But he remembered all too well that his father had declared Miss Manning would be a suitable bride for Sebastian’s brother Henry. The perfect, intellectual son, destined to carry on the Barretts’ great tradition in the diplomatic service. Sebastian had thought nothing of it when he heard his father and Henry talking about Mary Manning. After all, he did not know her and his thoughts and nightmares were still all of the battlefield. He didn’t care who his brother married. Surely they would be the perfect, dignified couple, a credit to the Barretts and to England.
It was obvious Henry cared little for Miss Manning beyond who her father was, the famous and well-respected Sir William Manning. That was how all their family’s marriages were conducted.
Yet now Sebastian had met Mary Manning. And she was most unexpected.
He took a deep drink of his wine, draining the glass. The footmen quickly refilled it. So, the brief moment of quiet Sebastian had found in Mary’s pale grey eyes had been all too brief. The desperate search for distraction went on.
He studied the faces of his friends again, sweet Nicholas Warren and Lord James who would always follow him anywhere. But Paul Gilesworth—he always knew where the most trouble was to be found. He revelled in it. He would surely know of something that would make Sebastian forget the great waste of his life for a time.
‘So, no Lady Louisa Smythe,’ Gilesworth was saying with a laugh. It seemed Sebastian had missed more of the listing of various ladies’ attributes. ‘She would surely be easy enough to lead astray, but the trouble with her father afterward wouldn’t be worth it. I for one have no intention of ending in parson’s mousetrap before I’m forty.’
‘But that’s the trouble with every young lady in London,’ Lord James said with a sigh. ‘Their papas are most vigilant.’
Gilesworth gave a sly laugh. ‘Not all of them, surely.’
‘For respectable young ladies, it must be,’ Nicholas said earnestly. ‘That is how it should be. But demi-reps...’
‘Where is the challenge in that? Or even in flirtatious young misses like Lady Louisa,’ Gilesworth said, his lips twisting.
A challenge. Surely that was what Sebastian needed now. He gestured for more wine as he turned that intriguing thought over in his head. Every day in the Army was a challenge. In London, there was only ever that numbness.
‘What do you mean, Gilesworth?’ Sebastian said. The others turned to him with startled looks on their faces, as if they had rather forgotten he was there. ‘What of a challenge could there be in London?’
Gilesworth’s eyes narrowed. He looked as if he had some scheme going in his mind, sharpening his features, and it roused Sebastian’s own instincts for trouble. ‘You talked rather quietly with Miss Mary Manning today, Barrett.’
Sebastian saw again Mary Manning in his mind, her sweet smile, the gentle touch of her hand on his arm. ‘So I did. She was rather unusually intelligent. What of it?’
‘A lady like her would probably be something of a challenge.’
‘What do you mean?’ Nicholas said. He was beginning to look rather alarmed, which Sebastian was sure must be an interesting sign.
‘Miss Manning is no flirt, despite her friendship with Lady Louisa,’ Gilesworth said. ‘She has not been long back in London, due to her father’s work, but no one ever has a word of criticism for her. She is pretty, polite, calm, a fine hostess for her father. She couldn’t put a dainty slipper wrong.’
Sebastian saw where Gilesworth was going and it made him scowl. He drank down the last of his wine, letting the hazy distance of the alcohol add to his own cold numbness. ‘So, in other words, she is exactly what she should be?’
Lord James gave a snort. ‘Are any of us what we should be?’
‘Exactly,’ Gilesworth said. ‘Surely no one is perfect inside—even a quiet lady like Miss Manning. She must have a few wild thoughts running through that pretty head.’
Sebastian stared down into the ruby dregs of his glass, but he didn’t see the wine. He saw Mary Manning’s face, the way she smiled at him, so shy and trusting.
Wild thoughts in her head? Oh, how he would like to know what those were! Sebastian almost laughed to imagine Mary Manning going wild, her skirts frothing around her slender legs, her laughter ringing out like music.
And then suddenly he wasn’t laughing any longer. The thought of her breaking free, taking him by the hand and drawing him with her into the sunshine, made him feel sad—and also, strangely, hopeful.
‘All the ladies seem to talk of nothing but your heroics of late, Barrett,’ Gilesworth said. ‘Even Miss Manning seemed most fascinated by you today. If anyone could break through such cool perfection, surely it would be you.’
Sebastian shook his head. ‘My brother is the one who is interested in Miss Manning.’
Gilesworth and Lord James laughed, as Nicholas watched them, wide-eyed. ‘Your brother Lord Henry is surely not interested in anything besides his own career. He is as cool-headed as Miss Manning herself. No, I would wager if anyone could break through to the perfect Miss Manning, it would be you.’
‘A wager?’ Lord James cried. ‘Oh, marvellous. I haven’t heard an interesting wager in ages.’
Sebastian studied Gilesworth carefully. He didn’t quite trust his friend’s smile, but he found himself intrigued rather against his will. ‘I may be wickedly bored, but I do not wager on a lady’s reputation.’
Gilesworth waved his hand in a dismissive gesture. ‘No one is suggesting we ruin a lady’s fair name! Only that we provide her—and ourselves—with a bit of fun. It has been a most dull Season. Surely even Miss Manning deserves a laugh before she retreats into a blameless life as Lady Henry? If she does become Lady Henry in the end, which I doubt.’
‘Then what are you suggesting?’ Sebastian said in a hard voice.
Gilesworth leaned over the table. ‘Just this—fifty guineas says you won’t be able to steal a kiss from Miss Manning at the Duchess of Thwaite’s ball.’
‘Fifty guineas?’ Nicholas gasped.
Sebastian did not look away from Gilesworth. ‘I told you. I won’t ruin a lady’s reputation.’ Not even to break that terrible coldness around him.
Not even if he was tempted by the thought of kissing Miss Manning. And he was tempted. Far more than he cared to admit. Surely the touch of her lips, so sweet and innocent, could make him feel alive again?
‘No one would know but us, Barrett,’ Gilesworth said. ‘And Miss Manning, of course. Give her a thrilling memory. If indeed there is something of fire under her pretty ice, which I am not at all sure of.’
Sebastian sat back in his chair, turning his empty glass around in his hand. There was such a stew of feelings seething inside of him: boredom, desire, intrigue. It was the first spark of warm life he had felt in too long. And yet surely it could not be right.
Maybe he was the rake London society had proclaimed him to be after all.
‘Very
