Uncles?Uncles!Why was it that that wee bit of information hadn’t surfaced sooner? Roslynn wondered angrily. She certainly wouldn’t have come here if she had known the Malorys werethatclose to Regina Eden. Their niece. Hell’s teeth!
The uneasiness was palatable with four in their group, the Wartons and Frances. Justin in fact made haste to leave with his womenfolk, protectively getting his sister out of the presence of two such notorious rakes. Roslynn could almost wish she had someone to look after her so diligently, someone to whisk her away from this present encounter. But she held her own. Not by look or word did she reveal that she was just as uneasy with the situation. Frances was not so inscrutable, however. Tight-lipped, curt during the introductions, her animosity for these two men couldn’t have been more apparent, and she wasted little time in making her own excuses and moving on to the next group of people.
Which left Roslynn in a horrid predicament. To depart as well would have been grossly rude at this point. So she had to stand there, for a while at least, and suffer both Malorys’ close scrutiny. And neither of them had any compunctions about openly staring at her.
Neither did James feel it necessary to ignore what had just happened. “I do believe the lass is embarrassed for us, Tony. You needn’t be, Lady Roslynn.My brother and I are quite immune to such reactions.”
“Youmight be, old man,” Anthony remarked with a definite sparkle in his cobalt eyes. “I for one could do with a little sympathy.”
Roslynn was left with no doubt as to what kind of sympathy he would like, since he was looking directly at her when he said it. She couldn’t help smiling. He couldn’t even wait until he found her alone to press his seduction. Nowthatwas incorrigible.
Regina must have thought so too. “Now, Tony, you promised you’d behave.”
“And so I am,” he protested in all innocence. “If I was inclined to do as is my wont, puss, you’d have a scandal on your hands.”
Roslynn had the feeling he was quite serious, even though Regina laughed as if he were teasing her. “You’re going to scare her off, Tony, if you’re not careful.”
“Not at all,” Roslynn demurred.
“There, you see, sweet?” James put in. “You can feel free to run along and attend to your hostessing. The lady will be quite safe in our hands.”
“Oh. I never doubted it for a minute,” Regina said, only to add in parting, “Nicholas, don’t let either of them out of your sight.”
“Splendid.” Nicholas scowled.
James chuckled. “A decided lack of trust, that.”
“Unfortunately warranted,” Nicholas grumbled beneath his breath.
“I do believe he still hasn’t forgiven us, Tony,” James said.
“Speak for yourself, brother. All I did was point out to him that it would be detrimental to his health if he didn’t marry Reggie. You, on the other hand,were responsible for his being confined to bed for several weeks, not to mention your dragging him home from the West Indies when he proved such a reluctant spouse.”
“I was never—”
Roslynn interrupted Nicholas’ snarl. “Before this gets out of hand, I think I’ll just—”
Anthony didn’t let her finish. “An excellent idea. While they squabble to their heart’s content, you and I shall see what’s blooming in the conservatory.”
Without giving her a chance to refuse, Anthony took her arm and began escorting her from the room. They moved no more than five feet before she tried to draw away from him. He wasn’t letting go.
“Sir Anthony—”
“You’re not going to turn coward on me, are you?” His voice sounded near her ear.
Roslynn bristled that he should make it a challenge. “I simply don’t want to leave the room with you.”
“But you will.”
She stopped walking, forcing him to either drag her behind him or stop as well. He stopped, and the tiniest hint of a grin appeared as he bent his head to hers.
“Let me put it this way, sweetheart. Either I kiss you in the conservatory or I kiss you right here, right now. Whichever way, Iamgoing to take you in my arms and—”
“The devil you are!” Roslynn got out before she noticed how many people were suddenly watching them. “Very well,” she amended in a quiet hiss. “I would like to see the conservatory, but there’ll be no kissing, you scoundrel, and I’ll have your promise first.”
His grin was wide and bold now. “Come along, then.”
And he continued to escort her, stopping here and there to have a few words with people he knew, as if they were only strolling through the rooms. Roslynn caught Frances’ eye along the way, and her friend’s expression was quite disapproving and rightly so. But Roslynn didn’t want to press her luck by trying again to extricate herself from this situation. Whether Anthony really would have kissed her in front of everyone was a moot point. She simply couldn’t take the chance.
