And he would…in a moment. He stared out over the desk, lost in thought.
“There you are,” came a voice from the slightly open doorway.
The voice shook him from his thoughts. Narrowing his eyes, Lucian stood and made his way to the door. When he pulled it open all the way, a tall, thin, coltish-looking young lady stood there staring at him as if she knew him.
A look akin to relief covered her face. A face that had features that were far too large but somehow still compelling. Her dark eyes were particularly alert and intelligent.
Lucian frowned. She’d said, “There you are.” He fought the urge to look behind him. Hewasthe only one in the study. She’d been looking for him? That was odd.
She quickly stepped inside and closed the door, causing him to step back. He narrowed his eyes on her, taking in her frame from the top of her head, which was a mass of short, dark messy curls, to the bottom of her extremely expensive light-pink gown that skimmed the floor. She wore an exquisite diamond necklace but, curiously, no earbobs. She was tall and quite thin. The effect being that she seemed a mass of arms and legs. But it was her eyes that made the deepest impression. Expressive, dark, and huge. Almost too big for her face. Intent and full of curiosity and intelligence.
He didn’t have long to contemplate the gangly girl because she immediately said, “Your Grace,” and bobbed a quick curtsy to him.
Deeply ingrained manners caused Lucian to bow immediately, but the frown remained on his face. Why was she acting as if they knew each other? He’d never seen her before. He was certain of it. She looked quite young, but if he’d seen her in the flock of debutantes earlier, he would have remembered her.Thisyoung lady didn’t have a farthing’s worth of retiring shynessin her body. If she’d been there, she would have been standing in front of the herd.
And she looked himdirectlyin the eye.
“Good evening, Miss… Miss…” He’d never had an unknown young woman accost him in a study before. Or anywhere else for that matter. She should have been introduced to him formally by either her mother or another older lady who knew them both.
“First,” the young lady continued in a rush, completely failing to offer her name, “I should like to say howverysorry I am about your mother’s death. She was quite a nice lady, and I’m certain you’re still ever so sad, even though you’re back in Society.”
Lucian’s frown deepened. She knew his mother? “Thank you.”
“I know we shouldn’t be alone together,” the young woman hastily continued, “but I need to quickly ask if you’ll do me the honor of dancing with me.”
Lucian stared at her as if she’d just walked out of the pages of a book. A strange sort of book with unpredictable young ladies with large, dark eyes who asked impertinent, unexpected questions. “Pardon?” Had he heard her correctly? She was askinghimto dance? They weren’t even in the ballroom. And again, he hadn’t been privy to the intricacies of the marriage mart, but he was fairly certain gentlemen were supposed to do the asking. This was all quite strange.
“If you’ll just say no, I’ll be on my way,” she rattled on.
“Wait. What?” Lucian took a step closer to her. Perhaps, if he heard her more clearly, her words might make more sense. “You’re asking me to dance and telling me to refuse you?”
What was happening? Was this young woman mad? Did she require a doctor’s care? And where on earth was her mother? She shouldn’t be roaming Southbury’s house alone asking gentlemen she did not know to dance. Quite imprudent of her.
She waved a clearly impatient gloved hand in the air. “Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot that part. You see? I was dared to ask you to dance. So I’m here, asking you.” She met his gaze straight on, and again he was struck by the mesmerizing depth of her eyes as well as her forthrightness. “Will you dance with me?” she finished with a kind of half-smile that would have been endearing had she not completely confused him. Her latest explanation hadn’t cleared up much of anything.
Lucian scratched his cheek while he contemplated the matter. He’d had a bit to drink this evening, but he wasn’t so foxed he was imagining this young woman and her fathomless eyes accosting him in this study… Was he?
“Who are you?” he asked again, hoping she would take heed that hestillhad no knowledge of her identity. Of course, he wasn’t about to dance with a madwoman in a room devoid of music, and he had absolutely no idea what she meant about a dare. But the more important thing at the moment was learning who she was so he could escort her back to her mother if necessary. Or perhaps he should leave her here and go in search of her mother to fetch her. Yes. That was probably the wisest course.
“Honestly, it doesn’t matter who I am,” she said, rolling her eyes with impatience that was nearly tangible. “A simple no will suffice, and I’ll be gone.” She pointed back toward the door with a gloved finger.
Lucian blinked at her. Was it truly that simple? Would she leave if he only said no? Perhaps he was overcomplicating the matter. “No then,” he said. No doubt it was rude of him to imply he wanted her gone, but with the insane way she was acting, he couldn’t even pretend to wish to remain in her company. Of course, he’d been raised to be far more mannerly than this, but it seemed prudent to see to it that this young woman leave as soon as possible.
True to her promise, she merely nodded, an oddly satisfied look on her face. She turned toward the door, ostensibly to leave. The distinct sound of female laughter echoed in the corridor. Still frowning, Lucian pulled open the door to see the same petite, pinched-face blond girl he’d noticed staring at him in the ballroom earlier. A chill ran through him. She stood in front of the door, smirking and laughing.
Lucian narrowed his eyes on her. The same urge he’d had earlier to hurry away from her overtook him. This entire affair was becoming increasingly strange with each passing moment. What precisely did this blond young lady have to do with the dark-eyed young lady’s odd dance request? A skitter of apprehension traced its way up Lucian’s spine. Here were two young women, obviously unchaperoned, waylaying him in the study where he’d come to find peace. This was precisely the type of thing Mama had warned him about years ago.
“Some young ladies will stop at nothing to force a marriage proposal,” Mama had said. “As a bachelor duke, you must ensure you donothingto encourage them or facilitate such an encounter.”
Tonight, he’d let down his guard. He’d been tired from a long trip from the countryside yesterday, sad as usual about Mama’s death, and disheartened by the thought of trying to find a wife within a group of debutantes who looked to be wholly panic-stricken by him. And besides, he wasn’t at atonball tonight. This ball wasn’t part of the Season. It was Southbury’s wedding ball, for Christ’s sake.
But that hardly mattered. Lucian needed to get out of here.Quickly.
The dark-eyed young woman was already ahead of him, however. She’d picked up her skirts and stepped toward the door as she said, “You heard him, Mary. Remember your promise.”
Thatstrange statement sent alarm coursing through his veins. Promise? What promise?
Still standing in the corridor, pinched-faced Mary opened her mouth to speak just as an older female voice rang out from behind her. “Lady Mary Costner, just what are you doing?”
