And she was doing it while Georgie was desperately trying to regain her composure, even as the fire Greyville lit in her still raged. Her mouth tingled. Her fingers tingled. Places in her body she had never even acknowledged before positively throbbed like hot embers. All she could think about was the taste of Grey’s kiss, his scent. His smile. And her aunt was busy destroying Georgie’s reputation.
She had to focus.
If only Greyville wasn’t still standing so close, his scent tempting her all over again.
“Well?” Aunt Berenice trumpeted for the second or third time. Georgie wasn’t quite sure.
“Aunt Berenice,” Eddie whispered, grabbing her aunt’s sleeve.
“What?” Aunt Berenice demanded, whipping around.
Eddie tilted her head to include the small crowd that had gathered at their end of the ballroom when they should have been in the foyer donning cloaks and looking for their carriages. “Not here.”
“This is no business of yours,” Aunt Berenice accused them all, the feather in her gold turban quivering with her outrage. She made shooing motions with her arms. “Go along. Don’t let your horses be kept standing.”
There were some knowing smiles, but about half of them bowed to Aunt Berenice’s glower and faded away. The rest wouldn’t be moved by anything short of cannon fire.
“Now,” Georgie’s aunt barked, turning back to her prey. “What is this all about?”
“As I said,” Greyville said with a smile and a slight bow. “You may wish us happy.”
“You maynot,” Georgie insisted under her breath, panic exploding in her chest. At least it cleared her head, not to mention the uncomfortable throbbing.
Her aunt leveled the kind of glare that should have melted Georgie’s pearls. “Oh, I believe we must,” she declared. “But we shall do it at home like civilized people. Coleford, you may follow us there. Lady Georgianna’s father will be delighted to speak with you.”
“No, hewon’t,” Georgie retorted, her voice thinning with distress.
She got another glare. “Don’t be ridiculous. Now, come along.”
“Might I speak to Georgianna for a moment first?” Greyville asked.
“No!” both Georgie and her aunt snapped.
“What happened?” Charlie demanded, skidding to a halt by her mother.
Eddie frowned. “Evidently Georgie’s engaged.”
Charlie frowned right back. “But he called her Georgianna. Why in heaven’s name would a fiancé do that?”
Eddie just shrugged. Georgie, growing more frantic by the minute, saw the doubt in her cousin’s eyes and felt even worse.
“You will meet us at Packham House, young man,” Aunt Berenice declared, sounding rather like a judge delivering sentence. “There will be quite enough time to speak with Lady Georgiannaafteryou have spoken to her father.”
Only Aunt Berenice could diminish a blooded marquess to ‘young man’ in quite that manner. Georgie was more than a little surprised to see Greyville look a bit abashed.
He gave another small bow and stepped away from her. “Of course, ma’am. I look forward to seeing you there.”
For that he got a baleful assessment from Aunt Berenice before she simply turned on her heel and led the cousins like ducklings through the remaining guests.
Before they could escape back out into the night, Lord Halverson came trotting up, his color high.
“Everything all right?” he asked.
Aunt Berenice looked down her nose. “Quite. Thank you for a lovely evening.”
Georgie almost choked. Even so she dipped a fleeting curtsy along with her cousins, only to be rewarded with the sound of Lady Halverson’s chirping. “Our ball has just become the success of the season.”
And then Eddie sighing. “I do wish I could have met the rake.”
