Chapter Twelve
There was notone good reason to attend the Nyman rout.In fact, he could think of a thousand reasons it was a bloody stupid idea, but he ignored all those reasons and instead found a corner of the crowded ballroom and watched for one family’s arrival.The room shimmered with the glow of crystal chandeliers, their candlelight casting golden flecks across polished parquet floors and silk-clad dancers, the air thick with the scent of beeswax and ambition.
He noted the absence of Lord Woodbury and prayed he’d not make a late appearance.But even as he considered it, the realization slammed into him: if it wasn’t Woodbury, it would be someone else.
Unless…
But he couldn’t do what “unless” required, because he wasn’t the caliber of man that Lady Peregrine needed, or wanted.
It didn’t matter what he wanted.
It only mattered what she needed.
Which should have been his first bloody clue he was falling for the same woman who both irritated him to death and kept him up at night considering her wit and her smile.Her laughter, sharp as a blade yet warm as a hearth, haunted his dreams, unraveling the defenses he’d honed as a rake.
Damn it all.He was everything he swore to never become.And helpless against it.
Yet, even as he was thinking all these things, his eyes scanned the room, watching every new person who entered through the ballroom doors, his traitorous heart expectant.And then, as if it couldn’t betray him further, the bloody organ pounded out a sporadic rhythm the moment he saw her.
Henley strode in first, his expression bored—not that Gabriel could blame him—his sister following close behind, her delicate arm tucked into her sister-in-law’s as they spoke, a warm smile illuminating Lady Peregrine’s expression and spearing through him like a lance.Her gown of emerald silk caught the candlelight, its hue a bold contrast to her pale skin, drawing every eye, though she seemed oblivious to the stir she caused.
His feet started in their direction before he could command them to stop.Just one dance.He tasted the lie even as he spoke it.Henley spotted him first, pausing and giving a nod of welcome.Gabriel gave a short bow and grinned at his friend, wondering if he held any suspicions as to why Gabriel continued to make an appearance at social functions.
“Good evening,” Henley welcomed, then a moment later, his lips pinched.Gabriel took note and considered what might have caused such a reaction.Did he, in fact, suspect him?Henley’s eyes, sharp as a hawk’s, flickered with a brother’s wariness, a reminder that Gabriel’s charm would not easily sway him where Pere was concerned.
“Actually”—Henley turned to his sister and wife—“if you’ll excuse us a moment?”He lifted his wife’s hand and kissed it, his fingers lingering with a tenderness that spoke of devotion, then nodded toward a lesser-populated area of the ballroom.
Gabriel followed, curious and cautious.“What is on your mind?”Gabriel asked when Henley turned to face him.
Gabriel’s senses were on alert.
“We were invited to dinner at my mother’s house this week,” Henley began.
Gabriel shifted his expectations, noting that he was not under scrutiny.“Yes?Is that so odd?”
“Yes.Actually.”Henley sighed.“And I learned that Edwin, my dear elder brother—the one out gallivanting across the Continent to avoid the scandal he created last summer—is returning home like the prodigal son.”
“Interesting,” Gabriel replied.“That certainly could be a myriad of things, and we won’t know what to expect till he arrives.”
“Exactly, and with…” Henley paused and seemed to study Gabriel.
“Yes?”
“I have reason to be very protective of my wife,” Henley spoke cryptically.
Gabriel frowned.“As opposed to being unprotective, which is in opposition to your character in every way.Do you understand my confusion?”Gabriel froze.“Do you expect your brother to… have ill intentions…” He spoke the words in a low, lethal whisper.
Certainly not.
Henley shook his head, easing some of the tension in Gabriel’s chest.“No, you are slightly misunderstanding.Anna will soon be in her confinement—”
“Ah, and it all makes sense now.”Gabriel nodded.“Congratulations, old chap.An heir.”
“Indeed.”Henley’s expression shifted into a satisfied and rather smug, prideful smile.
Gabriel chuckled, then sobered at once.“And, since you do not know what to expect from your brother…”
“You understand my tension.”
