here we are.’ He opened his hands to the room as Frances whirled by with her red-headed partner. Mr Winborn said something to her and she rewarded him with a rare and genuine laugh. ‘It must be difficult being in Miss Huntford’s shadow. You’re by far the prettier of the two.’
Joanna studied the square head of a nail in the floor beneath her feet, as stunned as she was flattered by his compliment. Miss Fanworth’s warning about young gentlemen came to her and she pinned him with her best disciplining governess look. It worked about as well with him as it did with Frances, which was to say it didn’t. ‘Thank you, but you really shouldn’t.’
‘I can’t help it. I’ve been among plain-speaking men for so long it’s difficult to not be open and honest with everyone. Imagine if we were all like this with one another.’
‘Society would crumble once everyone realised what people really thought of them.’
‘They already know but pretend they don’t.’
‘What about you? Do you pretend?’ It was none of her business, but she couldn’t help herself.
‘Every day.’ Sorrow darkened his eyes like clouds over water on a stormy day. ‘I pretend to be happy I came home, I pretend to be glad I gave up my Army career for this.’
* * *
Luke pressed back his shoulders and clasped his hands behind him, waiting for her to brush away his complaints as his brother Edward, his father and every other young lady he’d spoken with tonight had done. They all expected him to forget his time in the Army, to dismiss it as one might a past Season in London. He couldn’t any more than he could forget the faces of all the men he’d lost or the intuition for danger which still kept his senses sharp whenever he rode alone in the woods. All the instincts which had kept him alive in Spain refused to be dulled, but they were useless to him here.
‘It can be difficult after so long in one situation to leave it, especially when it means saying goodbye to friends.’ She studied him with eyes blue enough to make the Mediterranean jealous, their colour as stunning as her response. They captivated him as much now as when he’d followed her progress around the room as she’d trailed after Miss Huntford. Seeing the sisters together had reminded him of following Edward at school until he’d railed at him for embarrassing him. Luke had caught similar exchanges between the two sisters tonight. The last time he’d seen the Huntford girls had been at a picnic nearly fifteen years ago and they’d proved as vapid as their mother. Whichever Huntford sister this was, and he could only assume she was the second eldest, she’d matured into a beautiful, wise and witty young lady.
‘Eventually, you’ll settle in again,’ she assured him, the light auburn hair framing her round face emphasising her subtle beauty.
‘Settling is exactly what I’m worried about. As the second son, there isn’t much else for me to do. The estate isn’t mine and it may never be.’ From an early age, the house, their legacy and their duty to it had been drilled into Luke and his older brother. It had meant something to Edward, the heir. To Luke, it had been nothing but a heavy reminder of his lesser status, the one his family hadn’t failed to reinforce. After reluctantly paying to educate Luke alongside Edward, Luke’s father had spent as few pounds as possible to purchase Luke’s paltry lieutenant’s commission. It had been left to Luke to claw his way up the ranks, borrowing from friends to purchase every next higher rank until the day he’d won for himself, through his own daring, the rank of major. Only now, when Luke had become useful to the line, had his father decided to waste an unnecessary fortune to trot Luke out to look over the local eligible ladies. It irritated him as much as having left so much hard work behind in the dirt of Spain. ‘I have no desire to inherit, or become lord of the manor.’
Her shock at his honest declaration was obvious in the horrified surprise which widened her stunning eyes as she stared out across the ballroom. The dance had ended and the couples were bowing to one another and making their way back to their chaperons. She seemed to watch them closely, shifting on her feet as if she couldn’t wait to flee from him and the heresy of not coveting an earldom. ‘It can’t be.’
‘I assure you, it is.’
‘Please excuse me, Major Preston, but I must, uh, see to something, uh, Miss Hartford, very important, at once.’ She bolted from him like a horse whose rider had been shot off its back.
His spirits, buoyed by their conversation, sank like a rock. He’d thought her different from the many other ladies he’d met tonight, deeper and more understanding. He was wrong. She was as shallow and covetous as the rest of her family.
‘You look as though you need this more than Edward.’ Alma, his sister-in-law, offered him one of the two glasses of champagne she carried. She was tall for a woman but willowy with dark hair, light brown eyes and a playful smile Luke hadn’t seen much of since coming home.
Luke took the drink and downed a sobering gulp. ‘It seems my worth is once again based on the luck of birth and death.’
‘I sympathise with you. Providing an heir is the one thing expected of a woman of my rank and I’ve failed at it.’ She focused on the bubbles rising in a steady stream off the bottom of her champagne flute.
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to add to your distress. I’m being as thoughtless as Edward.’
‘Don’t be so hard on him. He’s struggling to accept our failure and, like you, the changes it means to the family and the line.’
All of their roles and places in life which had once been so secure were being thrown off kilter like a wagon caught in a rut.
‘I’ve seen miracles on the field of battle, men narrowly missed by cannonballs, or those who walked away from explosions with only minor scratches. It isn’t too much to hope for another. Don’t despair, Alma. I haven’t.’ He tapped his glass against hers, making the crystal ring. ‘You may become a mother yet.’
‘We’ll see.’ Disbelief hung heavy in her response.
He raised his glass to finish it, then paused. Across the room, a man who shouldn’t be here slipped out of the opposite door and into the adjoining hallway. ‘What the devil is he doing here?’
‘Who?’ Alma asked, following the line of his look.
‘Lieutenant Foreman.’ He’d last seen the scoundrel eight years ago riding north from their training grounds in Monmouthshire with his tail between his legs, transferred to another unit at Luke’s insistence for compromising a local vicar’s daughter.
‘There weren’t any officers on the guest list.’ Alma tipped her flute at the blue-eyed beauty weaving through the guests. ‘I believe your conversation partner is following him.’
The young lady paused at the door, taking advantage of Lady Huntford’s lack of interest in her to slip into the hallway where Lieutenant Foreman had just disappeared. Apparently, she favoured lower-ranking men more than Luke had realised.
Luke handed his glass to Alma. ‘I won’t have a misguided woman ruining herself under our roof, especially not with a man like him. Tell no one about this.’
‘I won’t say a word.’ Thankfully, she understood the need for discretion in this matter.
Luke followed them out of the ballroom, as curious as he was determined to protect his wayward guest.
She
