Hope bloomed in Justin’s chest. “Who is she?” he asked a bit too quickly. “So that I may return the earbob,” he added, to seem less excited to learn the news.
Lady Henrietta closed her long fingers over the earbob in her palm. Her eyes remained slits. “She is no one you would know, my lord. No one of consequence. I shall return the earbob myself.” She turned on her heel and stalked away.
“Wait—” Justin called, but Henrietta had left so quickly she was already halfway across the ballroom.
Justin followed her long enough to see that she went out into the foyer and up the grand marble staircase at the front of the house. He couldn’t follow her up there. Damn it. It wouldn’t be proper. Now he’d not only lost the chance to learn who Madeline was, he’d lost the blasted earbob. He resisted the urge to punch the nearest wall.
Five minutes later, he found himself standing outside of the drawing room where he’d first met Madeline. He stared at the door and took a deep breath. He knew she wouldn’t be there, but he couldn’t help himself. He’d been inexorably drawn to the room again.
This time, when he opened the door, the room was occupied, though not by Madeline.
His sister Eliza sat on a cream-colored settee near the fireplace reading a book. Her profile was highlighted by the candle that rested on the table beside her.
Justin exhaled his breath. No doubt Mama was looking for Eliza. She tended to hide in unassuming places in order to read. Well, he certainly wouldn’t reveal her secret. “May I come in?” he asked.
“Yes, as long as you’re not chatty,” she replied without looking up from her book.
“Then perhaps I should go.” Justin was not at all secure in his ability to remain silent at the moment.
This time Eliza looked up and snapped shut her book. “You’re never chatty. Come sit.” She patted the space next to her with a free hand.
He strolled toward her, but instead of sitting, he paced slowly in front of the icy windows behind the settee while he rubbed the back of his neck. “Have you been here since I left?”
“Yes,” she admitted with a sigh. “But if you see Veronica or Jessa, please don’t tell them. They’ll want me to do something awful…like dance.”
He chuckled. He’d always appreciated Eliza’s directness. He felt much the same as she did, which made it easy for him to sympathize. “Aren’t you going to ask me the identity of the young lady I was looking for?”
“Absolutely not,” she replied. “I’ve no intention of prying into your personal affairs. I leave that for the other ladies in our family. They’re adept enough at it.” She gave him a sly smile.
He returned the smile. “Her name is Madeline.” He told his sister because he had to tell someone.
“Madeline who?” Eliza set the book atop her lap and her folded hands atop the book.
“I don’t know her surname.” He scrubbed a hand through his hair. “All I know is that she’s beautiful and blond and has the brightest blue eyes I’ve ever seen and dimples that could tempt a saint.”
“Dimples that could…I must say, I’ve never heard you describe a lady like that before,” she replied, cocking her head and blinking at him in surprise.
Nodding, he continued to pace. “Yes, and I don’t know why I’m doing it now.”
“I certainly know little about such things, but it sounds as if you might be smitten. Every time Jessa is smitten, she says things that sound like that.”
“Blast. I’m turning into Jessa?” He used both hands to scrub through his hair this time.
Eliza chuckled. Then she stood and hefted her book in one hand. “As I said, I’m hardly an expert, but I do promise not to tell the others.”
“I know you won’t,” he murmured, shaking his head. “That’s why I told you.”
“Is that all you know about her?”
He shook his head. “I know she lost a diamond earbob. I returned it to Lady Henrietta because I didn’t know Madeline’s surname.”
“Didn’t Lady Henrietta tell you her surname?”
“No,” he groaned. “She took the earbob and went upstairs.”
“Upstairs?” Eliza blinked. “That is curious. Do you think she means to keep it?”
“I do not know.” He stopped and braced a hand against the windowsill. He stared out into the dark night beyond the cold panes of glass. “Regardless, I’m quite certain I’ll never see Madeline again.”
