The Rake (23 page)

It was also disturbing to think that Garrett
owed his continued good health to a prowess at dueling weapons and
she couldn’t help but have the uneasy feeling that there was a hint
of a warning there that Garrett might call Lord Melville out, or
vice versa if she was not careful.

In truth, she was far more tempted by the
honorable, Sir Charles Curtis. He was a cheerful, very tolerant
sort, and far more interested in hearth, home … and hound, than
London’s social scene. Despite his penchant for hunting and
shooting, however, he was a very good conversationalist and Demi
always enjoyed his company. He was as fair as Garrett was dark, and
of no more than medium height and build.

He was as different from Garrett as daylight
to night.

If it was not meant that she should be with
Garrett, then she did not feel right about seeking anyone out only
because he reminded her of Garrett. She didn’t want to be reminded.
She wanted to forget.

Sir Charles was no more or less than a
country squire. Socially, he was beneath Lord Wyndham, which meant
that even if they did wed and they did decide to socialize they
would be in an entirely different social circle and unlikely to
meet up.

To her surprise, when she expressed her
opinion to Garrett’s mother, Lady Wyndham did not approve. She said
that Demi should not be so hasty to settle when she was perfectly
willing, herself, to wait until she could introduce Demi more
properly--to all of London society--the following season. They
would close up her London residence and take a house in Bath for a
few weeks and then, perhaps, they would join a few house parties in
the country.

Only a few days before they were scheduled
to leave for Bath, Garrett arrived in town at last.

* * * *

It had become Lady Wyndham’s habit to come
to Demi’s room and help her to choose what she would wear on any
given evening and direct the maids on how to pin her hair. Demi was
not only perfectly willing to allow it, she was grateful to have
someone who understood all of society’s little idiosyncrasies well
enough to direct her so that she didn’t inadvertently dress in a
manner that would draw ridicule or censure.

She had seemed rather distracted, however,
to Demi’s mind, directing the maid to try first one hair style and
then another. Finally, after the third attempt, she had decided she
was satisfied.

“
Now for the perfect
dress,” she said. Getting to her feet, she moved to the armoire,
discarding first one dress and then another and finally settling on
the most beautiful, and most outrageous gown of the lot. The
neckline was cut so low as to expose the upper edges of the pink
aureoles of her nipples, while the fabric itself was shockingly
sheer. Row upon row of tiny seed pearls had been sewn onto the
fabric, creating flashes of color with each movement that riveted
the eye, even if the shocking
décolleté
or the sheerness of the
skirt failed to do so.

Demi looked it over doubtfully, but she did
not object.

“
Garrett has deigned to
grace us with his presence,” she said almost casually as the maid
began to carefully work the gown over Demi’s coiffure.

Demi’s heart instantly leapt and began to
race. “He is here?” she asked a little breathlessly.

Lady Wyndham shrugged irritably. “He was. I
told him you were indisposed but that we would be at the Umphreys
soiree later if he cared to join us.”

“
Oh,” Demi said,
immediately crestfallen.

Lady Wyndham gave her a look. “I will be
severely put out with you, Demitria, if you are only going to
behave like a complete ninny the moment you set eyes upon him.”

Demi blushed. “I wouldn’t.”

“
Yes, you would. If I have
only to mention his name to have you all a flutter, I know very
well that he will only have to crook an eyebrow at you to have you
eating out of his hand and entirely willing to do anything that
pleases him. It will
not
do!”

Demi studied Lady Wyndham thoughtfully,
waiting until the maid had finished and departed, closing the door
behind her. “What should I do then?”

Lady Wyndham smiled and patted the chair
beside her. When Demi had seated herself, Lady Wyndham looked her
over approvingly. “Garrett can be most charming when he wants
something, Demi. He was fortunate enough to be born with both looks
and money. Women have been throwing themselves at his head since he
was scarcely out of leading strings. If you want him, you cannot
behave as all the others. You do want him?”

