there, she is in that square on the far left. Here, let’s walk back around. I should be waiting for her to be returned to me. I don’t want Gibbs to get any ideas about whisking her away to a dark corner. I’ll introduce you.”
Malcolm turned to peer across the room at where George pointed. But his attention was caught by a glimpse of the girl from the bookshop. She looked different tonight, so polished and elegant. Her dark curls had been tamed into a smooth coiffure studded by dozens of tiny pearls. The low cut of her peach evening gown gave him a tantalizing glimpse of the soft curves he had felt when he held her in his arms that day. Wait, a peach gown?
*
Adeline lowered intoa small curtsy. “Thank you, Lord Gibbs, for a lovely dance.” She laid a hand on his sleeve as they headed off the dance floor. Adeline surreptitiously looked around. Where was George? Then she spotted him come around a group of matrons, his crimson evening jacket making him easy to spot. Lord Gibbs escorted her over to her brother.
Gibbs gave a toothy grin. “Perhaps I may call on you this week?” He glanced at her brother.
“Of course, Gibbs,” George replied to him.
Adeline shot her brother a wide-eyed look of incredulity.What are you doing?she silently exclaimed.
George returned her look with a stern look of his own that said,You must.
Adeline narrowed her eyes.You are the worst.But her brother just gave a slight shrug with one shoulder.
Her dance partner left, and Adeline let out a small huff, blowing a stray curl that had escaped her coiffure off her brow. “George, don’t answer for me like that. I don’t want to spend any more time speaking with that man about his coin collection, for goodness’ sake.”
“Addy, you have to give people a chance,” George said softly.
“He was as dull as a doorknob. No, I’m being too kind. A doorknob at least has a purpose in life.”
Adeline heard a low male chuckle. She whipped her gaze up over George’s shoulder. Two men, one blond and one with light brown locks, stood looking at them, shamelessly eavesdropping on their conversation.
George stepped to the side. “Pardon me, I haven’t made introductions. Please let me introduce my sister, Lady Amberley. Adeline, this is a good friend from my Eton days, Lord Kingsbury, and this is Lieutenant Trent.”
Lord Kingsbury, how interesting. “A pleasure to meet you both,” she replied, automatically extending a gloved hand.
Lieutenant Trent stepped forward first, and as he reached for her outstretched hand his face came into better focus. A neatly trimmed mustache twitched over a wide smiling mouth. “A pleasure to meet you, Lady Amberley.” He was the tallest man she had ever been in such close proximity to, so much so that he bent almost in half to brush his lips across her knuckles.
