Page 64 of Notorious

“I know that is what you were thinking, ma’am, and I must say I’m disappointed you would try to cheat your lord and master out of the finest bounty,” he chided.

She responded by piling a half-dozen more berries on his plate, and it was his turn to laugh. “Enough, enough—you’ve got me on my knees—I beg for mercy.”

They’d reached the end of the buffet, and she laid aside the serving fork and glanced up at him, her eyes glowing. “Hmm,” she said, her look arch. “You are not on your knees nor do you sound like you are begging, to me.”

He leaned close and whispered in her ear, “Would you like to have me begging on my knees, Drusilla?”

Her cheeks blushed furiously, but she coolly retorted. “I know Miss Kittridge would. Preferably while crawling over burning coals.”

Gabriel laughed.

As he accompanied her back to their table, Gabriel felt a sense of hope for the first time since this debacle had started.

He realized that Drusilla’s dry playfulness must be one of the qualities Eva prized in his new wife. That shouldn’t have surprised him; after all, a mutual appreciation of the absurd was something that had drawn Gabriel and Eva together from the first time they’d met. It seemed Drusilla was a kindred spirit. Why was it that he’d taken so long to see this in her—her light, witty, and amusing side?

Unfortunately, her laughter had dissipated by the time they returned to the table.

The following half hour was filled with barbs so finely honed the average person would be unlikely to recognize them as such. Even so, the atmosphere at their table was underlaid with a tension even the witless Deveril and the other young couple could not fail to miss. As for Drusilla? How she kept her cool in the face of Lucy’s incessant attacks was a mystery. Gabriel soon realized Miss Kittridge was anything but a kitten. In fact, he would compare her to a tigress—one who’d been thwarted and did not relinquish her prey without a struggle.

Her behavior was not only astonishing, it was fatiguing and annoying. Just what did she hope to achieve by such a display? He was already married; making a spectacle of their prior attachment could only make Drusilla uncomfortable and embarrass him. What she ought to be doing was sitting with Visel and working her wiles on him. Which made him recall his sister.

While Lucy prodded and poked, Gabriel tried to keep an eye on the table where Eva sat with Visel and two of his cronies and their partners. Of course, he could not hear the conversation, but he could see by Eva’s rather fierce expression and the flushed faces of their tablemates that she was probably behaving as badly—if not as subtly—as Lucy.

Lord, what an evening.

At least his mother and the marquess were not here to witness the small dramas being played out. They’d left just before supper.

“You needn’t concern yourself with Eva, Jibril,” his mother had said as she and Exley prepared to leave. “Elizabeth is here.” Elizabeth was his great-aunt on his mother’s side, a matronly woman who’d launched five daughters of her own. “She will see that Eva returns home tonight.”

“Are you sure Aunt Elizabeth is up to the challenge?” Gabriel had asked, not entirely jesting. Even with all her experience, his aunt was no match for Eva when she went on a tear. As she was showing dangerous signs of doing with Visel this evening.

But his mother had merely patted his hand. “Go home, Jibril.” She’d given him a sly smile. “You are a newlywed.”

Her laughter had followed him even after he turned away and left her with the marquess. His mother was relentless.

Chapter 14

Tonight Drusilla permitted Fletcher to dress her in the finest nightgown she owned. But even that was not much to look at. She supposed she should purchase new bedclothes now that she was a married woman. Wasn’t that what women did? Wore attractive negligees?

Drusilla shuddered at the thought of putting on such a garment and presenting herself to her beautiful husband.

The evening had been unpleasant in parts—especially supper—but her time in the garden with Gabriel and their silly banter at the buffet had made all the uncomfortable bits of the ball melt into insignificance.

He wanted to make this marriage work. He was almost . . . courting her. She just needed to suppress her insecurities, raging jealousy, and suspicious, judgmental nature.

I need to stop and think before I speak. She knew that—impulsiveness had always been her worst fault. And when you coupled that with a swift and rather barbed tongue, it led to poor results. And with Gabriel it always led to arguments. Tonight she would be different. She would—

A light tap on the door made her spin around. He was in the open doorway between their dressing rooms, once again wearing the deep red silk robe. But, unlike this morning, she saw no pantaloons beneath it.

He lifted his hands to reveal a bottle and two glasses. “I brought my last bottle. Would you care for a glass?”

“Yes, please.”

He smiled at her while his hands worked on the cork. “Do you like the wine? Or are you merely being polite?”

“Both.”

He laughed. “You are a diplomat.”