It was early afternoon when they arrived, quite the first to do so, but then few others were planning on staying over, living as near as they did. Frances opted to nap the rest of the afternoon. Roslynn gave the excuse she would do the same, yet once she was alone in the room allotted to her, she plopped herself down in front of a window facing the front of the house and anxiously watched the drive. Every arriving carriage was noted, every alighting male passenger thoroughly scrutinized. She even kept a close watch on the comings and goings of the servants, making sure no male missed her notice.
When Nettie entered much later to help her mistress prepare for the evening, her patience was tried to the limit by Roslynn’s fidgetiness and her constant running toward the window at the least sound of a new arrival. It was taking a good half hour just to complete Roslynn’s coiffure.
“And just who is it ye’re looking fer, I’d like tae be knowing, that ye canna sit still fer even two minutes?” Nettie finally demanded when Roslynn once again sat down at the dressing table in front of her.
“And who would I be watching for but my gentlemen?” Roslynn replied defensively. “Only Sir Artemus Shadwell has shown up so far.”
“If the others are coming, they’re coming, Yer watching fer them won’t change it.”
“I suppose,” Roslynn was forced to concede, since her answer had been a lie to begin with.
The truth was, since meeting Anthony Malory, she had given very little thought to her four “possibles.”Thatwould have to change.
Fortunately for her peace of mind, the last noiseshe had leaped up to investigate appeared to be the last carriage to arrive. With no other sound from out front, Nettie was able to help her into the sky-blue gown of silk she had chosen for tonight, generously complemented by the Cameron sapphires around her neck and delicate wrists, and Roslynn was able to release some of her tension.
By the time Frances joined her so they could go downstairs together, Roslynn was quite relaxed.Hewasn’t coming, and if there was an annoying twinge of disappointment accompanying that knowledge, Roslynn determinedly ignored it.
Lady Eden met them at the bottom of the wide stairway that rose from the large main hall to divide in the center, one section going to the front of the house where the guest rooms were, the other to the back of the house where the master bedrooms were located. A railinged walkway surrounded this hall on the second floor to reach the many rooms upstairs, leaving the whole area below visible from above, with a mammoth chandelier hanging from the center of the domed ceiling, at the moment glittering down on the white marble floor.
Roslynn was looking forward to a tour of the rest of the house, and Regina didn’t disappoint her, insisting her guests could wait. She further put Roslynn at ease with her bright chatter and charming manner as the three of them moved from room to room on the lower floors.
Silverley was an immense country house, almost castlelike with its central main block and corner turrets, but there was nothing medieval inside except perhaps the antique tapestries that graced many of the walls. It was tastefully furnished in different periods, Queen Anne and Chippendale dominating one room,Sheraton another, still another in a combination, including a few quaint French Provincial pieces. Roslynn was left with the impression of a home, not a showpiece, though the latter term could certainly be applied.
The tour ended at the back of the house where the guests were gathered, and simply standing in the small antechamber with its floor-to-ceiling stained-glass windows, they were able to see into the drawing room on the left, which opened into a music room beyond. A large dining room was on the right, and off that was a lovely conservatory, which Roslynn promised herself a closer look at later. But at the moment, what with guests roaming through these connecting rooms, all of which fronted a vast parkland behind the house, Regina was cornered into making introductions before they had even entered the drawing room.
“There is one neighbor of mine I think you’ll enjoy meeting,” Regina commented to Roslynn when she was finally able to usher her and Frances into the drawing room. “Not everyone hies off to London for the season, you know. I wouldn’t have gone myself if I hadn’t promised, but I’m glad I did since I got to meet you. And don’t worry, we’ll have a chance later to discuss what Nicholas had to say about the gentlemen you’re interested in.”
“I see only Sir Artemus, Ros,” Frances said uneasily, remembering how worried Roslynn had been about whether her “possibles” would be here or not.
“That’s true,” Regina said. “But there is still tomorrow, so I wouldn’t discount the other gentlemen yet. I did have acceptances from all four of them. But in the meantime, you really must meet Lord Warton. Nicholas is so jealous of him, you know. In fact, I wonder sometimes what would have happened if I hadmet Justin Warton first.” It was easy to see by her impish grin that she wasn’t in the least serious about that last statement.
