His eyebrows rose, a question in them. To anyone else, it would look like his usual challenge, but he was asking if she needed him to give her an excuse to leave. She took a deep breath and lifted her chin.
“No.” She gave him a dramatic once-over. “But one is hovering too close for comfort and I am about ready to squish it with my reticule. Shoo fly.”
He pursed his lips, but she’d seen the momentary smile that pulled at them. He was proud of her and somehow that soothed away her unease more than anything else could have.
Mr. Kendall spoke up. “Just think, Al. With Lord Penwick’s passing, you will no longer be required to swoop in at balls and rescue Miss Harris from his unwanted attention.”
The gaping pit returned to Javenia’s stomach, only this time, it was accompanied by a sense of loss. Algenon had danced with her at least once at every ball since she could remember. Mostly to irritate Lord Penwick after what he’d done to her, but she’d hoped he had other motives for wanting to keep her from dancing with the viscount.
She’d appreciated his protection in those moments. It was something she could count on, even if they were cross with each other. It was a time when all would be made right. What would happen now?
The musicians began warming their instruments, a sign that they needed to move into the main hall. Nate offered his arm to his wife, as did John and Eddie. That left her and Algenon. A sudden nervousness rose in her chest and tightened her throat so she couldn’t speak.
All of her friends were married. It was not a new revelation, but with Algenon’s absence, it had been months since she’d hadto face the reality that at twenty-seven she was still single. It made the dynamic among them quite awkward.
Each couple walked away, their heads bent together, affection evident in every gentle gesture and spoken word, making Javenia feel alone in a room full of people. Slowly, she turned to look at Algenon, but his attention was on the door, his face stone cold. Her gaze wandered in the same direction and what she saw made her stomach roil.
Apparently, Lord Roberts had not gone to the card room as they all had surmised. He stood in the doorway, chatting with an older gentleman, which would not have been out of the ordinary except for the presence of the woman on his arm that was most assuredly not his wife.
No, it was the same woman who had kissed Algenon five months ago in Reading. The woman who had ruined Javenia’s season and almost her entire friendship with the man she loved.
Algenon could have strangled his father. By the way Lord Roberts eyed him from across the room, he had no doubt his father had selected his wife. Of all the women he could have foisted on Algenon, his father had chosen the most deceitful, conniving, and immoral one he’d ever met.
How the man had convinced Miss Weston to pursue a match with him after the way he’d scolded her back in June was a miracle in and of itself. Then again, if she was anything like Lord Falcross, one need only offer something she could not obtain on her own. But with what could his father have to tempt her? As the daughter of a viscount, Algenon’s eventual rise to baron would still be a step down for her.
He narrowed his eyes at the woman fawning over his father. She had no need of money or connections, so why make his life miserable with her presence?
As if she sensed his attention, her gaze slowly moved to him. Brazenly, she maintained eye contact, her head held high, the set of her shoulders confident in her success. If she was trying to appear alluring, she was failing miserably. The only thing he saw was an arrogant young woman who thought she could wheedle her way into his good graces by making a deal with the devil.
Then her gaze slipped to his side. A gleam entered her eyes, and a smirk stole over her face. When her chin tipped up, raising her little pointed nose a notch higher, he turned to see at whom she was looking.
Javenia’s cheeks flushed bright red. Never had he seen her so blotchy, except perhaps the time she’d had scarlet fever when she was ten. Her eyes narrowed, and her hands fisted.
Miss Weston’s smile grew, her eyes sparking with challenge.
Something shifted in Javenia and her shoulders relaxed, her posture straightening. She flicked open the fan in her left hand and beat it rapidly. Miss Weston lifted the fan that hung from her wrist and drew it through her hand.
Javenia’s fan snapped shut, then she too drew her fan through her hand. Algenon was certain a silent conversation had just passed between the two. What they had communicated, however, was beyond him. He’d never understood all the fan tapping, flapping, and swirling. Why not say what one had to say and be done with it?
He took a slow, deep breath, knowing exactly why silent modes of communication were necessary even if he thought them ridiculous. Society was a turbulent sea to navigate with all its spoken and unspoken rules.
When Miss Weston left his father’s side and glided toward him, he was desperate to make an escape. Without waiting forher permission, he slipped Javenia’s free hand onto his forearm and spun her toward the ballroom doors.
He didn’t miss the way Miss Weston’s expression of triumph faltered. Nor did he miss his father’s look of frustration.
Algenon would pay for these few moments of freedom, but he could not regret it, especially when he glimpsed the smug smile Javenia cast over her shoulder at Miss Weston.
She was happy with the outcome. That was a step in the right direction, was it not?
Then he remembered his father’s threat.
There was no right direction for him. He could either risk ruining the person he cared for most in the entire world with the hope that she’d forgive him, live the rest of his father’s life alone as a pauper—which might still lead to Javenia’s downfall—or be tied to Miss Weston forever. All roads led to a life of misery, but which one was the least of all the evils?
He really did not know.
If he could only get his father to see reason. But Lord Roberts and reason never seemed to reside in the same room where Algenon was concerned. As logical and sensible as his father could be with his accounts, estates, and even his peers, it seemed like all sense escaped his head when it concerned his only son.
The first chords of a song lilted through the room and only then did Algenon realize he’d led Javenia straight to the dance floor without asking her permission. She let go of his arm and stepped into her place without a word, her expression devoid of any emotion. His heart stuttered over itself.
