“I would just as soon go back, too, if you don’t mind,” Martine said.
“Not at all. I’ll join you. Let me fetch my wrap, and I’ll meet you there. I know it’s July, but my shoulders are cold.”
“How we suffer for fashion,” Martine quipped and disappeared in the same direction as the other two.
Brilliance looked along the hall. There was quite a bit more to the gallery, but it was even darker. She certainly didn’t fancy going ahead alone, nor did she wish to retrace her steps since the ladies’ chambers were at the back of the house in a wing mirroring the gentlemen’s. In her experience in this type of country manor, she needed to bisect the grand house.
Thus, without much forethought, she put her fingers on the handle to the closest door, the one through which Lord Hewitt had disappeared, and opened it.
Vincent was peelingthe orange while he walked, dropping the peel into his pocket. His cousin had obviously recalled his love of the juicy sweet fruit. Thoughtfully, Alethia hadn’t disturbed him while he was playing. The house party wasn’t going to be such a terrible inconvenience after all.
Coming upon the bevy of beauties lurking in the dimly lit corridor had startled him. He’d expected all the guests to be in the drawing room. In any case, he knew better than to remain in their midst. Before he realized it, one of them would start having designs on him. Thus, he’d made his escape quickly, although he hoped he had not been rude.
The passageway, used mostly by servants, led directly back to the gentleman’s quarters, the shortest route, in fact.
Alternately cramming a slice of orange into his mouth and whistling a tune between bites, Vincent reached the end of the long corridor and stepped out into the spacious, carpeted hallway. The only other person in sight was a footman makingsure the lamps were lit. A few more yards, and he was at his own door.
Inside his room, he shrugged out of his jacket and flopped onto the bed. The option to skip the supper was tempting. He might fall asleep before eleven. After all, he was fairly sure there would be other vacant seats that first night, the only one in which guests were given leeway to forgo an otherwise obligatory gathering.
Thus, he had just stretched out on the bed when there was a light tap at his door. If Vincent was lucky, the footman might be offering gentlemen a glass of brandy in their rooms.
“Enter,” he called out.
Lady Brilliance walked in, took a look at where she was, and stopped in her tracks.
Chapter Four
“What the devil?” Vincent exclaimed before he could stop himself. “You cannot be in here.” His feet hit the floor, and he was standing, arms crossed, in front of her in seconds.
The lady looked him up and down. “No, I suppose not. I saw you enter as I came out of the long passage. So convenient to traverse the house thusly, don’t you think?” She looked down at the area rug underfoot, glanced at every piece of furniture in his room, even the bed, and then finally set her gaze upon him again.
“Why are you here?” he demanded.
“You are in a state of undress,” she pointed out.
For the briefest moment of terror, he thought maybe he’d taken off his trousers before reclining. Luckily, however, he’d only divested himself of his coat and necktie.
“I am, indeed, because this ismybedchamber.”
“The corresponding corner room in the other wing,” she said, her gaze fixing on his bare collarbone, “on the ladies’ side, is a sitting room.”
“Yet this isn’t!” he practically shouted.Why wasn’t she fleeing in shame and embarrassment?“Not only shouldn’t yoube in my chamber, you shouldn’t even be in this hall. What happens if you step outside my door and are seen?”
Lady Brilliance shrugged. “I know it would look bad, wouldn’t it? But I would simply explain —”
“That you followed me into my room! How would that help?”
“Hm.I see what you mean. Perhaps you should peek out first and make sure no other gentlemen are lingering, and if the way is clear, I shall slip out.”
“Very well.” Vincent scooted past her, not bothering with his coat after all. The primary concern was getting her out of there.
He cracked the door only the width of his left eye. To his immense consternation, another two fellows were walking along. One was speaking, then the other broke out in laughter.
Vincent shut the door and turned, only to find Lady Brilliance so close her nose pressed against his chest. Unthinkingly, he reached out and grabbed her shoulders. If she was trying to throw herself at him, he would keep her at bay.
Yet she blinked up at him, her intense deep-blue eyes absolutely guileless.
“I was trying to see past you. But your shoulders are so wide, you blocked out everything.”
