He beamed at her and hurried toward the back of the drawing room.
“Why didn’t you tell me what happened at the opera?” Gray’s voice sounded low in her ear.
She turned her startled gaze to him. Then she looked beyond him to Lady Lockhart who was conversing with the lady on her other side. “I didn’t give any thought to it.”
His expression was intense, and he raked over her face with stormy eyes. “How could you not tell me you came so close to peril?”
She swallowed, then opened and closed her mouth in the same breath. “It was nothing, truly.” Well not unless she counted having a gun focused on her head nothing, but there was little point in being dramatic so she said nothing further.
“Are you coming tonight?”
His abrupt change in topic caught her off guard and she paused a moment. “Why, yes. That is if you still want me to,” she stammered out.
“We’ll talk about it then,” he murmured, raising his head as Stuart returned bearing two cups.
“Here you are, Jenna,” Stuart sang out as he plopped down beside her.
She smiled tremulously and took the punch. Beside her, Gray shook with silent laughter, and she shot him a poisonous look. He flashed a wide grin and turned his attention back to Lady Lockhart. Jenna frowned and chewed absently on the inside of her cheek.
She knew what he was. It was why she had come to him in the first place, but reality stung. In the space of a few stolen moments, she’d come to believe that she was special. Something more than just another woman falling at the feet of the greatest lover to ever grace the London drawing rooms.
Well, maybe that was aslightexaggeration. Surely the history of London society was dotted with other debonair gentleman. But it was generally agreed upon by the women of thetonthat Grayson Douglas was a superb lover. Which meant a lot of them had no doubt experienced his considerable charms.
And how that irked her.
She clenched her hands around the leaflet until it crumpled in her fist. It was irrational for her to be having these pangs of jealousy. She held no claim on Grayson Douglas.
Her attention was drawn to the front as Lady Westlake, beaming with pride, gestured for her daughter to come to the pianoforte. Then she clapped her hands for attention.
And the caterwauling commenced.
By evening’s end, Jenna was convinced she’d been rendered deaf in both ears. Stuart stood enthusiastically when Lucretia took her final bow and began clapping like mad. With resigned expressions, the people in the rows behind Stuart also stood and offered polite applause.
Lucretia blushed pink with pleasure, and her mamma nearly swooned in her excitement. Evident on her face was the certainty that this would be the year her daughter snagged a husband. And not a year too soon, as Lucretia was rumored to be of the advanced age of nine and twenty.
“I’ll return in just a moment,” Stuart said. “I want to congratulate Lady Lucretia on an excellent performance.”
Jenna nodded and watched as he approached Lady Westlake and Lady Lucretia with something akin to euphoria. It was going to take the majority of her married life to figure him out. A heavy sensation settled over her. While her marriage wouldn’t be horrific, it wasn’t going to be anything like she’d dreamed.
She thought of her conversation with Gray the night before and wondered if he wasn’t more privileged than she. He had no expectations, no family honor to uphold, and no one was expecting him to marry before he was ready. And he would get to choose who he married. What a luxury. A luxury denied to most women of her station.
A sigh escaped before she could call it back, and she looked quickly around to make sure it went unheard. Her eyes collided with Gray’s inquisitive stare. He searched her face, his eyes narrowing the longer he stared. Could he see her thoughts?
She looked quickly away, unable to bear his scrutiny any longer. Stuart returned from his errand of adulation and offered his arm to her. “Are you ready to depart, Jenna, or would you prefer to stay for refreshments?”
“I think I’d like to go home now,” she murmured.
“Let me go have the footman summon our carriage. I’ll return for you in a moment.”
She started to protest, but he’d turned away and hurried out before she could say she’d just accompany him. Looking around for any familiar faces, she was careful to avoid Lady Lockhart and Gray, though she could hear their soft laughter as they conversed with a small circle of people.
Relief lightened her mood as she saw Stuart approaching, but he wore a deep frown and waved his hands in front of his face in an agitated fashion. “Dear me!” he exclaimed, as he drew abreast of her.
“Whatever is the matter?” she asked sharply.
“My carriage!” he sputtered. “My carriage has suffered a broken wheel. My dear, I shall have to summon a hackney.”
Jenna nearly laughed at the mortified expression on his face. She laid a comforting hand on his arm. “A hack will be just fine, Stuart.”
