"Van!" Edward crossed the room to press a kiss to her cheek, breaking her eye contact with Martin and giving her a moment to compose herself. "You look lovely. Trying to impress someone, are we?" His eyes flickered meaningfully to Lord Deane.
"I am always trying to impress someone. It is the burden of being a woman in society."
"Spoken like a true philosopher." Edward grinned, then turned to Lord Deane. "Deane, so good to see you. I trust you have been keeping my sister entertained?"
"I have been attempting to, Lord Wayworth." There was something slightly stiff in Lord Deane's voice now, a formality that had not been present moments before. "Though I suspect Lady Vanessa requires very little assistance in that regard."
"True enough. Van has never had trouble entertaining herself." Edward clapped Lord Deane on the shoulder with casual familiarity. "Come, let me introduce you to my father. He has been eager to discuss some investment opportunity or another, something about shipping concerns, I believe. You have interests in that area, do you not?"
"I…yes, I have some modest holdings in…"
"Excellent. Father will be delighted. He has quite exhausted poor Mother’s patience with his particulars and she has forbidden him from speaking of it in her presence."
He steered Lord Deane away with practiced ease, leaving Vanessa suddenly, terrifyingly alone with Martin.
"Little Wayworth." The nickname fell from his lips with that familiar, teasing lilt…but was there something different in hisvoice tonight? Some undercurrent she had not heard before? "We meet again."
"Lord Montehood." She was proud of how steady her voice sounded. "Welcome to our home."
"I have always enjoyed visiting the Wayworth residence." He moved closer, not inappropriately close, but close enough that she could smell the familiar scent of sandalwood that clung to his clothes. "The company is invariably... stimulating."
"Stimulating?" She raised an eyebrow, falling back on their usual banter like a shield. "Is that your way of saying we argue too much?"
"I would never say such a thing. I find our arguments deeply edifying." His grey eyes glinted with something that might have been amusement, or might have been something else entirely. "They keep me sharp. One cannot allow one's wits to grow dull."
"And have mercy if your wits should ever be anything less than razor-sharp."
"Exactly. I knew you would understand." He smiled…that devastating smile that had been haunting her since she was sixteen and Vanessa felt her carefully constructed composure begin to crack.
He is acting normally,she told herself.This is exactly how he always acts. Teasing. Charming. Infuriating. There is nothing different about tonight.
But was there something different about the way he was looking at her? Something in his gaze that lingered a moment too long, that seemed to be searching for something beneath the surface?
Or was she simply imagining things, seeing meaning where there was none?
"You seem tense," Martin observed, his voice dropping to something more private. "Is something troubling you?"
"Nothing at all. I am merely tired. It has been a long week."
"Has it?" His head tilted slightly, that searching look intensifying. "Anything in particular?"
Yes. I spent three days convinced that you had read six years' worth of my letters showing my devotion to you. I barely slept. I barely ate. I contemplated moving to the Americas.
"Nothing specific," she said. "Simply the usual exhaustion of the Season."
"Ah. The Season." He nodded slowly. "Yes, I imagine it must be draining. All those eligible gentlemen paying court. All those decisions to be made." His gaze flickered across the room to where Lord Deane stood talking to her father. "Speaking of which,Deane seems rather attentive this evening."
"Lord Deane is always attentive. It is one of his qualities."
"One of his many qualities, I am sure." There was something in Martin's tone, something she could not quite identify.
“He is a man of the most exemplary character, from what I am led to believe. He is gentle, upright, and possesses great faithfulness. Indeed, he is the very sort of gentleman who would make a fine match.”
The words were quite harmless enough, but the way he said them, the slight edge beneath the pleasant surface made Vanessa look at him more closely.
"You do not approve of Lord Deane?"
"I did not say that."
