His eyes opened. Drake had not been smiling when he spoke to Georgina. Indeed, no. He’d practically been scowling, as if displeased by something.
Adding to that, Georgina’s dislike of Lady Catherine, no matter that she’d denied it.
An unwelcome thought occurred to him. Had he cheated on Georgina with Lady Catherine, his best friend’s soon-to-be fiancée? He wanted to reject the possibility out of hand. Unfortunately, as he could not remember, he could not.
“Georgina,” he began, “I recall your brother speaking to you about something after you offered to fix me a plate.”And frowning. “What did he say to you?”
“I haven’t the vaguest notion.” His second boot hit the floor.
“Are you sure? Because—”
“Didn’t I just say so?” She rose to her feet, her expression unreadable—but there was something lurking in her quicksilver eyes. A wish not to tell.
Hadhe cheated on her with this Lady Catherine? If only he could conjure an image of the woman.
“Georgina, tell me of this Lady Catherine.”
A mulish expression covered her face and he gained the distinct impression she meant to refuse his request.
“I insist,” he added.
After a moment, her face akin to someone sucking on a lemon, she spoke. “She’s tall for a woman, and very elegant. She has a swanlike neck and straight, fine hair and, unlike me, a perfect, willowy figure that looks ever so lovely in everything she wears.” As she prattled out her description, she backed away, aiming, by his estimation, for the door.
He sensed she didn’t intend to close it as she had this morning.
He rose onto his stocking-clad feet as she went on. “She has a perfect, heart-shaped face and is, by now you’ve no doubt worked out, as different from me as morning from night.”
Nostrils flaring, she drew in a breath, and Teddy feared she meant to continue cataloguing Lady Catherine’s many charms while discounting her own.
“Georgina,” he called in as soothing a voice as he could muster while simultaneously raising it to snag her attention.
Less than a foot from the open double doors, she froze. Her mouth snapped shut, her cheeks flamed pink and her eyes flashed silver fire. She was the epitome of a woman scorned. Bloody hell. Hehadbetrayed her. She must’ve figured it out after he’d left.
And he must’ve been a damned fool.
“Yes?” she demanded.
He stalked toward her, reaching past her, intending to shut the doors, shoot the lock, and show her with his hands, mouth, and cock the utter ridiculousness of her assertion she was anything less than feminine perfection itself.
Seconds,mere seconds, before he made contact with the doors, Danvers appeared in the threshold, holding a tea tray in his big hands. He took in the two of them, then stepped inside.
Teddy fixed him with a glower.
“Oh, Mr. Danvers, hello,” Georgina murmured, “do come in,” she added unnecessarily, as the butler had already crossed the threshold. All evidence of her temper, save her flushed cheeks, vanished in a blink.
Danvers offered Georgina a somber nod. Then his gaze slid to Teddy, the corners of his eyes narrowing fractionally.
“Your medicine, sir? The mistress asked that I take charge of preparing and delivering it for you, just as you had me do this morning.” He’d angled his body so that Georgina could not see the single black brow he now arched.
For a moment, Teddy stared at Danvers, completely at a loss. Then comprehension dawned.
He relaxed his scowl. “Oh. Yes. Very good. You may set the tray down and leave.” He gestured toward the small, inlaid table near the armchair he’d vacated.
Georgina’s skirts swished as she hastened through the doorway. “Yes, well. If you’ll excuse me, I have some…” she broke off, and appeared to search her mind for a viable excuse before continuing, “…correspondence to see to.”
Teddy glanced at the desk and snorted. Correspondence, indeed.
A moment later, he heard the distant thump of, he guessed, herchamber door as it shut.
