Aunt glared at him. “Itwasa lovely day.”
His smile was much calmer than Georgie felt. “It was.”
“But how were you introduced?” her mother asked in her velvety company voice.
“Well, you see,” Greyville said with a duck of his head. “Lady Georgianna not only saved the ball my girls were kicking about, keeping it from the Serpentine by no more than a kick of her foot?—”
Georgie thought she might kill him. She would hear about unsightly behavior later.
“—but also, possibly my youngest little cousin Amelia, who went charging after the ball. It was a gift from her papa, you see. She has been known to sleep with it.”
Good lord, Georgie thought, seeing the softening of his audience’s expressions.It’s working. How dare he be so smooth?
“Your cousin Peter’s girls?” Georgie’s mama asked, her expression completely unruffled.
“Yes, Lady Clevedon. I admit I am not proficient at childcare yet, having only returned home from the battlefield.” Blast if he didn’t look perfectly sincere. All the while he was igniting fresh chills just from the timbre of his voice. “The closest I’ve ever come to this kind of business has been keeping subalterns in line. I fear I wasn’t watching closely enough. I am more than grateful that Lady Georgianna was. When I realized I had a few minutes today, I thought I would attempt a formal introduction so I might properly thank her. I hope you don’t mind.”
And then he unleashed a smile on the older women that would have melted brick. Georgie found herself wanting to stare again. Good heavens. How could anyone have teeth so straight and white? Especially someone who had been making do fromone battle to the next for the last ten years. It simply was not fair. It didn’t help that as she assessed his teeth, she was running her tongue over her own left canine where it encroached on its neighbor.
“Consider yourself introduced,” Aunt Berenice said with an imperious wave of her hand.
“Thank you, Aunt Berenice,” Georgie said.
She was just about to sit down when she caught sight of two waving females through the garden windows. “Er, would it be acceptable for us to take a short walk?”
Georgie almost put her hand over her own mouth. Her mother had suddenly lit up like sunrise. Oh lord, how did she eventually tell her mama what they were really doing for this man?Not that kind of walk, she wanted to say. Not that it would make a difference.
“Of course,” her mother readily agreed. “The garden is not big, but it is at its prettiest right now.”
Rising, Greyville gave another brief bow. “Thank you. I have several messages to deliver from Sophie and Amelia.”
Georgie was feeling ambivalent about going off with Greyville, and not just because her mother was certain to get the wrong idea. Because Greyville might. Even so, she acquiesced with the grace her mama and her aunt—to be fair, mostly her aunt, since her mama was so involved in her projects—had relentlessly impressed on her and took Greyville’s proffered arm.
“Are those the famous cousins I saw out the window?” he asked as they left the salon for the garden door. “The Kings?”
“They are,” was all she was willing to say until they reached them.
“Reinforcements?” Greyville asked, his voice dry as Georgie’s throat.
She refused to feel bad. “Believe me when I tell you that you would rather meet Charlie and Eddie than suffer the interrogation from my aunt for being alone with me for more than five minutes,” she said as she guided Greyville out the garden door to reveal Charlie and Eddie waiting by the rosebushes.
She didn’t even get a chance to perform formal introductions before Charlie set the tone, hands on hips. “Well, no wonder Priscilla doesn’t want to marry you,” she said, giving Greyville a thorough examination, the only thing missing a lorgnette. “You’d frighten the daylights out of her.”
Greyville’s answer was no more than a raised eyebrow.
Georgie sighed. “My lord,” she said. “May I present Miss Charlotte Packham and Miss Edwina Packham? Charlie, Eddie, I suspect you already know who the Marquess of Coleford is.”
Both dipped perfect curtsies.
“Grey,” he immediately intervened. “Or Greyville.”
“Not used to being a marquess yet?” Charlie asked. “I imagine all the sudden bowing and scraping can be a bit off-putting.”
Georgie wasn’t certain Grey’s eyebrow would ever resume its normal position. “Indeed.”
“How did you fare with the Twin Terrors?” Charlie asked.
“If we are here to help him,” Eddie interjected, “We might wish to start. The mothers will not give us much time. In fact, one of them is watching out the window even as we speak.”
