“A bit cheeky, Stanworth,” Dunridge commented with a chuckle.
Sebastian dismissed the remark with a shrug, and tucked her hand into the crook of his arm.
He had kissed her. In public! Although it was under a kissing bough. She glanced around. No one seemed to be glaring at them. The guests were too busy crowding around the serving tables and being seated at the tables in the room beyond. Violet floated above the ground; her head stuffed full of cotton wool. Her pulse pounded in her ears, her flushed body pulsed with desire. The kiss had been better than those of her fantasies and she yearned for more.
Sebastian grinned at her and guided her into the supper room. Violet took one step then stopped. Could Sebastian be her secret admirer? Her body stiffened
Was that possible? Her belly tightened.
Surly not, but what if?
It would change everything...
It was her fantasy come true. All those nights she had dreamed of him and woken flushed and uncomfortable and eager to see him again. She pushed her glasses back up her nose.
Surely, it was him?
Chapter Five
Sebastian led Violet to a small table in a far corner and guided her into a chair. Now the time had come to reveal his secret, dueling swordsmen parried and pinked each other in his stomach. This was the most important moment in his life and he must not mess it up. He gulped a breath and made a hasty decision. “I’ll get a plate to share.”
Violet looked at him in confusion. She seemed to be in shock, but gave a nod of acceptance. Of course she was, but he would explain everything as soon as he returned.
Sebastian strode away to the serving area.
When he turned back to their table, he found Dunridge seated opposite Violet, chatting to her and laughing about something. Old friend he might be, but he was also an unabashed flirt. Sebastian glared at Dunridge and hurried in their direction.
Suddenly Violet’s face blanched and her smile collapsed. She recovered in an instant, but her mouth remained compressed. She gave a forced laugh, just as Sebastian reached them.
What had Dunridge said to her? He would have the man’s blood if he had caused her insult. It would be just like his friend to proposition a single woman of a particular age if he took a liking to her.
“Sebastian!” Dunridge grasped his arm and tugged Sebastian onto the unoccupied seat at the table. “I was just telling Miss Hambleton some of our high-jinks with Doughty and Johns at Oxford.”
Sebastian placed the filled plate on the table, then set his gaze boring into the eyes of his friend. “Really? Do you think that befitting polite company?” His friend had clearly imbibed too much punch this evening, if he thought tales of their university pranks, which had usually accompanied too much drinking, were an appropriate subject of conversation with a lady. Dunridge’s handsome face, debonair manner, and entertaining chitchat were usually welcome additions to any gathering, but at this moment Sebastian itched to toss him out on his ear.
“Not at all, Miss Hambleton was amused. Weren’t you?” He looked at her with a smirk on his face.
Violet stiffened in her chair, clearly distressed. Sebastian’s heart contracted. What had Dunridge told her?
She lifted her gaze to meet Sebastian’s. “Indeed, Lord Dunridge has been telling me of a prank you all agreed to carry out one Valentine’s Day.”
Good God, no! Sebastian closed his eyes and swallowed.
“I see you remember it well, Lord Stanworth,” she murmured.
“Sebastian,” he muttered automatically.
She stared at him, her blue eyes dull and cold. “If I have it aright, the four of you agreed to each write a Valentine to the plainest and most unlikely-to-marry woman of your acquaintance. Lord Dunridge tells me he sent his to his maiden aunt, a middle-aged woman who spends her time, when she was not caring for her elderly mother, reading poetry and gothic novels, filling her head with unattainable dreams of a husband and family.”
“You have the right of it, Miss Hambleton,” Dunridge exclaimed, seeming well pleased she had remembered the funny tale.
Violet turned to Dunridge. “If you would write an introduction for me to your aunt, I would be obliged to you.”
He blanched at her words. “You won’t tell her, will you?”
She nudged her glasses higher. “No, Lord Dunridge, I won’t tell her of your cruel joke, but I do think I have the perfect match for her. I would like to invite her to visit me at Whitton Parsonage. Then I can affect the necessary introduction. If you would send a footman to me with her address tomorrow, I would be most grateful.”
“I...I shall. Only too happy to oblige.” He lurched from his seat, clutching its back to steady himself, and sketched a wobbly bow to Violet before weaving away.
