“Then why in blazes did youask?”
“I didn’t ask. I stated.”
Argyll rocked back on his heels.
He’d always done the unnerving of people. He’d never found himself on the other end of it—until Miss Kearsley. He quite loathed the experience.
“You’re searching for Miss Caldecott. You will not find her.”
Actually, he hadn’t been. “I was considering the quickest path away from you.”
“It’s obviously that one.” She pointed a bloodless finger at the southernmost doors. “But first, we are to marry.”
We.
The lady nodded. “You and I.”
He drew back.
Well, never say she hadn’t done him one favor this night.
Argyll moved with measured strides for the exit Miss Kearsley still gestured at.
He made it in a single pace.
“You are leaving?”
The pitter-patter of slippered feet echoed along the terrace, frantic where Argyll walked with a slow purpose.
“Wait!” Miss Kearsley put herself in his path.
She held a white palm at him. Her huge, dark eyes filled her face more than the full moon ever could the sky.
The spring wind stirred; it lightly tossed the lady’s gauzy black skirts. The jet crystal beading that dangled from her sleeves tinkled eerily in the night, transforming the debutante into some evil enchantress.
“This is not progressing how I saw it.”
Which meant someone orchestrated this little interlude between them?
The coiled muscles in him contracted. “Howdidyou see it play out, Miss Kearsley?”
Argyll took a drink.
“In truth? I only saw the end part, when you agreed to marry me. We are meant to wed one another.”
Specks of champagne exploded from his mouth. Gasping, his eyes watering, Argyll strangled to breathe. “God.”
A surprisingly capable palm landed hard on Argyll’s back.
“Shh. Shh.” Her thumps came timed with her monotone assurances. Or he supposed they were intended as assurances. “Do not worry. This is not how you die, Gregory.”
Gregory?
The bizarre chit sent him into a fresh paroxysm.
While he choked, she continued on in her toneless way. “Your death will—”
“My God!” he blanched. He tripped over himself in his haste to put distance between them.
