LITMIR.BIZ

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      “If she did not intend to make a spectacle of herself, then she is fortunate, is she not? For she did attract your attention.” Charlotte was smiling, but her blue eyes were hard.

      He managed not to sigh. She was jealous, as he supposed she should be. Except that she was only a lover, and he never made promises he did not intend to keep. He’d certainly made none to Charlotte. “I am hardly so cold-hearted that I would allow a damsel in distress to faint at my feet.”

      “I would never imply such a thing,” she said, as if taken aback. Then she smiled, glanced around, and stepped closer. “Did you receive my note?”

      “I did,” he said. She wished to know if he intended a rendezvous later that night. He’d meant to make the appointment, but now he glanced toward Miss Bolton, who was on her feet and sipping from a flute of champagne, while smiling at one of the older gentlemen. His gaze sharpened. The older man was besotted. “Do you know Miss Bolton?”

      Charlotte managed to keep smiling. “I know of her, Your Grace, but no, I do not know her. How could I? She is a seamstress. Her father is a drunk. We do not run in the same circles.”

      He stared at her. “Pettiness is hardly becoming.”

      She flushed. “I do beg your pardon, Your Grace.”

      And in that moment, he knew he was done with Charlotte Witte.

      She murmured, “Will I see you later tonight?”

      He somehow smiled. “Not tonight.” He had no intention of offering up any explanation for his decision.

      She pouted so prettily that most men would have changed their minds. “I will console myself with my dreams.”

      He nodded at her, and she finally drifted away. But before he could find the new object of his interest, Alexi approached. “What is wrong with you?”

      “Nothing is wrong with me. I am a paragon, remember?” Stephen said, and Alexi laughed.

      “So why run off such a beautiful woman?” Alexi asked, but more seriously. “Oh, wait, I know the answer. You are bored.”

      Although they had shared quite a bit of his finest Irish whiskey the night before, the subject of his marital status had not arisen a second time. “Please do not lecture me on the impossible delights of matrimony.”

      Alexi’s grin turned wicked. “The delights are only impossible if you are lucky in love.”

      “My God, she’s turned you into a cow-eyed poet.”

      “Ah, an insult you will have to pay for. Drinks at the Stag?”

      “Will she let you out of her sight?”

      “I have my methods of persuasion.” Alexi grinned.

      An image of Alexandra Bolton passed through Stephen’s mind. “At midnight, then.”

      “I’ll round up Ned, if I can,” Alexi said, referring to their cousin, the present earl’s son and heir.

      “And what about me,” a woman said, “or is this evening meant to be strictly and exclusively one of male camaraderie?”

      Stephen turned to greet Alexi’s sister, Ariella, now Lady St. Xavier. He’d grown up with Ariella, as well. These days she was besotted with her husband and had somehow blossomed into a very beautiful woman, but she remained the highly educated and intellectually insatiable woman he had known since he was a child.

      Brother and sister embraced. “This is indeed a moment of inherent male chauvinism. You are not invited to the Stag, but St. Xavier is.”

      “I’ll think about allowing him out,” she teased, “although I have much better plans for him tonight.”

      Stephen thought he blushed. “That is beyond polite conversation,” he said mildly.

      “I abhor polite conversation.” She shrugged, smiling at him. “In fact, I have just come from a meeting of the People’s Advocacy for Textile Workers.” Then she pinched his cheek as if he were a small child. “I know you will donate to the cause of a labor union. By the way, I have been hearing odd rumors about you, Your Grace. Are you on the verge of a betrothal?”

      He started, amused. “Don’t you know better than to listen to idle gossip?”

      “I thought the gossip unlikely, but one never knows.” However, Ariella looked at him closely. “Is someone on your mind, Stephen?”

      “If there was, he would tell me,” Alexi said. “His best and possibly only friend.”

      Stephen couldn’t help thinking about Alexandra Bolton, who was very dignified, even while about to swoon. “The gossips have been claiming that I am on the verge for years,” he said coolly. “It is wishful thinking.”

      Alexi laughed, rather wickedly. “You are staring at that brunette.”

      Stephen gave him a languid look. “I am simply concerned that she might not be feeling well.”

      “Really?” Alexi snickered. “And she isn’t eighteen—how refreshing.”

      He gave Alexi a quelling look.

      “Are you two arguing?” He turned at the sound of Elysse’s voice, and she threw her arms around him, embracing him hard. “We have only just got home, Stephen. Why are you arguing with my husband?” she demanded.

      “Because he is impossibly opinionated and his opinions are always wrong,” he said. As a child, Elysse had been spoiled and snooty, as well as demanding, and she had been prone to putting on airs. They had often tired of her behavior and excluded her from their outings. She had certainly changed, but perhaps being abandoned at the altar and deserted by her new husband for six years had caused her to rethink her ways. In any case, he was truly fond of her now. And last night Alexi had shared his spectacular news—Elysse was expecting their first child. “I see that Hong Kong has agreed with you.” He kissed her cheek. “Congratulations, my dear.”

      She beamed. “It is my husband who agrees with me, and my condition is one of the reasons why we came home now. Alexi has missed you, and so have I. But I see you two are already bickering like small boys.”

      “We are usually at odds,” Stephen said. “Which you already know, as you have seen us sparring since we were small boys.”

      “And neither one of you ever wins,” she reminded them both, her violet eyes stern. “So who was that woman who fainted in your arms?”

      Before he could answer, Ariella cut in. “That is Alexandra Bolton. Her mother was a good friend of Aunt Blanche’s,” she said, referring to Lady Harrington, “but after she passed away, the family has fallen on hard times. I haven’t seen her in years, and it is wonderful to see her and her sisters out and about.”

      “Is she widowed?” Stephen asked, well aware that she hadn’t worn any rings.

      Both women looked at him. “I don’t think she was ever married,” Ariella said, her brows lifted. “But I am not sure. Are you plotting your next seduction?”

      He stared calmly at her. “A gentleman does not kiss and tell.”

      “Don’t you dare!” she said, instantly outraged.

      Before he could change the subject, a man behind them said, “Who is about to be seduced?”

      Stephen turned in surprise as Elysse’s brother spoke. He was friendly with Jack O’Neill, but he hadn’t seen him in two years—O’Neill had been in America. “Ariella has a vivid imagination, or have you forgotten?”

      Jack grinned and winked. Like Elysse, he was golden in coloring, though with gray eyes, and now he was bronzed from being outdoors. “I could never forget that.”

      Ariella huffed, “I am warning Mowbray off the woman he rescued from a swoon.

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