“Lady Caroline, this is Lord Diamond,” Lady Plain de Ville got right to the point. “His father is the Earl Diamond. No other family name, as I recall. Most unusual to have the title and the family name be the same, but there you are.”
Geoffrey barely heard her prattle. He took Lady Caroline’s gloved hand and bowed over it.
“I am enchanting,” he said.
As soon as the last word left his lips and he lifted his head, seeing her start to chuckle, he realized his error.
What turned him into a dunderhead around this woman?No one would ever accuse him of being a smooth rogue.
Even Lady Plain de Ville was snickering.
“Well done, my boy,” she said and wandered off to tend to her other guests.
“My apologies,” Geoffrey said, “but at least I didn’t almost knock you over this time.”
“You still have hold of my hand,” she pointed out, with her perfect lips and soft voice. Not to mention sparkling eyes like sunlit dappled leaves staring into his.
“I do, don’t I? And I shall release it,” he promised, “as soon as you agree to grant me the honor of the next dance.”
“Yes,” she agreed.
However, since a dance had begun, he had to release her until a new one began.What could they do in the meantime?
“Shall we see if there is any punch or lemonade set out yet?”
“That would be lovely.”
They left the ballroom and strolled toward the refreshments in the salon across the hall. A throng of others were already jostling by the serving table.
“I noticed your mother did not accompany you,” he said, hoping it wasn’t a mistake to bring up the woman who wouldn’t even acknowledge him.
“My parents had tickets to the theatre. Thus, Mrs. Waycott, my mother’s sister, brought me. Come to think of it, I should have taken you directly to meet her.”
He couldn’t help his expression of dread as they shuffled closer to the punch bowls.
“Do not worry, my lord,” she said, mirth dancing across her face. “My aunt does not hold the same views as my parents.”
“That’s a relief,” he said, handing her a full glass, which was nearly bumped from his grasp by a careless swell.
Snagging another for himself, they moved to the other corner of the room.
“After all,” he added, wondering if Lady Caroline knew that both his parents seemed to have strained relationships with hers, “I am not my father, nor my mother.”
“I understand,” she said.
They spoke no more about it. Instead, he asked her about her life in Bath. She asked him what he’d studied at Oxford. Then, as oft happened, she asked him about his unusual family name, which he explained briefly since the hubbub was loud around them.
“Yet the king couldn’t — or wouldn’t — pronounce O’Diamáin,” he finished. “Which gained us an extra-large land holding in 1717 in exchange for anglicizing our surname. And now, it’s time for our dance,” he reminded her.
Geoffrey had never enjoyed a dance more, nor a partner. He was as comfortable with Lady Caroline as if he’d known her for ages. At the same time, he relished the new sensations coursing through him — an intense awareness ofwherever they touched. With heady desire sparking in his veins, he ached to be alone with her, without any idea how to make that happen.
The dance ended sooner than he could have imagined.
“Will you escort me back to my aunt?” Lady Caroline asked.
“I would be honored.” But he held back. “Before I do, I wonder if you might wish to take a turn in the garden. Lady Plain de Ville is famous for her ...,” he trailed off.
Blast it all!He didn’t know what the lady had in her garden. There might be an unusual fountain or some exotic plant, but he could hardly say such in case there wasn’t any.