Demi debated briefly, but there seemed
little point in denying it. She nodded.

“
Then you can allow him
only to come just so close and no closer. It certainly will not do
to yield to him the moment he expresses a little interest. I know
my son. He loves you. To my knowledge, he has never felt anything
even approaching what he feels for you. However, he
is
a man, my dear. You
must make him acknowledge it, both to himself, and to you. Until
and unless he accepts the fact that he cannot live without you, he
will try to convince himself that he can. That will leave him in a
position of complete power and you with none.”

Demi frowned. “But I don’t want power over
him,” she said hesitantly. “I just ... I want him to love me.”

Lady Wyndham’s brows rose. “Because?”

“
Because?” Demi
echoed.

Lady Wyndham rolled her eyes. “Why is it so
important to you that he love you?”

“
Why, because I love
him.”

“
Exactly, and if you were
to marry him and worship him, he would soon grow tired of being
worshipped and look about for someone who was more of a challenge.
The only way to catch a man and keep him--well anyone for that
matter--is to make certain there is always the tiniest bit of doubt
in the back of their mind that they have you
completely.”

Demi frowned. “It seems to me that would be
difficult. In any case, I don’t think he cares for me. If he did,
wouldn’t he have come before now?”

Lady Wyndham sighed.
“
Life
is
difficult, Demitria! Complacency is the road to ruin. And, as for
that wretched son of mine--I confess I had not expected him to sulk
quite so long in the country, but that is actually an advantage to
us. It has given us time to establish you in society, and scotch
those nasty rumors your aunt allowed to be fostered. Moreover, you
now have your own beaus. A little competition never
hurts.”

Demi looked at Lady Wyndham uncomfortably.
“You’re not suggesting that I should encourage Sir Curtis, or Lord
Melville only to make Garrett--Lord Wyndham jealous!”

Lady Wyndham studied her hands frowningly.
“Of course not, my dear. But you are not planning to simply cut
them out of your life, are you? That would be too cruel when you
have encouraged them to believe you were interested.”

“
I hadn’t thought of that!”
Demi exclaimed in consternation. “I would not like to think that
I’d … wounded any of them.”

Lady Wyndham waved her hand airily. “Posh! I
know you would not purposefully wound anyone, Demi, but there are
times when it cannot be helped. You cannot make up your mind whom
you wish to select as your husband without allowing yourself to get
to know them, and vice versa, and it is as inevitable as sunrise
that someone’s affections will be engaged, while another will
remain impervious.

“
That is the general way of
things, you must know, my dear. It is rare indeed for two people to
fall head over heels in love with each other. Most generally, they
end up falling for someone who’s in love with someone else and
cannot or will not return their regard.

“
Now, we must be off. We
want to be fashionably late, not rude.”

Once they were settled in the carriage, Lady
Wyndham fixed her with a stern eye. “You will take what I’ve said
to heart?”

Demi sighed. “I do not think that I am very
good at the art of flirtation, ma’am, but I do love Garrett and if
this is what I must do, then I will do my best.”

“
Good!” Lady Wyndham said
with a nod of approval. “It is perfectly acceptable to behave as if
you are glad to see him, but you must not allow him to monopolize
your time. That would be rude, in any case, and I know you wouldn’t
want to be thought rude.”

Demi was far more nervous when they reached
their destination even than she had been when she had attended her
first social function with Lady Wyndham. She relaxed fractionally
when she discovered that Lord Wyndham was not present, but she
spent the first hour searching for him among the arriving guests.
Finally, when he did not appear, depression set it, but even that
did not last long.

Sir Charles Curtis and Mr. Lawrence Collier
were in attendance and greeted her upon her arrival as if they had
been waiting and watching for her. Sir Curtis immediately requested
both her first dance and the supper dance. Mr. Collier, instead of
retreating to a corner to assume a pose of great tragedy and adore
her from a distance, secured the promise of the second dance.

