Authors: Anabelle Bryant
The ballroom proved as crowded as his mother had predicted. The crush usually worked in his favor as he blended into the masses and made his escape before midnight. Tonight would be no different. He could spare a little extra time, but he intended to visit White’s in hopes of discovering any scrap of talk concerning Daniel Winton and then move on to a more enjoyable errand afterward. Information had reached his ears that Winton had entered a wager in the books last week for several hundred pounds. If he could ascertain the location of the event, Phineas would confront the missing lord at the time noted.
He watched Penelope take a sip of champagne, her lips glistening from the sweet liquid. She would taste as exquisitely as he imagined. Champagne kisses straight down her neck to the flat of her belly, then further below. If he did not kiss her soon he would go mad from the wanting. The temptation to taste the flavor of her mouth, most especially her scrumptious lower lip, grew stronger. He downed the last swallow of liquor in his glass and schooled his emotions.
Resurrecting his misplaced sense of decency, he considered his inner struggle as it warred with the impatient desire to touch her, hold her, kiss her. Penelope deserved better than a quick tumble to satiate his misplaced lust. He clenched his fists to expunge the erotic image that sprung to mind. There would be no dancing in his future if he could not will his body to behave. He should initiate a conversation with Maman. That would obliterate any amorous ideas. Where the hell was she?
“I’ll return in a moment, Phineas. I need a quick visit to the retiring room.”
Penelope’s sweet words met his ear as she leaned in to speak over the crowd, her luscious lips closer than ever, her vanilla scent an enticement. Muttering a colorful string of oaths, he watched Penelope depart, the smooth silk of her skirts caressing her perfectly formed bottom and encouraging his growing problem. Wrestling with the desire to pounce with the finesse of a rakehell, he made a mental note to double his boxing sessions. If he did not diffuse the energy igniting his body whenever she stood near, he would never be able to contain himself at home or in the middle of the damnable dance floor.
Making her way across the ballroom proved an arduous process. At the mercy of the crowd, like a leaf caught in the current, Penelope fought the crush to reach the retiring area, the room as crowded as the hall. No sooner did she step into the salon then a squeal of excitement rang out.
“Penelope! Is that you?”
Elizabeth Bretton rushed forward with such exuberance Penelope stepped back to steady herself.
“Cousin, why didn’t you write you would be visiting? Mother will be over the moon to see you. Has Aubry traveled with you? Where are you staying? However did you convince your father to bring you to London during the busy season?”
Penelope laughed with the overflowing inquiries. “One question at a time, Lizzie. It is good to see you.” They held hands and stared at each other as if the crowded retiring room was not noisy and overbearing.
“You look lovely. Now tell me everything. Why are you in London when I had no idea I would be seeing you?” Elizabeth squeezed Penny’s hands and led her towards the far wall.
“In truth, I had no idea I would be here.” They moved to a newly vacated settee and made quick work of becoming reacquainted.
“I’m sorry to hear of your father’s passing. My family will be saddened as well, but I’m sure my brother will be happy to learn you’re in London.”
Penelope averted her eyes, feeling remiss in her explanations. While she did manipulate the facts, her version of the past allowed her conscience not to suffer too dreadfully. She offered a more gilded recounting omitting her state of distress and destitution, as well as the humiliation of being left at the altar. Otherwise she would never have hope of finding Simon without unwelcomed intrusion and distasteful scandal.
“Please promise not to tell your family I am here searching for someone. You do recall your brother’s suit, don’t you? The last thing I need is Carrick prodding me to accept his proposal. Your parents will see it as a way to secure my future, but you know it’s not what I want. Until I find Simon, my plan must remain in confidence.”
She clasped her cousin’s hands, needing to hear Lizzie vow loyalty even though Penny reserved worry over the decision. They shared a close relationship and she relied on the bond to ensure her cousin’s co-operation.
“If it’s what you wish then I agree, but I will have to tell Mother eventually. I know she didn’t keep in touch with your father, but she’ll be livid when she learns of his passing. Are you sure you don’t want me to ask Carrick for help?”
“No.” The emphatic syllable could not be misconstrued amidst the din of the retiring room.
