Up close, Jonathan could make out the intricate silver embroidery across her bodice.Stop staring at her chest, he ordered himself.
Quickly, he raised his gaze.She was even more arresting than at a distance, particularly her eyes!This close, they were flickering over him, head to toe, like cobalt lanterns.
“Forgive me,” she said, while obviously not begging forgiveness for anything in the slightest.“I could not help but overhear your observations.”Her voice was cultured, clear, and speaking devastatingly perfect English, with only the faintest trace of Germanic precision in her consonants.
Heat crept up Jonathan’s neck.His own German, both High and Low, was woefully inferior, enough to get by, but nothing more.“I ...That is ...”
“Besides my native tongue, I read English, French, and Latin.I’ve studied the classics, natural philosophy, and mathematics.And I can assure you, I am perfectly comfortable indoors, even in such an impressive room as this one.”
The silence that followed was exquisite in its mortification.
Her brother cleared his throat.“Good evening, gentlemen.A fine night for a party.”The lieutenant was doing his best to diffuse the awkward situation.
“Lord Finchley, Lord Bowen, how good to see you again.Allow me to introduce my sister, Fräulein von Ostenfeld.She accompanied me from home for an extended visit to your ...welcoming country.”
At her brother’s choice of words, she made a scoffing sound.Before Jonathan could speak to try to make amends, Finch reached for her delicate hand, bowed over it, and said, “An absolute pleasure to make your acquaintance.”
The wretch!Jonathan watched her curtsy and offer his friend a warm smile.Then her gaze landed on his once more and her smile disappeared like the moon behind dark gray clouds.
Swallowing, he cleared his throat and reached for her hand, which she tucked into her skirts, evading him.
Despite his hand now floating uselessly in the space between them, he bowed and said, “I am pleased to meet you.”Wishing his voice didn’t sound as if a crunchy autumn leaf were stuck in his throat, he added, “I am Lord Bowen.”Belatedly, he realized her brother had already said that.
The lieutenant quickly grabbed Jonathan’s still hovering hand and shook it firmly.
“A pleasure to see you again, my lord.”
Jonathan nodded, hoping they could move on to other more enjoyable matters.Like a plague somewhere or the current state of Bonaparte’s expansion.But the man’s sister wasn’t finished driving home her point, an extremely sharp one at that.
“My brother and I are the offspring of Herr von Ostenfeld.Our father’s estate is near Eutin,” she informed him, her tone icy, her chin lifting an inch.“Our family has held our lands since before the Reformation.”
Finch, bless him, added, “Lord Bowen is the older son and heir to the Earl of Castleton.”Bless his friend’s heart, trying to puff him up a bit.
However, if anyone thought this was going to thaw the young lady, they would be mistaken.She tilted her head and considered him.“How fortunate for Lord Castleton that he has another son,” she said.
“Lise!”her brother warned.She merely blinked innocently.
Her words were outrageous and insulting, as if Jonathan might be entirely incapable of being an earl, until she added, “‘One to wear the coronet, the other to mend the breach,’ as they say in your country, my lord.”
Jonathan was surprised by her again.Perhaps she hadn’t meant what he’d first thought.“You are correct, especially for an earldom.My father was blessed with not only a successor, but another in reserve, as you so colorfully put it.”
“As the eldest,” she asked, “while waiting to inherit, what do you do besides form unfounded opinions and passing them off as wit?”
Egads!Apparently, she bruised as easily as a peach.A soft shapely fruit whose name he now knew.“I am trained in mapmaking,” he told her.And damned good at it, too!
Lise von Ostenfeld regarded him with a continued cool assessment, although he thought he saw a flicker of interest behind her eyes.
“I trust that your maps are more accurate than your judgment upon the character of strangers.”
Finch coughed to hide a bark of laughter.
“Why, yes,” Jonathan assured her.“They are.”
He ought to do better by her and offer an apology, despite how disagreeable she was being.Thus, with little grace, he added, “Regarding my previous remarks, I offer my apology.”
The words came stiffly.He wasn’t used to apologizing since he rarely made such a misstep.Wisely, he didn’t mention that if she hadn’t been eavesdropping, she wouldn’t have had her precious feelings hurt.
“I was speaking with little thought and even less knowledge.”
