Part 6 (1/2)
Tanner smiled, and then pressed a hand to his face, because the smile had set his cheek to throbbing. ”Believe me when I say that it was never my intention to be horsewhipped in your place. Had I known you were there, hanging about in the shadows, I would have pointed Molton straight at you.”
”No, you wouldn't have done that. You would have done just what you did, sacrificed yourself. You should really strive to stop doing that, my friend. That's why good men die, Tanner, when the bad among us seem to lead charmed lives. Somehow, it would seem the Lady Lydia knows that.”
Now Tanner did laugh, and the h.e.l.l with his wound. ”She called me stupid.”
”Clearly a young woman of superior intellect. You'll also notice that she did not scream, didn't fall into a faint. A very admirable woman, as well one with a singular beauty to rival that of the angels-a sure attraction to a bad man like me. I'll give you one last chance. Are you quite positive you don't want to warn me off?”
”If I said that I'd rather you made a dead set at her, would you believe me?”
Justin frowned, looked at Tanner intensely. ”You invite compet.i.tion? Why? Does this have something to do with her dead captain? You were serious about that?”
”I keep attempting to tell myself that, yes.”
”Then, if I'm understanding this correctly-as far as our small farce goes, that is-the loquacious Miss Harburton is not cast in the role of future d.u.c.h.ess of Malvern?”
Tanner shook his head. ”Definitely not.”
”Admitting again that I was listening at the door, that's not what your cousin seems to believe. I think, and I'm rarely wrong, that he's already harboring thoughts that you'll be declaring yourself at some time during our brief sojourn in the country.”
”He thought I brought her to London to declare myself. If I say bless you to Jasmine when she sneezes, Thomas is certain I'm about to declare myself. It doesn't matter where we are.”
”In that case, bear with me for a moment more. I think I understand now,” Justin said, holding up one finger as if just struck with an idea. ”Is my presence on the scene to have more than one purpose? To be compared to you and found wanting by Lady Lydia-more fool you, if you're hoping for that-and also to romance the little chatterbox, thus keeping her occupied and out of the way? Quite the sacrifice on behalf of my poor ears, I might point out, although she's a pretty piece. It was only a horsewhip, Tanner, wielded by a fool more than half in his cups. Only one small blow you could have easily avoided if you'd only-”
”Feinted to the right. Yes, I remember.”
”Or perhaps to the left. It all happened so quickly, I could manage scarce more than to stand there and admire your prowess.” Justin pocketed his loupe. ”I could win her, you know. The fair Lady Lydia, that is.”
”Then I wouldn't have lost her, would I, because she would never have been mine to lose.”
Justin's smile was wry, and almost sad. ”There's that pesky honor again-don't you ever find it tiresome? But I do see your logic. At least you won't have lost to a dead man.”
Tanner employed the decanter to refill their gla.s.ses. ”Said that way, it sounds callous, doesn't it? But, yes. I can't compete with Fitz. In her eyes, he was perfect. I'm not perfect.”
”None of us are. Even saints, I believe, are never canonized until years after they've been carried to bed on six men's shoulders. Stacked up against the bad baron, however, you're fairly close. But I warn you, I do have my charms. And ladies, even the best of them, tend to like their mischief, their excitement.”
”I'm fairly certain you would have more than met your match in her twin, Nicole. Much as I like Lucas Paine, I think I might have enjoyed seeing that.” Tanner shook his head. ”But not Lydia. You don't know her, Justin. She enjoys a quiet life.”
”Ah, I see a wager in our future. I'll tell you what, Tanner. You read the fair lady poetry on a blanket spread beneath some shady tree, like the honorable gentleman you are. And I'll-well, I'm sure I'll think of something. You may want her, my friend. But first someone needs to wake her up from whatever dream from the past you both seem to believe she's living in. Or at least one of you believe she's living in, hmm?”
Tanner opened his mouth to protest, but then shut it again. Was that what was wrong? Had he been treating Lydia as if she was fragile? Not as a woman, but still as the heartbreaking, tragic figure she had been a year earlier?
The way she'd behaved with him yesterday-in the park, at the ball, in the gardens. Her bright smile. Her almost saucy tongue. And that gown!
Had he been the un.o.bservant witness to her first tentative steps toward breaking free from the past? With her sister gone from the scene, had Lydia decided that it was time to spread her own wings?
One might say that she had been flirting with him a bit, been less shy, more outgoing in her manner. Receptive. One could definitely say that she had been flirting with Justin, with all that business about Moliere. Huh!
And more! Was it he, and not the memory of Fitz, who was the one holding her back from making that break with the past? Had she begun to chafe at his, well, his kindness, so that now she saw him rather as a roadblock to her future? How could he hope to inspire more than friends.h.i.+p, if he offered no more than friends.h.i.+p?
Well, d.a.m.n him for a fool.
”Tanner? You're smiling. Did I say something amusing?”
”On the contrary, Justin. I think you said something brilliant. Thank you. Thank you very much. Oh, and yes. The wager is on.”
Justin raised his gla.s.s. ”Hear, hear! And may the best-or even the worst-man win.”
CHAPTER SEVEN.
LYDIA SAT AT HER WRITING TABLE and nibbled at the end of the pen she held in her hand, staring down at the last words she'd written to Nicole.
She'd promised her more news. But to tell her one thing would not be enough, and to write to her of everything that had happened since she'd left for the ball would take volumes.
Sighing, and then realizing that she never sighed, Lydia dipped the pen into the inkpot and prepared to be vague.
I'm afraid I won't make the morning post now, which is a shame, since I have so little more to tell you since I gave off writing yesterday. Tanner's cousin is delightful, and rather astonis.h.i.+ngly pretty, but what the good Lord so graciously blessed her with in looks He seems to have held back in other ways, so that she is also incredibly shallow and silly. Still, I think I like her very much.
Lydia put down the pen and looked at what she'd written.
Yes, she liked Jasmine Harburton. But why did she like Jasmine Harburton? Because the girl was a little silly, a little sad? Or because she didn't wish to marry Tanner?
No, she wouldn't think about that.
What else was there to tell Nicole about last night?
”Nothing,” Lydia said aloud, surprising herself.
Her sister, her best friend. They'd begun life together in their mother's womb. For all the years, for all the whispered girlhood secrets and confidences, the last thing she wished to do now was to share anything that had occurred last night with Nicole, or with anyone, for that matter.
And wasn't that odd.
She dipped her pen once more, knowing she was about to lie to her sister, if only by omission.
The ball itself was uneventful, as such things usually are, aren't they? I danced several times, so that you may put away your fear that I spent the evening hiding myself behind some potted palm after you'd so vandalized the bodices of all my gowns.
There. Let her think her little prank had been the reason for her sister's social success. Nicole loved being right.
Lydia dipped her pen once more and wrote: Oh, and the Gunther Ices were quite lovely.
She smiled, suddenly remembering how Mrs. Shandy had been loath to put down her dish and quit the ballroom so that they could join Tanner outside. In the end, she had plucked one of the confections from a pa.s.sing servant and literally lured the woman toward the door, waving it in front of her.
What a strange evening! And yet, if it hadn't been for the drunken fools and the horsewhip, and that cut on Tanner's cheek, she'd have to say that she'd enjoyed last night's ball more than any other entertainment she'd attended since their arrival in town. She'd met a new friend. She'd danced, several times. The Baron had been silly and flattering.
And Tanner had kissed her on the cheek.
Yes, and there was the crux of the thing. Tanner's kiss. Whatever had it meant?