“An unusual name,” he remarked.
“Oh, no, my lord. I think Vincent is a fine name. Or did you mean Hewitt?”
She vowed she detected a hint of a smile playing about his lips. Lady Twitchard laughed outright, as did Martine.
“Lady Brilliance is the youngest daughter of the Earl Diamond,” their hostess continued. “And it seems magnificently fortuitous that I have seated you together for dinner.”
Lord Hewitt raised an eyebrow and something devilish appeared in his —Brilliance leaned closer to get a better view behind his spectacles— his gray-green eyes. Even if he wanted to protest, and Brilliance hoped he didn’t wish to, he could not since Lady Twitchard took hold of his arm once again.
“My cousin will return to escort you to the dining room in a few minutes. I have a less prickly gentleman for you tonight, Lady Martine,” she added.
“Prickly,” Lord Hewitt protested. “How am I prickly?”
Lady Twitchard rolled her eyes. “Come along. We must continue with the introductions.”
Brilliance watched them depart, excitement tingling through her at being Lord Hewitt’s dining partner for the next few hours. She hadn’t expected such good fortune, but he had already turned out to be the most entertaining gentleman at the house party.
“An early conquest,” Martine said.
“Nonsense,” Brilliance shot back, but she liked the idea.
In less time than it took her to empty her glass of punch, Brilliance’s arm was taken — rather stiffly — by Lord Hewitt. Lord Twitchard, who styled himself always as “the Colonel” ever since becoming Colonel of the 1st Regiment of Life Guards at least two decades earlier, had shown up in the drawing room just in time to escort one of the female guests to the dining room. Naturally, a male guest, whose name Brilliance had forgotten, made ready to escort Lady Twitchard. Brilliance and Lord Hewitt took their place behind them near the front of the line, perhaps due to him being the hostess’s cousin.
Moreover, when they reached their seats, their place cards were fairly close to the head of the table, too. It was all most exciting. As the fifth child of five, Brilliance was never usually at the head of anything. At least, she hadn’t been until the others had, one-by-one, married and moved out.
Once seated, having removed her gloves and placed her napkin over them on her lap, she settled in for the fun of dining with a group of strangers. Single strangers, except for their hosts. The company was to her liking, and she was assured of lively conversation and a delicious repast.
She said as much to her dining partner when he was equally settled in his chair, with his gloves stripped off and his spectacles slipped into his pocket.
“I hope you are correct, Lady Brilliance. Although from first glance and after enduring introductions, this may be a gathering of ninny-pates and dullards, present company excepted.”
She laughed. “I appreciate the exception and would extend it to my good friend, Lady Martine. Besides us, however, if your hasty initial impression is correct, then thankfully, we have one another with whom to converse. So far, although you are a little rude, I do not find you to be in the least dull.”
He blinked his sage-colored eyes before saying, “Thank you.”
The Colonel lifted his glass of claret and gave the briefest of disinterested toasts to everyone’s health. This was followed by Lady Twitchard offering a more effusive welcoming speech, laying out all the amusements they would have over the course of the week.
Through both toasts, Brilliance couldn’t help watching Lord Hewitt’s hands. His fingers were ever restless, tapping the table linen with one set of five, pattering the wine glass stem with the other.
She imagined his brain was equally active. She wished her own was similarly — at least on a single purpose. Rather, she knew herself to be somewhat scattered. Books, except for the most enjoyable ones, were often left unfinished. Needlepoint sat in a basket at home incomplete after years, and Brilliance couldn’t conceive of the discipline necessary to compose anentire piece of music. She could barely write a journal entry without losing interest.
Maybe she should ask him if he had any tips on becoming more focused. She waited a minute as he was conversing with his cousin. As soon as there was a lull, she addressed him.
“Lord Hewitt. A word if you will be so kind.”
Vincent turned to hispretty, brown-haired dining companion on his right.
“Yes, my lady.”
“How do you keep your mind upon one thing so long as to produce, for instance, what you were playing today?”
“A sonata.”
“Sonata. What a lovely word,” Lady Brilliance exclaimed before repeating it. “Sonata.”
As her mouth formed the syllables, his gaze was captivated by her pink lips. It took him a moment to reply.
“It’s Italian,” he said, finding himself wishing to chat with her despite how she’d interrupted him earlier in the conservatory. Moreover, he ought to be annoyed that she’d made him bow over the five other ladies’ hands as well as hers, then meet the other five gentlemen making up their party.
