He did not seem to take any offense. “Remarkably, the answer is no.”
She tapped her chin, considering. “You have some sort of grudge against my brother… or perhaps my father… and hope to exact your revenge by ruining me?”
He inclined his head. “That does sound like something I would do. But it is not, in this case, correct.”
She spread her hands. “Then I’m afraid you have me at a loss.”
He took a moment to consider his words, the corner of his mouth twitching. “Let’s just say that I am… curious.”
She arched a brow. “About?”
“What I should like to know is whether you have any idea what you said to Cecil Darlington the other day.”
She gave him an odd look. “Of course, I do. It was only three days ago, after all.”
He sported a smug sort of smirk. “What was it, then?”
Fine. She would humor him. “I called him an exceptionally small sort of man.”
He waved a hand. “By which you meant…?”
She gave him an isn’t-it-obvious sort of look. “By which I meant that he is not in possession of a Herculean physique.”
He barked out a laugh. “Except that isn’t what you said.”
She was growing annoyed. “I beg your pardon, that isexactlywhat I said.”
“With your words, yes,” he acknowledged. “But your eyes told a different story.”
Her eyes did the talking now, by rolling up toward the ceiling. “How glad I am to have a man come along and explain to me what I really meant.”
That earned her a chuckle. “A vexing habit, I’m sure. I should say, rather, what itappearedthat you meant. Did you not find the reaction of Darlington’s friends to be rather disproportionate to the severity of your remark?”
Come to think of it, his friends had kicked up quite a fuss about a fairly mundane quip.
She looked at Lucian sharply. “What did they believe I meant, then?”
He looked amused by whatever it was he was about to tell her. “As you spoke, you cast a significant look toward Cecil’s cock.”
Rosalie felt her cheeks heating. She knew he was a scoundrel, but she still couldn’t believe he had used that word to her face! “I… suppose I might have done. Unintentionally, mind you. I was assessing his physique as a whole.”
“Hmm. Well, I can confirm that it seemed as if you were implying that he was hung not like a stallion, but rather a field mouse.”
Rosalie shot to her feet. She could not believe that he would mention Cecil’s… His…
He was wrong! She would never have implied… Oh, but she had, hadn’t she? Her decision to sweep her gaze down the length of Cecil’s body… She could see now that it had been a mistake.
“I didn’t…” she began. “I wouldn’t!”
He held his hands toward her, palms out. “I know. But you must keep your voice down, as well as your head.”
She knew he was right, that she was in danger of being spotted. If she wanted to remain hidden, she needed to sit down at once and resume whispering.
Except, hot shame was coursing through her. A moment ago, she had thought Lucian had pulled her in here because, through some inexplicable turn of events, he was desirous of her company.
She now knew that she was merely the butt of his jest. That he had sought out her company in order to laugh at her.
Suddenly, she didn’t want to be secreted away in an alcove with this man.
