“Well, what did you say?I’m quite curious.His expression was devastated, after the confusion passed.He never was the brilliant sort.”
“I’m not telling you,” Lady Peregrine replied, all but sticking her nose in the air.
“Why ever not?”Gabriel asked, frowning.
“Because it’s something you want, and I feel a deep satisfaction in denying you what you seek.”
“That’s rather vindictive of you.”
Her full lips split into a smile—a real one—a sight that was a punch to the gut as it hit him with full force.
He blinked for a moment, and she continued.“Yes, how vindictive that I would set a boundary that you can’t cross, when you are so used to plowing over them in your attempt to teach others whatever moral—or rather, immoral—lesson you wish to articulate,” she finished.“Yes, it’s vindictive when I use your wants against you, but it’s all fair game to use them against me,” she added, her expression confident.
Gabriel tipped his head.“I concede on this point.You win this round, Lady Peregrine.”He nodded.
She regarded him skeptically.“Why are you here tonight?”she asked.
“To watch you give Ramsford his comeuppance.It was a highlight.”
“I don’t think he gave as much weight to my words as he did Henley’s, but I’d rather do the same in his situation, so I cannot find fault.”She gave a small laugh.“Did you see how his face turned ghost white?”she asked, her expression dancing with mirth.
“I could see it from a ballroom away, Lady Peregrine.Well done.Regardless of whose words he took more seriously, you stood up for yourself, with poise and dignity and proved yourself.”
Lady Peregrine regarded him as the music ended.“Thank you.I think.”
“No, thank you is the proper sentiment when someone gives you a compliment.”
“Forgive me, I’m not used to receiving compliments from you.”
“Just lectures?”
“Among other things.”She gave him a flirtatious side-eye, and Gabriel almost lost his footing as he wound around a gentleman in conversation.
“Among other things indeed.”Gabriel recovered and paused before Henley.“I’ll take my leave.”
“Good evening, Lord Hawthorne,” Lady Peregrine replied, all flirtation missing from her expression.
“Allendale, Lady Peregrine.”Gabriel lifted the lady’s hand and kissed it, his body responding to her bloody hand like it was an intimate caress.
He needed to leave.Now.
Without a backward glance, he all but fled the room.
And as he rode home in his carriage, he considered that Lady Peregrine had terrified two gentlemen that evening.One who pretended to want her, the other who pretended he didn’t.
The sage gown haunted him—soft, defiant, unforgettable.Let her hunt Woodbury.Let her reform the world.He was done playing guardian angel.
Except the knot in his chest had twisted into something dangerously close to longing.
Chapter Eleven
The invitation wasodd—after all, how often did one receive an invitation from one’s own mother when they, technically, still lived in the same house?Pere tapped the thick paper on the table and twisted her lips.The vellum was heavy, scented faintly with lavender water—her mother’s signature, a ghost of childhood comfort now turned brittle.“I guess it’s not surprising that she had mine delivered here, along with yours.”She glanced to Anna, who was sipping on tea slowly, her brow furrowed.
“You do spend most of your time here.”
“Do you think she doesn’t notice when I come home?I’ve been sleeping in my room the past week.Did… did she not know?”Pere didn’t raise her eyes to her friend, rather she bit her lip and considered the fact her mother was that oblivious—or perhaps, that uncaring—to be aware of her presence.
The silence stretched, thick as the damask curtains, until even the ticking clock seemed to judge.
