“It appears not,” Gabe said.
“Hold on, my love.” Alex mimicked a credible woman’s voice.
Alex was entertaining, at one point leaping off the chair and grabbing a long piece of material that was draped along the back of the sofa. He wrapped it around his neck.
“A prop, really, Alex?” his brother heckled. “Can your voice not carry you?”
“The problem is that his wife once told him he had a voice fit for stage,” Lady Levermarch said. “It’s led to delusions of grandeur.”
“Hannah is tone deaf,” Benjamin added.
Gabe laughed and had to admit that he was enjoying himself. Abby was grinning and clapping enthusiastically through the entire performance. Dimity was frowning.
“Tolerable performance, Alexander. And now Lord Raine will read,” the duchess said, thumping her cane in appreciation.
“No, I won’t.”
“If you are here, you read.”
“Then I shall leave.”
“I never took you for a coward, Raine,” she needled, but Gabe had been insulted by far worse than her. His brothers had been insulting him since they were in short pants.
“There are many others happy to make fools of themselves, Duchess. No need for me to do so also,” Gabe said calmly. “After all, I brought the book they are reading from, so that allows me a boon, surely?”
“Scared, Raine?” Alexander taunted him.
“Not at all, but unlike you, Hetherington, I have no wish to make a fool of myself. And that chair will never hold me.”
“I will go next.” Lady Levermarch winked at him. “And you can take the time to grow a spine, Raine.”
“Saved by the shrew,” Benjamin said. “Where is the food?”
“Perhaps we should send someone to find it?” Cambridge added, still lounging on the floor with Walter.
“Ben, a hand if you please,” Lady Levermarch said, holding out hers.
Her brother-in-law hurried forward to help her up onto the chair.
“She must have caused mayhem when she first entered society,” Abby whispered, her eyes on the golden-haired beauty.
“She did, but mainly for her antics. Phoebe liked to do horse tricks in the park dressed in breeches. Her groom used to be in a circus, you see, and she coerced him into teaching her,” Alexander said.
“She’s stunning,” Dimity whispered as Lady Levermarch began. She changed voices with each character and put on a credible performance. Her beauty held the eye, but she was also humorous.
“Beauty and wit. One hopes there is not a brain also,” Michael declared.
“Unfortunately, yes,” Alex said. “She can outwit most people.”
“Run, my darling Lady Nauticus!” Lady Levermarch cried. “I shall find you after I rid us of the pack of ferocious stoats.”
Beside him, Dimity giggled.
“I assure you, this a very serious piece of literary art.” Gabe leaned over and whispered the words to her. Her scent was clean and not like many he encountered most evenings. She smelled like meadows and open spaces.
And you are an idiot.How could the scent of a woman’s skin conjure up that?
“Are you a lover of literature, Miss Brown?”
