“Suit yourself,” Drew said with a shrug.
Boyd narrowed his eyes on him.“Isshe pretty?”
“What’s it matter?” Drew countered offhandedly. “The wench is here to catch a husband, remember? Or are you ready to settle down?”
Boyd gave that a moment’s thought. “Unlike you, I don’t have a sweetheart in every port, so I wouldn’t mind having a pretty wife to sail home to. Remember, I’m not the one who said he was never getting hitched, that was you. But when I do settle down, it sure as hell won’t be with a wench whose father is a pirate.”
“Good point,” Drew agreed. “Considering we’re in shipping of the legitimate sort, I’d say Clinton might object if you try to bring a pirate into the family. No reason to get permanently on his bad side, after all.”
“Oh, so now you’re making it a dare?” Boyd said in a belligerent tone.
Drew rolled his eyes. “Go on to bed. If you’re looking for a fight to round off your overindulgences, at least wait until you’re sober.”
“Bad idea,” Boyd grumbled. “Then I’ll feel it too much. Maybe Malory will oblige me instead.”
“Oh, well, why didn’t you say you just want to die,” Drew replied dryly.
Chapter 13
GABRIELLE LOOKED AROUND THE GLITTERING BALLROOM.A soiree one night, a grand ball the next. When Georgina had told her that they probably wouldn’t spend a single evening at home for the rest of the Season, she hadn’t been joking. Which was fine with Gabrielle. She wanted many choices for the matrimonial list she was going to create, and the more events they attended, the more bachelors she would have a chance to meet.
She’d already met two new gentlemen this evening, and three more had signed her card. She would be able to talk to them later when they danced. But just now she was staring at the man across the ballroom whom she couldn’t get out of her thoughts.
For an American sea captain, Drew Anderson certainly made a dashing figure in his black evening clothes. She was surprised at how well he fit in, as if he were a member of the ton. It was actually impossible to tell he was American until you heard his accent. Not that it mattered to the women present. The man was far too handsome. He had women, young and old, trying to catch his eye.
Right now he was talking to a lovely lady he’d just finished dancing with. He hadn’t askedherto dance. He’d barely said two words to her, actually, since they’d arrived at this ball.
Of course, her dance card had filled up immediately, but he could have asked her to save him a dance before they arrived. They’d ridden there in the same coach with Georgina, after all. He’d had plenty of opportunity. And it was the polite thing to do, even if he didn’t really want to dance with her. But all he’d done was give her a nasty look when she’d come downstairs earlier, and she knew she looked exceptionally pretty in the new ball gown that had arrived just in time this evening.
Icy-blue satin in color with embroidered roses in a glittering pink thread that trailed along the seams, the gown had arrived with matching slippers and matching ribbons for her hair. She’d already heard several people say that she was definitelythesensation of the evening. But did Drew Anderson think so? Evidently not, she’d say, after the nasty look he’d given her, and after what she’d overheard today.
She’d heard too much. And to think, she wouldn’t have heard any of that conversation between the two brothers if she’d just slept a little longer, as Margery had suggested. But no, she’d woken up hungry after only picking at the plate of food Drew had brought her at Regina’s soiree last night. Not that she hadn’t been hungry then, too, but he’d somehow managed to fill her plate with every food she didn’t like.
She’d come downstairs this morning in time to hear Boyd Anderson tell his brother, “You’re much better than I am at being bored.” Drew didn’t look bored now; he looked quite interested in the lady he was still talking to, but the remark had been in relation to her and his having to escort her. “Considering we’re in shipping of the legitimate sort, I’d say Clinton might object if you try to bring a pirate into the family.”
They both found her contemptible, obviously. That didn’t hurt her—not too much, anyway. But it did infuriate her. They didn’t know her, they didn’t know her father. How dare they judge either of them out of hand like that!
“A sweetheart in every port.” “Never getting hitched.” She understood perfectly now. Drew Anderson was a cad. And he foundhercontemptible?
“You’re scaring all the eligible men away with a scowl like that,” she heard Drew say. “A penny for your thoughts.”
She looked up and saw him standing beside her. She’d stopped staring at him for only a moment. How had he managed to cross the room so fast? If she’d seen him coming, she would have moved off in another direction. She didn’treallywant to talk to him.
“My thoughts would cost you more’n that,” she said in a dismissive tone, and glanced away.
“How much more?” he persisted.
“More than you can possibly afford.”
“A pity. I was hoping for some sort of amusement to break the tedium.”
She drew in her breath sharply and glanced back at him. “So you think my thoughts would amuse you? You think they’re filled with silly—”
“I never said that,” he cut in.
“You didn’t have to. It was implied in your tone,” she said, then added under her breath, “No more than one can expect from a brute.”
Apparently he heard her, because he actually sighed. “Is every man a brute to you?”