Lord Melville, arriving upon the heels of
her promises to the first two, examined her dance card, smiled
wickedly at Sir Curtis and Mr. Collier and lay claim to her first
waltz. Both Sir Curtis and Mr. Collier were immediately certain
that they had been soundly trounced by the competition and neither
made much attempt to hide their displeasure. As flattering as it
was, it was also more than a little unsettling. She glanced around
in search of Lady Wyndham, but to her relief, the musicians began
to tune up for the first dance at that moment and she was able to
remove both herself and Sir Curtis from the threatened
unpleasantness.

By the time everyone began gravitating in
the direction of the buffet, she’d managed to put Garrett from her
mind, certain that he would not show after all, and she was able to
actually enjoy both the company and the food.

The first strains of a waltz filtered
through the gay chatter as they finished their meal and Demi
glanced up to see Lord Melville threading his way through the crush
to claim her. He quirked a dark eyebrow at her wickedly as their
gazes met and she chuckled despite the fact that she knew very well
he’d done it to provoke Sir Curtis, who’d looked around just as she
had. As she looked away, her gaze locked with a pair of eyes that
held absolutely no amusement, however.

Garrett was standing across the room
speaking with several other guests. Her heart seemed to lurch
against her chest wall and seize up, freezing the air in her lungs.
It took an effort to disentangle her gaze from his and focus on
Lord Melville as he presented himself at her table, and even more
of an effort to smile in greeting. Something flickered in Lord
Melville’s eyes, and he glanced across the room as Demi had. She
rose abruptly. “I’d wondered if you had forgotten me,” she said a
little breathlessly.

He turned to her then, his eyes alight with
amusement and she realized with a touch of relief that he had not
seen who had distracted her attention. If he’d caught the look
Garrett was giving him, he would almost certainly have taken
exception to it.

When they’d taken their positions in the
dance, Demi breathed more easily. She’d more than half feared that
Garrett might accost them before they reached the dance floor and
there had been something distinctly unnerving about the look of
repressed savagery in his features as he’d allowed his gaze to
wander over her bodice and then studied both Sir Curtis and Lord
Melville.

She’d never seen Garrett look quite that
way. If that was jealousy, she found it far more frightening than
thrilling.

The strains of the waltz soothed her,
however. She didn’t think, despite the lessons Lady Wyndham had
procured for her from the dance master, that she was more than
adequate at the dance, but Lord Melville was both skilled and
inherently graceful and more than made up for her own shortcomings.
She relaxed as they glided across the floor, beginning to enjoy
herself. The nervous flutter of her heart settled into the
pleasurable rhythm of the dance.

Garrett met them at the edge of the dance
floor. Bowing slightly, he dragged his gaze from Demi and looked
Lord Melville over coolly. “Have I arrived too late to request the
next waltz?” he asked pleasantly.

“
No,” Demi said a little
breathlessly.

“
As a matter of fact …
yes,” Lord Melville responded at almost the same moment. “I am
before you, Wyndham.”

Garrett’s eyes hardened. The half smile on
his lips never wavered, however. “I believe you are mistaken,
Melville.”

Demi felt the blood leave her face as she
glanced from one man to the other. Forcing a tight smile, she
gripped her dance card in a white knuckled fist. “Actually, I had
promised--” she began.

“
Garrett! I’m so glad to
see that you have made it after all,” Lady Wyndham interrupted as
she joined them. “I suppose I should not be surprised to discover
the two most handsome and dashing men in the room hovered about my
ward, but I am most put out with the two of you. Especially you,
Thomas! Naughty boy! I suppose you will tell me it has slipped your
mind that you promised me a waltz?”

Something flickered in his eyes, but he
smiled at her engagingly. “I would never forget a promise made to
such a beautiful woman,” he murmured with a slight bow.

Lady Wyndham swatted his arm with her fan.
“Flatterer! I know very well that you only see me as an old woman,
but it is very sweet of you nevertheless.”