Lady Genevieve’s introduction was cut short by the low bow from the man in question. “Greenville.” He finished for her. “Lord Henry Greenville.”
He smiled, as if absurdly pleased by the fact, and Cortland started to wonder if he had to be threatened by this man at all. If he wasn’t mistaken, Lord Henry, with his curly blond hair and blue eyes, might prefer the company of other men. His lips twitched as he suppressed his merriment. In fact, he was quite sure of it.
His gaze shifted to Lady Genevieve, and he offered her a speaking glance that she must have appropriately interpreted, because her cheeks colored slightly. He turned back to Henry and offered the slightest of smiles. “Charmed.”
To his surprise, Lord Henry’s cheeks colored as well.
Yes, definitely no threat there when it came to Lady Genevieve. But he might have to take care to ensure he didn’t give the wrong impression.
“Lady Genevieve. Might I have a word in private?”
He could see her visibly swallow as she glanced at Lady Arietta. “Of course, Your Grace.” She snatched a biscuit from the tray the footman held and grasped it as if it might somehow shield her from him.
How adorable.
He placed a hand at the small of her back and steered her toward the foyer, but before they made it that far, he looked around and pulled her into a shadowed alcove beneath the stairs.
Keeping her captive, trapped against the wall at her back and his body in front of her, he said, “If your attempt this evening was to make me jealous, then congratulations, my lady, you have succeeded admirably.”
Chapter 6
How Genevieve had longed to hear those words come from the Duke of Argyle’s lips. But she never imagined in a hundred years that they would actually be spoken.
When she had set out to reevaluate her plan regarding the duke, she hadn’t been sure what to do. It wasn’t until she’d arrived at Arietta’s house and Henry had stridden down the steps with the desire to join them, that the idea had struck her to engage his services as her escort. Although she had been hoping that the duke might already be there when they entered, her arm looped though his, she’d been sorely disappointed. But then, she decided that must have been his alternate method of courting her.
Nevertheless, she’d found Lord Henry to be an animated partner and had things been different, she might have considered the possibility of a bit of flirtation. But she knew her efforts would have been wasted. It didn’t take a scholar to discover that he preferred the company of his own sex. But he was kind and charming and took some of the sting out of Argyle’s absence.
And when he’d finally appeared, the furious glare she’d noticed on his face had been worth all her efforts.
However, since she couldn’t very well admit to it, she said, “I don’t know what you mean, Your Grace.”
He laughed darkly. “Come now, Lady Genevieve. We both know what your intentions were. It was the reason you pretended to hang on to your companion’s every word, knowing that I might walk in and see you at any moment.”
She snorted. “You hold your own self esteem entirely too high, Your Grace. Truth be told, Lord Henry is a very lovely man when it comes to conversing.”
“He may be,” he concurred. “But you will never get anywhere with him other than friendship. But with me—” He lifted his hand and ran the backs of his fingers down her cheek. She closed her eyes and leaned ever so slightly into the touch. “You can have it all.”
She was wavering, yearning to be with him in every way that mattered. However, she recalled the earl’s cautionary and opened her eyes as she forced herself to put her hands on his chest and move away from him. “I shall have to decline once again, Your Grace.”
“I’m you’re betrothed!”
Genevieve froze, halfway out of the alcove, as one of the biggest gossips in London passed by in that moment. Her brows lifted to her hairline as she glanced past Genevieve and spied the speaker behind her. Lady Avenly would have to be completely deaf not to have overheard the duke’s claim.
When the lady turned a corner, Genevieve spun back around to him. “Now you’ve done it!” she hissed.
He pretended all innocence as he tossed her earlier words back at her. “I don’t know what you mean, Lady Genevieve.”
“Ooh!” She stomped away from him, returning to the musicale, not bothering to see if he had remained for the performance or not. With a few words, he had effectively sealed their fate.
Cortland was half-afraid to check the gossip columns in the paper the next morning, because something told him that Lady Genevieve was right. He knew Lady Avenly’s reputation, her penchant for any sort of gossip that she could uncover, and considering he was caught alone with Lady Genevieve, in a secluded alcove, and boasted that he was her betrothed…
It was bound to end in disaster.
He opened the paper and flipped through the pages until he found what he’d been looking for. It was worse than he’d thought.
It is with good authority that this reporter proclaims an impending engagement between the Duke of Argyle and Lady Genevieve St. Giles. They were caught in a compromising position at the Darlington musicale last evening, which only begs the question – why has there yet to be an official announcement?
Blast. Cortland crumpled the paper in his fist and tossed it into the fire in his study. Reading the article, the accusation made it sound as though Genevieve was on the verge of being ruined, and that’s what might prompt an engagement, instead of the fact he had been the one to offer for her first.
