‘Is my mouth open?’ he hissed.
‘No,’ Nick assured him. ‘Not now. Spectacular, is she not?’
Robert’s low whistle was answer enough. ‘I’m off to ask her for the first waltz.’
‘You can’t have it, and neither can I. We cannot risk drawing attention to her by neglecting our duty dances in her favour. We will both have to wait until after supper. Stay here, it will not do for both of us to descend on her the moment she appears.’
Nick strolled off, following a meandering path through the chatting guests until he appeared, as if by chance, where Katherine was being introduced by Lady Fanny to the Gun-ton sisters. They broke off, wide eyed, and curtsied to him.
‘Lord Seaton.’
‘Miss Gunton, Miss Amelie, good evening. I hope you had a safe journey over the moors? I see Cousin Fanny has introduced you to her friend Miss Cunningham.’
Kat turned to him with calm composure and dropped a slight curtsy. ‘Good evening, Lord Seaton.’
God, but she was lovely. Her skin looked like milk against the soft primrose of the gown; the crystal beads in her bodice shimmered with the rise and fall of her breathing and the subtle scent of lily of the valley and fern rose from her warmth. ‘Ladies, if you would excuse us, I have been asked to introduce Miss Cunningham to Lady Foxe.’
‘Why?’ Kat hissed as he took her arm and steered her back across the room.
‘Because I wanted to talk to you. Lady Foxe is not even here yet.’ He bowed to a small knot of gusts talking animatedly and strolled on. ‘You look breathtaking, Kat.’ He let his fingers caress the crook of her arm where he held her and felt her shiver.
‘Thank you, but it is this lovely gown. I am sorry I was ungracious about it.’
‘Kat, you would look lovely in a sack. The gown simply shows off the loveliness that it sheathes.’ He watched her blush, saw the pearl eardrops tremble and wondered how he was managing not to bend down and nibble the delicate lobe it was suspended from.
‘You should not be spending time with me.’ She sounded anxious and he saw she was watching his father, alive for any sign of disapproval.
‘I know. I will leave you here with Mr Crace. Kat, I cannot dance with you until later, after supper. Keep your card free after then.’
She smiled, a genuinely amused flash of humour. ‘I do not think that humble Miss Cunningham is going to have any problem doing that, Lord Seaton.’
Nick smiled too, at her ridiculous modesty. Was she really unaware that male eyes were following her from all corners of the room? And this was simply the fifty dinner guests.
‘Mr Crace, might I leave Miss Cunningham in your care? I believe you will be taking her in to dinner.’ He freed her arm and turned away abruptly, suddenly all too conscious that if he did not, he was going to find it impossible to leave her side.
‘Miss Cunningham, may an old man be permitted to say that you are in great beauty tonight?’ Katherine was startled out of the breathless state Nick’s sudden appearance, and as sudden departure, had left her in by the archivist’s gallant observation.
‘Why, thank you, sir.’ The tubby little man beamed at her.
‘Now, who can I introduce you to, I wonder?’ he mused. ‘Not the young men, they will find you quite of their own accord.’ He chuckled. ‘Let me see … ah, yes, Lady Laithwaite and her daughters. Charming girls, and not so plain that they will mind your company,’ he added wickedly. ‘Over here.’
Katherine accompanied him, reminding herself that this avuncular figure was also his Grace’s lawyer and therefore perfectly au fait with her scandalous secret. The whole scene was quite unreal, she felt, glancing round to find Nick. There he was, talking to an uncommonly handsome young lady with copper-red hair and a very lovely bosom. Which she is displaying to good advantage, Katherine thought cattily, reluctantly admiring the graceful shoulders and daringly low neckline displayed.
‘Who is that?’ she whispered to Mr Crace, who appeared to have lost sight of his quarry. ‘The tall, red-headed lady talking to Lord Seaton.’
‘Lady Camilla Wilde. A striking young lady, is she not? Niece and heiress of old Lord Polkington. Dotes on her and intends to dower her royally, they say.’
Katherine was saved from any further questions that might have revealed the jealous pangs she was experiencing by Heron throwing open the double doors into the dining room and announcing, ‘Dinner is served, your Grace!’
As a single girl, Katherine found herself midway down the table, Mr Crace on one side and on the other the handsome young man she and Jenny had spied from the bedroom widow. Mr Crace introduced him.
‘Mr Roderick Graham, Miss Cunningham. Mr Graham is a cousin of the Bishop of Durham.’
Close to, Mr Graham proved every bit as personable and attractive as the glimpse from the window had suggested. Katherine soon found herself engrossed in conversation with him about his recent impressions of London which, as a native of Edinburgh, he had visited this year for the first time.
‘I have only just returned, in fact,’ he explained. ‘My cousin was good enough to offer me his hospitality at the Bishop’s Palace for the summer. It is already proving as interesting an experience as my visit to London.’
‘Is it truly a palace?’ Katherine enquired. Mr Graham had explained that as a younger son he had been studying law and she gathered that his home was far more modest than that of his exalted relative.
‘Indeed it is,’ he agreed, smiling, ‘although not so deserving of the name as this edifice.’
‘I know,’ she replied with feeling. ‘I keep getting lost and I suspect that our entire London home would fit easily into this room.’
His speaking look around them encompassed the soaring ceilings, the mirrored walls, the length of silver-laden mahogany and Heron with his army of footmen, and was so comical that Katherine laughed.
As she did so, her eyes found Nick’s at the far end of the table. His brows rose, apparently in reaction to her animation. Good, the little voice of mischief whispered. Let him see me having a good time. She turned back to Mr Graham.
‘Have you lived in London all your life?’ he asked, listening attentively as she explained how they had moved from the country and how she and Philip had been left alone on the deaths of their parents.
‘My brother is travelling abroad at present,’ she explained. ‘Which is why I find myself here. Lady Fanny has been so kind,’ she added, telescoping events ruthlessly to give the impression her chaperon had invited her to stay. ‘What did you do in London, Mr Graham? Did you find society to your taste?’
‘I did not mix in very exalted circles,’ he admitted. ‘But I had secured some introductions and had a most pleasant time. I enjoyed visiting galleries and the museums as well, and attended scientific lectures. Out of professional interest I attended several trials at the Law Courts. I even went so far as to attend a public hanging at Newgate.’
‘You did?’ Katherine enquired faintly.
‘Yes.