Lizzie let out a short laugh. “It’s inevitable your secret won’t remain unspoken long. My mother discovers everything, but I’ll check the social register and ask my acquaintances if anyone knows Simon Maddock. I’ve never heard the name mentioned. Are you sure it isn’t fictitious?”
Out of depth when it came to duplicitous behavior, Penelope grimaced. “Honestly, I never considered the thought. It does add another shade of color to this already complex problem.” She paused, attempting to gauge whether or not her cousin would support her word. “Please keep my confidence. It’s dreadfully important.” The forlorn note in her voice could not be mistaken.
“Agreed.”
The two cousins hugged to seal the promise, but Penelope fell silent wondering how soon she would find herself in the middle of another complicated explanation.
“Enough of this dreadful talk. You wrote you were the veritable toast of the town. I daresay you look wonderful. Has society embraced you?” Briskly changing the mood with her words, Penelope folded her hands in a demure pose, happy she had made the last-minute decision to wear her new gloves.
“La, did I say those things? I enjoy being out in society, but it’s troubling all the same. The gentleman who has caught my eye is the only one yet to ask me to dance even while I cross his path whenever possible. I always reserve a waltz.” Elizabeth raised her wrist and for emphasis wiggled the card hanging there. “But it’s never his name filling a slot.”
Penelope pitied any lady who set her eye on the same gentleman as Lizzie. Her cousin did not like to be thwarted. Elegant, reserved and beautiful, Elizabeth Bretton won everything she wanted.
“Mother says if I don’t dance with him soon and make a lasting impression, she’ll take matters into her own hands. I understand his mother is equally anxious to see him settled.” Lizzie rose to her feet and signaled for Penny to follow. “If we hurry, I may be able to locate him in this ridiculous crush. When I point him out, you’ll see why I’m determined to have him. No gentleman is as handsome and beautifully formed.” A spark of determination gleamed bright in Lizzie’s eyes. “Sometimes I spend all night looking for him only to discover he’s left early, but I will not give up.”
Penelope trailed after her cousin who experienced no trouble maneuvering through the crowd in her role of reconnoiter. Like a whirlwind, Lizzie managed to extemporize her level of words although confined on all sides by guests. Bewildered, Penelope gasped in relief when they finally stopped.
“Over there.” With her gloved pointer finger, her cousin indicated a cluster of gentlemen near the terrace doors. “Do you see him?” She rose on tippy-toe and peered across the room.
Penelope followed suit. She recognized Harold at the far end of the room, the object of Lizzie’s indication. True to form, a small group of optimistic females stood twittering nearby.
“Yes, Lord Chadling?” Penny dropped from her perch, but between the chattering guests and the intensity of her cousin’s gaze she wondered if her words registered.
“Not Lord Chadling. Good heavens, he’s a dandy. That’s not who I mean.” Lizzie’s voice expressed impatience. “Look beyond him. Yes, now you’ll have a clear view.”
Penelope rose on her toes following Lizzie’s instruction, an inkling of trepidation accompanying her intention as she glanced across the room.
“Do you see him? Isn’t he wonderful?” Elizabeth nudged her with force.
Oh, she saw him alright, as handsome and beautifully formed as described. And while she gazed across the room, he also looked up, matching her eyes and causing her heart to squeeze in a tight panicked rhythm. Whatsoever would she do now? Her cousin had set her eye on Phineas. With all the eligible men in the world, how could that even be possible? And why did her life insist upon becoming ever more complicated?
“Phineas?” The single word exploded from Penelope’s lips before she could prevent it.
They remained in the same dense crush, but Lizzie’s head whipped to attention, causing her long blonde curls to bounce with the motion.
“Do tell me you’re acquainted with Viscount Fenhurst. You call him by his given name?” Lizzie viewed her with wide inquiring eyes, lips poised as if awaiting the impartation of a deep dark secret.
“Yes.” Penny squeaked past the nervous lump in her throat. “Aubry and I are residing with his family while in London. We are guests of the Countess of Fenhurst.”
“How absolutely perfect!” Her cousin clasped her gloved hands together. “Now I will definitely have him.”
Penelope took a deliberate breath to maintain her equilibrium. The room spun faster with each syllable of her cousin’s exuberant babbling.
