“Lady Thalia,” he began, but the dance changed again, and he found Joyce in his arms.
“You seem especially captivated by the girl,” Joyce said, a smile curving her lips, though her eyes remained hard. “I’m starting to wonder if you ought to have followed through and married her.”
“I have no intention of marrying anyone,” he said evenly.
She placed one gloved hand on his arm, leaning in a little. “No? You are making people wonder what might be going on betweenthe two of you. Oh, don’t look at me like that. One mustn’t shoot the messenger, you know.”
Elsewhere, further down the line, Lydia laughed. He was here for her, not himself, and it was hardly as though he aspired toward winning Thalia’s hand in marriage.
He had no desire to marry her. Or anyone.
Especially not her. She tempted him altogether too much. That audacious head-tilt made him want to compel her to surrender, and that was an inappropriate mindset.
He said nothing more to Thalia when they met in the dance, and neither did she, though a blush stained her cheeks periodically.
Then, as soon as the dance ended, she practically fled from the floor, putting as much distance between them as was physically possible.
CHAPTER 6
Thalia gasped as though she had run a race, though in actuality she had just escaped the Duke’s presence.
What presence he had… it was near choking in its intensity. Those gray eyes pierced her soul. It was as though he embodied the wolf he dressed as, stalking her, about to strike at any second.
And the way he had touched her.Heavens above. All of it is appropriate, yet indecent at the same time.
How had he achieved such a thing?
Elliot found her and held out a glass of lemonade. She took it and tossed it back immediately, moistening her dry throat. The sourness made her wince.
“Well?” he asked. “Care to enlighten me?”
“About what?”
“Come now; don’t play the idiot with me, it doesn’t suit you. The Duke. You. The way he looked at you.”
“You agree he looked at me oddly?”
“My dear, he looked at you as though he wanted to eat you. Take it from me, that is the way a man looks when he is interested in the person he is looking at.”
“I have never seen you look at anyone in that way,” she said, suddenly interested.
“That’s because you haven’t been watching closely,” he said, and patted her arm. “Not to worry. I’m sure it means nothing.”
“Absolutely nothing,” Thalia agreed, toying with her empty glance.
But when she glanced up, the Duke was standing close to Lady Rivenhall, his head lowered, his attention fixed with an ease that unsettled her.
A bolt of annoyance swept through her at his obvious intimacy with her. Obviously, they knew each other well. Still, she guessed that Lady Rivenhall was too old for the Duke, particularly if he wanted an heir. She already had a full-grown child; there would be little chance of her having another.
She chastised herself again for caring one way or the other. What did it matter to her who he chose to spend his time with?
Not at all, that was what.
“Ah, excuse me,” Elliot said, peering over her shoulder. “I must go and speak to Mr. Greenway.”
He gave her a brief bow and disappeared back into the crowd.
Thalia huffed a long breath, but before she could think any more about it, her father appeared by her side with a sneer on his face.
