He strode up to them and gave Lady Averley a shallow bow. “Lady Averley, Lady Sybil, what a pleasure to see you here.”
“Your Grace!” Lady Averley held out her hand for him to kiss, as though he had any interest in kissing her when Sybil stood quietly beside her. “What a stroke of good luck finding you here.”
“The luck is all mine,” he said, giving her as brief a kiss as possible. Sybil dipped into a curtsy, and he took her hand without it being offered, unable to help himself from pressing his mouth to her fingers. Her eyes widened and she cast a quick, heated glance at him, which was everything he needed.
“Will you walk with us?” Lady Averley asked. “I’m sure you must be looking forward to spending time with my daughter.”
“I had hoped to find her here,” he said and was rewarded by another searching look from Sybil.
“Did you enjoy the fireworks last night?” Lady Averley asked, seemingly determined to keep the conversation flowing when George wanted nothing more than to forget about her presence entirely.
“We had a wonderful time,” he said. “The fireworks were spectacular. Wouldn’t you agree, Lady Sybil?”
“They were enthralling.”
“I was certainly enthralled,” George said, unable to help himself, and grinned when she pinched his arm. “The fireworks were extremely beautiful.”As were other things.
Lady Averley looked for a moment as though she was going to comment on the situation, but something caught her eye and she turned away, distracted. “Excuse me for one moment,” she said. “I must—it is quite fortunate you arrived here, Duke, so you can keep Sybil company.” Before he could respond, she had hurried away.
Sybil looked after her, jaw falling open and her eyes wide. There was a look in them that made something uncomfortable settle inside George—a look of betrayal, and a kind of hopelessness he longed to brush away.
“That was precipitous,” he said lightly, squeezing her hand until she glanced up at him. “Is your mother always like that?”
“Precipitous? Yes.” Sybil chewed her lip and George was conscious, once again, of a wish to smooth his tongue over her soft skin until her lips parted and he could take advantage of her sweetness once more. “If you think abandoning me in a public place for a clandestine meeting with another man is unusual, however, you would be mistaken.”
George raised his eyebrows. “A clandestine meeting?”
“I suspect so.” She seemed to search the crowd, then nodded. “There, she has met him before.”
“Bold of her,” he commented, “to parade her unfaithfulness so prominently.”
“Thomas is so devoted to her, I doubt he would believe anyone who told him,” she said bluntly, then colored up to her hair. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Why not let us be honest and open with one another?” Still arm in arm with her, he walked toward the gentleman Sybil had indicated and noted the way Lady Averley took his arm and walked him further away, and fast. There was an air of mystery about her actions that gave him cause to consider, and he wondered about involving Sybil in this.
Perhaps it was better, considering how very innocent she was, that she was left ignorant of what her mother was truly involved in. Or, to be blunt, whom she was involved with.
“Honest?” Sybil asked, glancing up at him. “Very well—if you crave honesty, tell me why you followed me last night.”
If she wanted his honesty, she could have it. “Because I wanted to make sure you were safe. Being unaccompanied and alone there was a very different situation from walking here alone—although I would recommend doing neither.”
“Oh,” she said, her voice smaller.
“And,” he continued, “because I wanted to kiss you.”
That flush reappeared, and he traced its journey with his eyes, knowing he couldn’t risk touching her in any other way in such a public space. “Oh,” she said again.
“Oh.”
“I had no idea… I didn’t think—” She appeared to struggle for words before saying, “I thought you were supposed to be finding me another man as a husband.”
An unfortunate reminder. “Is that what you want me to do?”
She appeared to think, her gaze still fixed on the place her mother and the man had disappeared to. The crowd was too large to see them properly, but she still looked as though the force of her gaze would bring them back into view. “I’m not sure.”
“Did my selection last night displease you?”
This time, the glance she cast at him was amused. “Your choice of seating me beside Lord Cavely was ungentlemanly and I shall not soon forgive it.”