“You must introduce me. It can only be destiny that would bring you here and have you befriend the viscount. He is exceedingly handsome, isn’t he? Have you noticed his eyes?”
Struggling to process information, Penelope considered which question to address first while Elizabeth drilled her with a stare intent on gaining her word she would instigate an introduction. At a complete loss, Penny wondered if she would experience her first swoon.
Of course she’d noticed his eyes.
Their amber gaze caused butterflies to take flight within her whenever she caught his attention. Very little went unnoticed concerning Phineas. Her perspicacity responsible for the awful feeling at present in realizing her cousin wished to claim him. She allowed a slight pause, hoping to quell her emotions.
“Yes, his eyes. His eyes are quite…quite. Just quite.” She failed to expound on the subject and it didn’t seem to matter as Lizzie prompted her with another request.
“Promise me you will assist me. It will be so easy now.”
Lizzie’s expectant plea caused her to nod with wooden assent as the words to affirm she would help her cousin catch Phineas’ attention refused to form. Of course, Phineas would prefer Elizabeth. What gentleman wouldn’t admire her refined beauty and ample dowry, qualities Penelope sorely lacked?
There would be no escaping the inevitable. Phineas stepped forward not a moment later, his speculative smile focused on her alone. All aforementioned butterflies awoke in a fluttering panic and Penelope admired her new gloves and shifted anxiously in her slippers. Eyes, yes, breathtaking eyes, but had her cousin ever noticed the charming cleft in his chin? She itched to run her finger over it, or better, taste the indentation with her tongue.
“Miss Rosebery.”
His voice, a silky promise, stirred the air as if they alone existed in an empty ballroom. She met his gaze, a quizzical cast in his eyes. Still she could not float willingly into his arms for a waltz when her cousin stood aside her digging an elbow into her ribs. The silent communication screamed volumes.
“Lord Fenhurst, may I present my cousin, Lady Elizabeth Bretton.” To her ears, the introduction lacked enthusiasm. She wondered if Phin noticed.
“I am pleased to meet you, Lady Bretton.” He brushed a brief kiss to Elizabeth’s gloved hand. “If I am correct, your mother recently contacted mine in regard to a tea party? Or a poetry reading? I’m not sure which.”
Turning to Penelope, he inclined his head and smiled. That Phineas smile. The one that made her feel like pudding.
“You owe me a waltz, Miss Rosebery.” He offered his arm and Penny slid a sideways glance in her cousin’s direction, curious as to what she would garner from the interaction. To her confusion, Lizzie seemed joyfully absorbed in the situation, leaning toward her ear right before Phineas led her away, the vehement whisper echoing straight to her toes.
“Speak to him about me. You promised.”
Her cousin’s words fell away on the first notes of the waltz. Neatly fitted within Phineas’ hold, she swept into the dance. His fingers flexed around her hand and guided the small of her back, while her body tingled in exhilaration. For the space of a heartbeat nothing else mattered.
“So, I have acquired another piece to the puzzle.”
A brief spark of panic jolted her to awareness, but she discovered his expression was not at all serious.
“You find me a curiosity, then?” Her eyes dropped to his mouth and her tongue darted out to skim over her bottom lip.
“More an enticing little mystery.”
They circled the dance floor in expert harmony, their bodies in tune as if waltzing were their favorite pastime.
“I didn’t realize you had relations here in London. Does your cousin know of your predicament?”
His casual tone betrayed the sincerity of the question and she stared at the third button of his waistcoat. Phineas was an intelligent man, worldly in ways she had no idea. Allowing him to draw quick conclusions after meeting Lizzie was the only option. What explanation could she ever offer to make sense of her past?
“You needn’t answer if you do not wish. It is not my intention to cause you discomfort.”
He leaned in to deliver the words and his grasp around her frame tightened as if to emphasize the sentiment. Emotion enveloped her as he drew closer, igniting the scant space between them with an intangible pull that coaxed her further into his arms. Did she imagine the attraction?
She missed a step and Phineas maneuvered them with ease, away from another dancing couple, a gentleman possessing similar stature and coloring as Simon.
“Thank you.” She straightened her spine and grappled with the incongruous emotions Simon’s duplicity evoked. She would not allow the fragile connection, shimmering and swirling between her and Phineas, to disappear.