And… It made her feel a little more comfortable to be amongst them.
All of the ladies were kind and welcoming, and although every gentleman present was titled in one way or another, Lydia quickly gathered that this event was not really atonishone at all. It was more of a business affair—business among friends—if she were to go by the bits of conversation she’d taken part in so far.
Lydia swallowed a sip of the sherry Lord Baxter had procured for her and glanced toward the door for the hundredth time.Where is he?
Clarissa intercepted her gaze and winced.
When the countess had visited two days before, and Lydia told her she’d seen Jeremy again, Clarissa had guessed the rest of the details on her own. Most of the general details, anyhow.Lydia had not relayed that she had sat on Jeremy’s lap, nor what she’d done while she’d sat there.
Clarissa had dissolved into a fit of giggles when she told her about the vase.
Lydia had leapt up off of Jeremy and tried collecting the pieces, hoping there was some way the vase could be patched together, but Jeremy had knelt beside her on the floor and halted her efforts.
“What’s done is done,” he’d said. “No use hurting yourself trying to glue it back together.” And then he’d drawn her back to sit beside him on the comfortable settee and settled his arm around her shoulders.
Lydia had been certain his butler would interrupt them, especially after hearing the sound of shattering porcelain. But they had been left alone, leaving her to contemplate what the two of them had done and what it had meant.
To cover for her nervousness, she’d asked him about Ollie and then described her plans for the orphanage’s uniforms. He’d grown suspiciously silent, so with nothing else to babble about, she’d leapt up from the settee and made to leave.
And of course, he’d insisted on driving her home. “I don’t know what Blackheart was thinking, leaving you for so long without protection,” he pointed out yet again.
Lydia had not reminded him that, if her brother was here, there was no way she’d have been left alone with him that afternoon. And if they had not been left alone, they would not have done… whatever that was called. It had not been intercourse and most assuredly went far beyond kissing. It had simply been…
Wicked.
“What are you thinking?” he’d asked while they’d waited in the foyer for his carriage to be brought around. She had answered with nothing more than a mysterious smile. Since hehad not raised the subject of the nature of their relationship, she’d not broached it either.
Three days had passed since that afternoon in his drawing room on Cork Street, and she’d not seen or heard from him even once.
“Is that the Earl of Tempest?” Lady Westerley asked, flicking her gaze toward the door discreetly.
The sound of Jeremy’s name summoned Lydia’s attention immediately.
She twisted around again, and at last, the evening held promise.
“Yes,” Lydia answered. “That’s him.”
A CELEBRATION
Lydia watched as his gaze scanned the room, and the moment it landed on her, he paused, his eyes warming to the color of dark chocolate.
He’d told her that, for the two of them, a future together was impossible, but he was wrong.
The hint of a smile dancing on his lips sent pleasant tingles racing down her spine.
Not impossible at all.
When Lord Westerley stepped forward to greet Jeremy, congratulating hand outstretched, the almost unworldly connection between her and Jeremy was broken, leaving Lydia feeling momentarily bereft.
But then she realized that this was something of a special moment for him, and her disappointment was swept away and replaced with unexpected contentment.
The other gentlemen guests stepped forward as well to express their appreciation, and he was quickly surrounded. Slaps on the back ensued, and Westerley pressed a glass into his hand.
When Lydia next managed to catch a glimpse of the man of the hour, she almost laughed out loud at his expression ofconfusion and disbelief. He hadn't expected this. Lydia held herself back, happy to witness his triumph.
She didn't really understand the significance of purchasing a shipping company, or why it had been so important, but it was obvious he'd met with great success. Watching him receiving the honor of his contemporaries warmed her heart.
As Lady Westerley edged up beside her, Lydia couldn’t help but ask, “I realize they are all invested, but it’s not as though they have profited yet, have they?”
