Oh, he was so close now he could probably hear what Lady Tabitha was saying.
Theo’s heart in her mouth, she did her best to attend the final part of Tabitha’s monologue. “After all,” Tabitha said triumphantly, “he is merely the son of the local squire, andIam the daughter of a Viscount.”
“Yes,” Theo murmured, glancing over her fan to where the man had stopped, one group from her. Men were such odious creatures—after walking towards her with such deliberation, he ought to have found an excuse to be introduced. Instead, he was talking with Lady Bolton with every appearance of absorption.
“Come,” she said to Tabitha, linking that lady’s arm firmly with hers. “Penelope is not dancing and I’ve yet to speak with her.”
“Lady Peterborough?” Tabitha clarified, her earlier superiority dissolving. “You’re on first-name terms with Lady Peterborough?”
“We grew up on neighbouring estates.” Theo dragged Tabitha through the crowd towards Penelope, her path coincidentally taking her past the man. “Sheisten years older than me, to be sure, but I know her well. Besides, now I’ve married the Duke, she’s my sister-in-law.”
“Theo,” Penelope said affectionately when they arrived, kissing Theo’s cheek. “How nice to see you.” Her voice, unlike Elinor’s, was sincere. Elinor had married before Theo was out of leading strings, but Penelope had been a fixture of Theo’s early childhood, and the only one of Nathanial’s sisters who approved of the match. “What a crush! I declare I’ve never seen Almack’s so crowded.”
The man, who had looked up as Theo passed, now stared at her with a look of calculating surprise. Perhapsnowhe would approach.
“I’ve not seen so many gentlemen here all Season,” Lady Tabitha gushed. “Which is just as well—I find nothing is quite as much fun without gentlemen, don’t you?”
“Tabitha,” Theo said in exasperation, “do you think of nothing but beaus?”
“You’remarried,” Tabitha said as though it were obvious. “Of course you don’t have to consider how many gentlemen are present, or how many you dance with.”
“I’ve not been married long.”
“But you snagged a duke.” Tabitha sighed dreamily. “There are so few unattached dukes, you know—and none so handsome as the Duke of Norfolk.”
Theo started to dispute that, before stopping. As far as Penelope—in fact, as far as theton—was concerned, she was in love with Nathanial, and was no doubt obligated to think him the most handsome man in the room.
Starved of that option, she looked at Penelope, in the hopes Penelope might support her, but she found Penelope staring over her shoulder with a look of disgust and—was that fear?
“Lady Penelope,” a smooth voice said from behind them. It reminded her of honey, with a bite of pepper underneath. “What a pleasure to see you here.”
“I’m Lady Peterborough now,” Penelope said, pinching her lips together.
“Then allow me to present my congratulations.”
Theo turned, already knowing who she would see. And there he was: the man she’d seen from across the room in all his dark-haired beauty. Up close, he was perhaps more handsome than she’d imagined, with a straight nose and green flecks in his brown eyes. She judged him to be perhaps thirty, and his smile, when he turned it on her, was enough to melt her knees.
“I do not believe we’ve been introduced,” he said, raising his eyebrows at Penelope. “I find you to be keeping excellent company this time we meet, Cousin.”
Cousin?A frown puckered Theo’s brow. She hadn’t been aware of any cousins in Nathanial’s family—and certainly none of this calibre. Allshehad were female cousins, and she had never felt the deprivation so keenly.
“This is the Duchess of Norfolk,” Penelope said pointedly. “Nathanial’s bride.”
“Then it appears I have two sets of congratulations to offer.” He raised her hand and pressed it to his lips. “Duchess.”
“Theo, meet Sir Montague Radcliffe,” Penelope said. “Our cousin.”
“It appears I arrived back in England at the right time,” he said, his eyes never leaving Theo’s.
“This is Lady Tabitha,” Theo said. Her voice was slightly breathless.
“A pleasure,” Sir Montague said, bowing over Lady Tabitha’s hand. He glanced back up and his gaze found Theo’s again. “Might I have the pleasure of this dance, Duchess?”
She glanced at Penelope, but Penelope was too engaged in looking across the room at her sisters and Nathanial, and so she accepted with a smile.
“I see you have the fortune to have married into the family,” he said as he led her out onto the dancefloor. “Once again, allow me to offer my congratulations. I shall be certain to congratulate my cousin—I had not thought him capable of so dazzling a match.”
“I’m not dazzling at all,” Theo told him bluntly, drawing a surprised, genuine smile from him. “Quite the contrary, in fact. I’m surprised no one has mentioned it.”
