“Lord Dunstan is getting us punch.”
Tony turned in time to see the man making his way through the mingling groups, followed by his own mother. “Well good for him.” It was time to see for himself who this man was.
“Here we are, ladies.” Lord Dunstan handed them both a glass and turned to Tony. “I do not believe we have met. I am the Earl of Dunstan.” The man held out his hand.
Tony shook the earl’s hand, making sure his grip was strong. There was a moment of sizing up that men did, and thenthe handshake was over. “I am Miss Sterling’s guardian, Lord Anthony Ashton.”
“Ah, Warrington’s youngest brother.”
Tony nodded. Why did it always come back to his rank in the family? It made him feel insignificant, and he did not like it. Or him.
“Are you enjoying the exhibit, ladies?” he said, turning away from Tony’s stare.
“Very much so.” The girls said in unison.
“Our Ashton is not much for art, my lord, but I am sure even he would find something to enjoy here.” The dowager smiled up at Lord Dunstan like the man commanded the sun and probably the moon.
“Indeed, madam, art is in the eye of the beholder. What appeals to one does not appeal to another. That is the great gift of art. There is something for everyone, even if it is nothing more than a Hogarth caricature.”
“Oh, yes, Lord Dunstan, well said. Our Anthony loves Hogarth, don’t you, dear?”
“Is that so?” Lord Dunstan turned to him with a raised brow.
Tony felt like Dunstan had just set him up as the butt of a joke. Dunstan had not said anything disrespectful but at the same time found an effective way of diminishing Tony’s choice of… art. “Hogarth is a terribly smart fellow. I admire his work very much.”
Dunstan smiled at him in a pitying way. “And yet, we all live in hope of never being the fodder for his… works.”
Tony smiled back. “I am afraid the affairs of my family are nothing that would interest the man. If you have nothing to hide, he should not be bothered with you either.”
“Of course.” The earl turned back to the ladies. “I have taken up enough of your time. Enjoy the rest of the exhibition.” Hebowed in their direction and nodded at Tony before fleeing into the crowd. Or at least that was how Tony saw it.
His mother hit him with her fan. “You were very rude to Lord Dunstan, Tony.”
“In what way, Mother? We simply discussed art. It is what one does at such an event, is it not?” That got him a glare from all three of them. “Shall we stroll, Miss Sterling?” He held out his arm to her. She hesitated for a moment before putting her arm through his. He supposed she was angry with him for running off Dunstan as well. Just another thing to add to her list of things she did not like about her guardian at the moment.
She waited until they were out of earshot. “What are you playing at?”
“Me?”
“Yes. You. Have you forgotten you are supposed to be helping me find a husband, not insulting and running off my suitors.”
“I did not run him off. He threw the first stone with the whole Hogarth thing. In any case, Dunstan will be back. I wager he will be in our parlor tomorrow.”
Lucinda looked at him in disbelief. She obviously did not understand how things worked. How men thought, how the season was nothing more than a transactional dance between families. He wanted to protect her from marrying the wrong type of man. Knowing what she wanted made it almost impossible because he knew she wanted a love match. She may not have said it in quite that way, but he would bet his livelihood on it.
His mother and sister were twittering behind them, no doubt plotting and planning how they would tear shreds off him later, or get Edward to do it seeing as he was of the opinion that he was ripe for it.
“This is nice,” he said as they passed a marble sculpture of a woman draped in a swath of fabric. He only mentioned it because the pictures on the walls were too boring.
“Oh, what do you like about it, Lord Ashton?”
Ha, she wanted to trip him up. “I like how the symmetry of her form reflects the light. The clever way the marble looks like fabric, almost transparent.”
“Not the fact that she is half naked?”
“Miss Sterling! The poor woman does not even have arms.”
A hint of a smile passed over her lips. “So, your attention is not drawn to her breasts at all?”
