“If we’re to be honest with one another, we might as well be informal,” he began.
She bristled before his eyes.“We are not to be anything with one another,” she pointed out.“In two weeks, I shall return to Holstein.This conversation will be the sum of our acquaintance.”
Her words cut decisively through the friendly atmosphere he’d been creating, slicing more cleanly than the small blade he always kept in his right boot.Her impending departure shouldn’t matter one whit to him.
Did he hope to seduce her?Yes!
If he was honest with himself, he thought seeing passion in her eyes while slowly stripping her of every layer of silk and linen might be the single most thrilling thing he’d ever done.Watching her pant, her full lips parting with desire as he touched her everywhere ...
Clearing his throat, he pushed the sensual dream aside.
“Maybe you are correct, but there are other events between now and your departure, are there not?We may yet have another discussion or even another dance.Unless you are finished with me entirely.I, for one, would be pleased to be in your company again.”
He nearly moved closer, but restrained himself.“Besides, I was merely going to say you may call me Bowen, as many of my acquaintances do.For what it’s worth, I’ve decided I’m glad you overheard my foolish remark.Otherwise, I might have gone my entire life without meeting someone who could correct geographyandmy manners in the same breath.”
His words seemed to unfreeze her.She smiled again, sweet and genuine.“That is a dubious distinction, my lord.”
Something warm and unexpected unfurled in his chest.He ignored it.“But a distinction nevertheless, Miss von Ostenfeld.”He liked the sound of her impressive name.
They stood without speaking for a moment, the sounds of carriages in the nearby park combining with the noise of the ball floating out to them through the door he’d left open.
“I should return inside,” she said finally.“My brother will worry if he discovers my disappearance.”
“As he should,” Jonathan said.The lieutenant ought to be shot for letting his sister wander around alone.She could have had any number of dreadful things happen to her.He bowed again.“I shall watch until you are safely in the library and then wait a minute before following.”
She frowned and then understood.“Oh,” she said.“Thank you, my lord.”
“I hope your remaining time in London is pleasant,” he said as she hurried through the open terrace doorway.He doubted she’d heard him, until she paused, looking back, like a creature with no sense of self-preservation.He wanted to kiss her more than ever.
“Bowen,” she called softly to him.His name on her lips like an aphrodisiac.
Gritting his teeth against all the wicked thoughts, he raised his eyebrows.“Yes?”
“Your maps,” she said.“I’m certain they’re excellent.”
He was still smiling to himself as the door closed in the wake of a sprite in blue silk.
Afew days later, Jonathan stood before a framed map in Lord Waverly’s study and tried to keep his expression neutral.It wasn’t easy.The chart before him was a masterwork of expensive incompetence — hand-colored, gilt-edged, and wrong in at least half a dozen particulars.
Miss von Ostenfeld wouldn’t be pleased.
“Beautiful, is it not?”Lord Waverly gestured with his wine glass, sloshing Madeira onto the Turkish carpet.“I had it commissioned from Faden’s.Forty guineas, all told.”
“It’s certainly striking, my lord.”Jonathan chose his words with care.He’d been invited to this dinner because Waverly had the King’s ear, and King George wanted an old friend’s opinion on whether Jonathan was the man for the upcoming assignment, or merely a viscount playing at drawing.Apparently, there was still some doubt that the pampered heir to an earldom could be trusted with “real” work.Understandable but galling.
Regardless, insulting his host’s decorative choices before the soup course would be inadvisable.On the other hand, perhaps it was a test.
“Striking!”Waverly beamed.“Exactly so.I told Faden I wanted something that would impress.Something to show my nephews when they visit.”He moved closer to the map, squinting.“This is the Humber estuary, yes?”
Now he was almost certain his lordship was baiting him.“The Thames, my lord.”
“Ah.Yes.Of course.”Waverly drained his glass and refilled it from the decanter on his desk.“You mapmaker fellows see these things differently, I suppose.All looks the same to me.Water and coastline.”
Jonathan bit back his first response and managed something diplomatic instead.“The details can be subtle, certainly.”
In the case of Faden’s work, while his was a reputable workshop, even earning royal commissions, the man relied upon others to do the groundwork, such as the actual surveying, with no firsthand knowledge.Thus, there were errors.But he still wasn’t sure whether to say all that.If his lordship had truly spent forty guineas ...
“Quite so, quite so.”Waverly settled into his chair with the heavy contentment of a man who’d already enjoyed several glasses before Jonathan’s arrival, gesturing for his guest to take the other seat.
