No woman had ever resisted me quite so fiercely before.
It fascinated him far more than it should.
Morgan leaned forward curiously. “What happened?”
Victor shook his head once. “Nothing worth discussing.”
“Which means something absolutely worth discussing occurred; do share before you bore me with your brooding,” Morgan said.
Victor ignored him entirely. Across the gardens, Diana finished her song to thunderous applause. She bowed gracefully before disappearing from the stage, though not before throwing Victor one final knowing look.
Morgan whistled softly. “You truly are chaos incarnate.”
Victor smirked faintly. “Says the man banned from three country estates.”
“Unfairly banned,” Morgan grinned.
“You released hunting dogs into a ballroom,” Victor said.
“It improved the evening enormously. It had grown rather dull,” Morgan laughed.
Victor laughed despite himself. The sound surprised him slightly.
Morgan studied him quietly afterward. “There. That is better.”
Victor shook his head faintly before looking back out across the glowing gardens. Lanterns swayed gently overhead while laughter echoed warmly through the summer night. Ordinarily, he would have disappeared into the crowd hours ago in search of distraction.
Tonight, however, none of the women surrounding him held the slightest appeal. Because somewhere back at Mulford Manor sat Charlotte Brown, likely still furious with him. And infuriatingly enough, Victor would rather argue with her than be anywhere else
As the night wore on around Victor in a haze of music, laughter, and lantern light, his mood only darkened further.
Morgan had disappeared briefly toward the gaming tables, leaving Victor alone at their table with a half-finished drink and an increasingly dangerous temper. Everywhere he looked, women smiled at him invitingly while gentlemen called greetings across the crowded pleasure gardens, but none of it held the slightest appeal.
Which was precisely the problem. Victor leaned back in his chair and loosened the tight knot of his cravat slightly. He should have enjoyed himself tonight. Vauxhall had always been one of his preferred escapes, noise enough to drown thought and temptation enough to distract any man from his troubles.
Instead, every path his mind wandered led directly back to Charlotte Brown.
Damn the woman.
“You look deeply miserable.” A soft voice fluttered in his direction.
Victor glanced upward at the familiar sound just as Diana Reed appeared beside the table, dressed in shimmering blue silk. Her dark curls framed a pretty face made lovelier still by the amused smile curving her mouth.
“You wound me,” Victor drawled lazily.
Diana laughed softly. “No. I merely know you too well.”
Before he could answer, she slid gracefully onto his lap as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Her perfume curled around him sweetly while nearby gentlemen looked on with obvious envy.
Ordinarily, Victor would have welcomed the attention. Tonight, however, he felt absolutely nothing.
No spark. No interest. No hunger.
Diana traced one gloved finger lightly along his collar. “You vanished after our unfortunate interruption the last time we met.”
Victor’s mouth twitched faintly despite himself at the memory. Charlotte bursts into the room, wielding a candlestick like an angry housemaid from a stage comedy.
The horrified expression on her face afterward still amused him entirely too much.