“Justin’s not as old as your other gentlemen, Roslynn,” Regina continued. “Only about twenty-eight years old, I believe, but he’ssonice, I just know you’re going to like him. Devoted to his family and abhors London, so you wouldn’t have been able to meet him otherwise. He goes to town only once a year to take his mother and sister shopping, and that off season. Now where is he?” With her diminutive height, Regina had to stand on tiptoe to see over a few shoulders, but finally she smiled. “There, by the fireplace. Come along, m’dears.”
Roslynn took two steps and stopped abruptly. She had immediately seen the large, handsome man sitting on a cream-and-gold sofa near the fireplace, flanked on one side by a young woman with the same blond looks as he and on the other side by an older woman, obviously Lord Warton’s sister and mother, respectively. But she had in the next instant seen the two elegantly attired gentlemen several feet beyond, standing directly in front of the fireplace, the Malory brothers, and it was the dark one she locked eyes with, who made her pause, and groan, and feel the strangest rush of giddiness
It took the greatest effort to tear her eyes away from Anthony Malory and continue to follow her hostess, who hadn’t noticed her pause. She would have much preferred to turn around and retreat, rather than close the distance to a mere six feet from the fireplace where the sofa was situated, but there was no help for it. And since there wasn’t, she decided it would behoove her to concentrate on the Wartons, Justin Warton in particular, and to keep her back to the Malorys.
It was easy to see why Regina might think Justin would interest her. He was terribly handsome with his blond hair, strong, chiseled features, and the loveliest pair of dark indigo eyes, eyes that were frankly admiring as they lit upon Roslynn. He was also quite the tallest man she had ever met, as she discovered when he rose from the sofa to take her hand and bring it up to his lips. He was large, with wide, wide shoulders, and he was solidly put together, firmly muscled. But with his immense size, if it weren’t for his boyish smile and charming manner, he could have been quite intimidating.
As it was, he put Roslynn at ease immediately, and for several minutes she almost forgot who stood behind her—almost. The trouble was, she could actually feel those sensual eyes roaming over her body, could see them in her mind’s eye as they had looked at her that night of the Crandal ball. Looked? No—devouredher across the space of a room, as they did now from only a few feet away. It was all she could do not to imagine whathewas imagining as he gazed at her.
The interruption by a new arrival was a welcome distraction. “There you are, love,” Nicholas Eden said as he slipped a possessive arm around his wife’s tiny waist. “Why is it that whenever I leave the room, this big clod always manages to show up at your side?”
Whether he was jesting or serious was not evident either by his expression or tone, but Justin Warton didn’t take offense. He laughed instead, as if he were used to such comments from his host.
“If I was of a mind to steal her away from you, Montieth, you’d know it,” Justin replied with a wink for Regina, who was taking these remarks in stride.
“Now don’t start, either of you,” Regina admonished lightly. “Or you’ll have these ladies believing you’re serious. They’re not, you know, not at all,” she confided to her guests. “This, if you haven’t guessed, is my husband.” And she went on to complete the introductions, for although Frances knew of him, she had never actually met him.
Roslynn had expected someone as beautiful as Regina Eden to have an exceptionally handsome husband, and the Fourth Viscount Eden of Montieth was certainly that. He had gold-streaked brown hair and light brown eyes that glowed like amber each time they rested on his wife, and it was easy to see how he could have been called a rake as recently as a year ago and lived up to the reputation, and just as easy to see that he was now quite domesticated and thoroughly in love with his wife. What was surprising was that he was so young, no more than a few years older than she, Roslynn guessed, and yet his manner was that of an older man; in fact, he reminded her distinctly of Sir Anthony, which brought that rakehell promptly back into her thoughts.
“Come now, puss, how long do you intend to ignore us?” Anthony’s deep voice suddenly broke into a lull in the conversation.
“All bloody night, if I have anything to say about it,” Nicholas retorted none too pleasantly.
For a heart-stopping moment, Roslynn had thought Anthony was addressing her. But Nicholas’ surprising reply, which earned him a sharp jab in the ribs from his wife, disabused her of that giddy notion.
“Oh, bother, must I always play referee?” Regina said to no one in particular, then promptly flounced over to the fireplace and gave each Malory brother a kiss. “As if anyonecouldignore either of you for very long,” she added with a laugh. “But I don’tsuppose for a minute that it’s my attention you’re so impatient for. Come along, then, and I’ll introduce you.” She hooked an arm through each of theirs and dragged them forward. “Lady Frances, I don’t believe you’ve met my uncles, James and Anthony Malory, have you?”
