DON JOHN:I will disparage her no farther till you are mywitnesses: bear it coldly but till midnight, andlet the issue show itself.
DON PEDRO:O day untowardly turned!
CLAUDIO:O mischief strangely thwarting!
From the shadows within the curtained box, Thorne stood, watching Lorelei’s hand clasp the locket about her neck, her face aglow with excitement. God, she was so lovely. He didn’t even mind the all-white muslin she was required to wear due to her debutante status. When she was his wife—he swallowed a groan.When had he decided that?Well, it didn’t matter now. He’d decided. She was whom he’d marry. And he would insist she wear anything but white—which, of course brought to mind her splayed out completely naked in his bed.
God, he’d lost his blasted mind. Still, those images of his cock buried deep within the snug sheath of her body would keep him awake half the night.
Lady Maudsley sat next to her in her standard abnormally long gloves that hid all but a sliver of her upper arms.
DON JOHN:O plague right well prevented! So will you say when
you have seen the sequel.
The lights came up for the interval. There was no describing the rapture in Lorelei’s face. It was the sort of look a man could not resist. The sort of look that drove a man mad to get said woman in his bed.A damned debutante.He tapped and entered the box, beating the onslaught that was surely stalking a path to the duchess’s box that moment.
Protocol demanded Thorne first address the dowager. He bowed as the weight of Lorelei’s stare speared him, but he didn’t turn from the dowager. There was an unspoken rule in the beau monde: Never, never leave your back to the Dowager Duchess of Lewkes. “Your grace. I’ve come to pay my respects.”
“Kimpton.” A smile played about her mouth as if she knew he’d stood outside the box, awaiting his moment to pounce.
Shufflebottom entered then, sporting three glasses of lemonade.
Thorne barely restrained rolling his eyes and kicking himself for not thinking the same. Someday he would pay for his singlemindedness. He could only pray the price was not too high.
“Your grace, I come bearing refreshments,” Shufflebottom said, bowing.
Thorne backed away and strolled over to Lorelei and Lady Maudsley. “How are you finding the play, my ladies?” The question was rhetorical.
Lady Maudsley didn’t answer.
Lorelei lowered her eyes, then raised them to him. “I suspect you already know, my lord.”
A riot of unheralded emotion knocked his equilibrium askew. The depths of her dark blue eyes was akin to drowning in the churning waves of the Atlantic. He couldn’t breathe. He took her hand and kissed her gloved knuckles. “Yes, you are right. You wear your emotions unbidden. It’s an invigorating change.”
“Ah, my lack of sophistication shows itself, I see.”
“That’s not what I meant, and I suspect you know that.” He spoke more sharply than he’d intended, but with Shufflebottom hovering like a jaguar on the prowl he felt a little desperate. “Lorelei—”
Her startled gaze met his and her fingers trembled in his. “Apologies, Lady Lorelei.” He pushed a hand through his hair, cast a quick glance to Shufflebottom who was, so far, waylaid by Oxford. “I must leave, but please, I beg of you, do not do anything rash.” He released her hand, gave a quick a bow, and made his even hastier exit.
Outside the duchess’s box, the suitors were lining up: Greenmont, Hereford, Winchester, had all been in attendance at the Martindales’ ball the night before, plus a few others who weren’t. Norfolk, Dorset, the list went on.
Thorne inclined his head with a sharp smile. “Gentlemen.” He didn’t hang about. He had a very important errand that must be resolved sooner rather than later.
The wide carpeted staircase was jammed with theatergoers. Thorne wove his way through the throng with his eye on the door. He almost made it.
“Kimpton.” The low husky voice came from his right. Two steps from his goal.
He stopped and slowly turned. She was dressed to perfection in emerald green, her expression impenetrable, but for her eyes, which spoke volumes. The rage exuding from her did not bode well. “Rowena. I didn’t realize you were here tonight.”
“No, I suppose you didn’t. I was under the misconception I would see you last night.”
“Yes, well, about that—”
“Do not toy with me, Lord Kimpton; it doesn’t become you.” Her anger shifted to resignation. “The honorable thing to do is to end our association as you well know.”
Thorne winced. “I shall call on you tomorrow, Rowena. Truly, that was my intention.”
