A grin curved Gideon’s lips a second later when Adelaide’s arm flew up in the air from the effort she’d been using to get her bracelet free. She then teetered the slightest bit, regained her balance, took hold of her mother’s arm, and stepped forward. One step was all she took, though, before she stopped and glanced around the room, apparently remembering she was supposed to wait for him to join her in the entranceway.
“You’re up,” Charles whispered, giving Gideon a nudge before he returned his attention to Marshall, who was now gazing at Adelaide as if she were some tasty treat, one he longed to sample.
Fighting the urge to challenge a man he’d never had an issue with before to a good old-fashioned duel, Gideon simply stared at Marshall until Charles gave him another nudge, recalling him to the fact he was supposed to be putting their plan into motion and delaying that plan was leaving Adelaide dithering in the entranceway.
After sending Charles a nod, Gideon strode into motion, resisting the inclination once again to challenge Marshall to that duel when he overheard the man saying something to Charles about needing an introduction to Adelaide as well as asking Charles if she was available.
“You’re behind schedule,” Camilla hissed under her breath as she glided past him, sending him a look filled with annoyance in the process.
Increasing his stride, Gideon returned his attention to Adelaide, who was still standing in the exact same spot, looking over the crowd, a smile gracing her lips when her gaze suddenly locked with his.
The renewed chatter of the guests faded away as he moved closer toward her, allowing himself the luxury of appreciating the sparkle in her eyes, the color blooming on her cheeks, and the elegant curve of a neck that was accentuated by the cut of her decolletage, a design that showed off her figure to perfection and was certain to draw the attention of gentlemen, which left Gideon with the distinct urge to shrug out of his evening jacket and drape it around her.
It was an urge he’d never felt before in his life.
“Gideon,” Adelaide exclaimed as he finally reached her, holding out her hand to him, which he immediately took, pressing a kiss on it and lingering over it longer than was strictly necessary.
“Adelaide,” he returned, giving her fingers a squeeze. “You are looking beyond beautiful tonight.”
Her dimple immediately popped out. “Which is lovely of you to say, but...” She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “I feel quite as if I have a boulder attached to my head, but Mother insisted I wear the tiara, even though I thought it might be a little much.”
“A tiara is never too much, dear,” Phyllis said, holding out her hand for Gideon.
“You’re looking lovely this evening as well, Mrs. Duveen,” he said as he pressed a kiss on it.
Phyllis gave her hair a pat. “Camilla insisted I use her stylist. I must say the woman is a magician when it comes to hair, but allow us to return to Adelaide.” She took a step closer. “Is it my imagination or does everyone seem to be watching us?”
“It’s not your imagination, and they’re looking at her with what I would certainly call genuine admiration.”
“How magnificent,” Phyllis breathed. “I never thought I’d see this day come to pass.”
“Simply because everyone is gawking at me, Mother, doesn’t mean they’ll be keen to forget I’ve always been considered an odd duck, nor does it mean any gentleman except Gideon will want to put his name on my dance card.”
“I have a feeling you’re wrong about that,” Gideon said, taking Adelaide’s dance card and writing his name on the spots for the first and last dance, along with adding his name in the space reserved for a dinner partner.
“For Camilla’s and my mother’s sake, I hope you’re right, but enough about dance cards, how I’m dressed this evening, or how we expect the evening to unfold. I have something much more pressing to discuss with you.”
“I would think the results of this evening would be foremost in your mind,” he countered.
Adelaide waved that straight aside. “Those thoughts have been firmly replaced because you will never believe what happened this afternoon.”
“A traveling salesman arrived at your house and sold you a pistol you like more than the pepperbox?”
Her eyes twinkled. “Try again.”
“You’ve added ten stray cats to your collection?”
“Not even close, although know that I’m still rather put out no one agreed with me about bringing one of my cats to the ball tonight. It would have been the perfect opportunityto convince society that cats could soon be all the rage, especially when Leopold told me you had Samuel Montague, your engineer, invent a saddlebag for Harvey that attaches to Moe so he doesn’t miss out on the runs you enjoy with your dog. I know once everyone sees you, Moe, and Harvey running about Central Park, cats will surely become in high demand, which means I’ll most assuredly see some of my darlings settled into proper homes.”
“I had to outfit Moe with a saddlebag because Harvey wailed every time Moe and I headed out the door without him.”
The twinkle in Adelaide’s eyes intensified. “And you’ve become attached to Harvey and cannot abide the thought of him being sad.”
Gideon’s lips twitched. “Don’t even think about turning smug when I concede that you may be right about that.”
“Of course I’m right, but...” Adelaide’s nose wrinkled. “We seem to be getting distracted from what I’ve been dying to tell you happened this afternoon as I was getting my hair pulled, twisted, and all but yanked out of my head by Camilla’s stylist.”
“Would it make the torture seem better if I told you the end results are stunning?”
