He turned around and marched away, leaving Deborah and Percy to follow.
Was Peter afraid that Percy might kiss her?
What objection could he possibly have and why would he even think Percy would want to do so?
And why did there appear to be such animosity when she had thought they were friends. At least they had been until Peter began to pursue Johanna.
Was it more?
“Is there something between you and my brother that I am not aware of?” she asked quietly once they’d been seated.
“Nothing more than your brother being overprotective of a younger sister,” he answered.
“I had not thought Peter so foolish,” she murmured.
The two were behaving drastically different than the last time the three of them had been together, as if something had ended a friendship that the two had shared for years. That would explain why she hadn’t seen the two of them together last spring. She had assumed that it was because of Peter’s courtship of Johanna.
What could have possibly happened to take them from friends to near enemies? And which one should she ask?
Percy had been touched by Deborah’s kindness and concern, which meant that she couldn’t truly hate him. And for those moments they had stood under the mistletoe, he had been drawn to kiss her, as if her lips beckoned and if he wasn’t mistaken, she wanted to be kissed. Her breath had grown shallow as her lips had parted. In fact, he had been on the verge of leaning forward to do just that when Peter interrupted them.
Peter wasn’t foolish. He simply didn’t trust Percy to be alone with Deborah.
Nor should he, Percy reluctantly admitted. Still, had Peter allowed him to explain a year and a half ago, Deborah could very well be his wife. Instead, his former friend had basically given him the cut direct and had not acknowledged him since that day. Not until they were both in attendance at the same house party.
However, that did not change Percy’s intentions. He no longer cared what any Storm or duke thought. He was going to win Deborah.
When the ladies left the men to port and cigars, Percy sipped and planned and every once in a while, caught Peter studying him. Was his former friend thinking of pummeling him again for even thinking about kissing Deborah or had he decided that an injured knee was enough?
Percy could barely contain his sneer then looked away and sipped.
No, he would not be on good terms with his future in-laws, assuming Deborah would have him, but Percy did not care. His home and father’s estate outside of Llandudno, Caernarfonshire, Wales, was far removed from Kenley Manor located near Alnwick, Northumberland, England. Two hundred and fifty miles and a sennight of travel depending on the speed of the horses and means of travel.
“You are very quiet this evening,” Wingate observed. “Are you being contemplative or does your knee pain you? We do have laudanum.”
“Both, I suppose,” Percy answered then lifted his brandy. “This shall suffice in dulling the pain.”
“Shall we join the ladies,” Wingate said as he pushed away from the table. “I believe my wife has planned games for entertainment.”
His announcement was met with groans. No doubt most of them would prefer to remain here and drink brandy all evening, but since they weren’t at White’s or any other Gentleman’s Club, it would be rude to remain away.
However, Percy was slower to stand because he wasn’t ready to walk and as his friends walked by, only Peter looked at him, but it wasn’t with anger, more speculation and a study of him as if Peter was planning something.
Thirteen
Deborah had been the last to join the ladies for tea and by the time she entered the parlor, every seat had been taken except for two klismos chairs on a far wall, one place on a settee and an empty mahogany armchair upholstered in a deep blue silk situated beside the empty space on the settee. As Percy would need a place to sit so that his leg was not strained, she settled onto the settee and left the chair for him.
Though, she wondered why no one had taken the place she now occupied. Did they not want to sit near Percy?
“You have been rather attentive to Shrewsbury since his injury,” Hannah observed in a searching manner.
If her sister had questions or concerns, Deborah wished that she would have asked them in private. “As you well know, Lord Shrewsbury kept me company the summer that my ankle was fractured while my siblings found their own entertainments.” Hannah had been one of those siblings so she hoped she took the barb as intended.
Deborah then glanced about the room and noted the speculative expressions, but as they were not courting or betrothed, they should be able to draw their own conclusion that she and Percy were friends.
She inwardly smiled.
They were friends, she supposed, and she had missed him.
