“What about her?” he asked.
“He said if you take your music away, then they will be impoverished. Unlike us, they live upon his earnings.”
Vincent made a face. “He’s throwing the hatchet at you.”
She frowned. “I beg your pardon.”
“Pulling the longbow,” he tried again.
Still, she looked perplexed.
“Brilliance, he is lying. He may not be titled, but his family is not impoverished. Moreover, he married into money. His wife had a large dowry as the only daughter in a family heavily invested in railroads and shipping.”
She broke out into a lopsided smile. “I like hearing my name from your mouth.”
His groin tightened.
“I’m sorry,” she added. “I didn’t hear anything after you said ‘Brilliance.’”
She wasn’t listening to him anymore, and he didn’t care. Sick of the sound of his own voice, he drew her to him. Some part of his brain recalled that her maid was in the room. Another part, that the door was open.
Lowering his mouth to hers, he kissed her, hoping to impart how much he cared for her and how important she was to him. As their lips fused, he would vow his blood boiled in his veins and his heart began a vibrato beat.How could he heat up so swiftly and his body be instantly aroused?All from a rather innocent kiss.
Wishing they were alone so it could become less innocent, he raised his head, watching her delphinium-blue eyes flutter open.
“I don’t want distance,” she protested.
“Nor do I. But Ambrose will not go quietly. Now that he thinks there is something between us, he will tell each and every journalist that they should be questioning you and your morals. The best course of action is not to speak to any of them. Let me handle this.”
He could see she was not happy.
“Why did you come here today?” she asked.
He had come to make sure she knew he wanted to court her properly. That he intended to be her sole and exclusive escort.Mostly, he didn’t want her accepting any invitations from Lord Redley or his ilk.
But could he ask her to wait?
Dammit all!In point of fact, he was the one who could not wait. In that instant, he decided to drop the legal action altogether if it meant Ambrose would go away and he could be with Brilliance.
Looking into her eyes, his head filled with Brilliance’s floral fragrance and her warmth under his hands, for he was still holding her, Vincent had an epiphany. With absolute clarity, he knew he wanted nothing more than for them to be joined in matrimony if she were willing. Every note he had played in his life had led to this moment, thiscrescendoof feeling.
Ready to drop to his knees and ask her for her hand, he would tell her to forget what he had just said. He would not give her up even for an instant.
“I came to tell you —”
“Bri, dear,” her mother said, entering the room before he could step away from Brilliance, before he could even remove his hands from her.
The Countess Diamond gave him a long look, during which he took the opportunity to release her daughter and take a few steps back.
“I knew you were here,” Lady Diamond said, “from Mr. Dunley.”
“I came to ask Lady Brilliance to go to a ball at week’s end, the one at the Earl and Countess Spencer’s home. It is rumored that the Queen may honor them with her presence. It’s a masquerade, by the way.”
“But I thought you said ...” Brilliance began.
“I was wrong. Why should we alter our lives because of that scoundrel?”
He didn’t have to tell her he was going to immediately drop the charges of plagiarism. She would protest because of her kind heart. Instead, he would simply send word to Ambrose.
