And the worst part was, he wasn’t wrong. She hadn’t wanted to dance with either gentleman.
As the music concluded, Stone didn’t release her arm. Instead, he kept her at his side as they stepped off the floor, his presence so solid it felt like armor. From across the ballroom, April spotted her mother gesturing with her fan toward them while whispering to a clutch of women who were all clearly listening too eagerly.
My mother is boasting again. Of course, she is.She held back a sigh.
She looked at him and noticed the manner in which he was watching everyone in the room. “You look amused. What do you find so entertaining about all this?”
He tilted his head, as though considering whether to answer. “What is there not to be amused by? Everyone pretending to be what they are not, angling for position while smiling through their teeth.”
“You are an admirer of the spectacle, then?”
“An observer. Like you.”
She narrowed her eyes, suspecting something behind the agreement.
“I see what you are doing,” he added, steering her slowly toward the refreshment table.
His statement surprised and puzzled her, but she decided to play along. “Oh? How very clever of you.” April gave him her most dazzling smile.Well, I hope it was.“And what, pray, do youseeme doing?”
“You want to ask me a thousand more questions,” he said as they reached the table, picking up a glass of lemonade and handing it to her.
“Just one,” she said, lifting the lemonade to her lips.
“Only one?”
“Why me? Of all the debutantes in London?”
He took a sip of his drink, his eyes never leaving hers. “Because none of others are Lady April Vestiere.”
She held her breath. It was as though his eyes were shrouding her in a protective warmth that she could neither comprehend nor grasp.Do calm down, April.She swallowed to regain her bearing and without meaning to, cleared her throat. “That sounds dangerously like a romantic statement, Your Grace.”
“I am not fond of repeating myself,” he said evenly.
You just did—by saying something romantic again, even though you deny it.She tried not to smile.
She was about to find a witty rejoinder when a new voice joined them.
“Stone, I thought that was you. I almost didn’t recognize you without a scowl.”
April turned as a tall, golden-haired gentleman approached with the grace of someone accustomed to admiration.
Stone inclined his head. “Calenham.” The man smiled broadly as the Duke turned to her. “Lady April, may I present the Marquess of Calenham.”
April felt Stone’s hand at the small of her back, warm and steady, as he spoke her name. She glanced up at him, and when she saw nothing in his expression, she turned to the Marquess and offered her hand.
The Marquess took it and placed a courtly kiss upon it. “Lady April, your eyes, if I may be so bold as to say, remind me of the sky over Naples. Cloudless, endless, and entirely arresting.”
April laughed. “And you, My Lord, are as polished as Venetian glass. I imagine many ladies find themselves compared to foreign skies in your company.”
“Not nearly enough,” he replied with a grin.
Stone said nothing, but his hand tightened almost imperceptibly at her back.
Calenham held out his hand to April. “Would you grant me the honor of the next dance?”
Stone spoke before she could answer. “You may do that later. At present, we have other engagements.”
April blinked then frowned.No, we do not!Stone reached past her to take the empty lemonade glass from her hand, set it firmly on the table, and without another word, he took her arm and led her away.
