Reading Online Novel

Her Secondhand Groom(98)



“May I have this dance?” came a familiar voice.

“Lord Sinclair,” she greeted. “Surely you don’t wish to dance with me.”

“Quite the contrary. I do believe I owe you a dance, seeing as how our last dance was interrupted.”

She flashed him a grateful smile. “I’d be honored.”

“Excellent.” He slowly led her to the middle of the floor, and began moving his feet just enough to pass as an attempt at dancing, but not enough to hurt his leg. “How is your mother faring?”

She misstepped. “Excuse me. She’s doing very well.”

He seemed not to mind her misstep, and continued to dance her around the floor. Though his face was hard to interpret through the scars, his eyes were not. Hundreds of questions swirled in those grey eyes of his. Juliet averted her gaze. She knew what he wanted to know; fortunately, he was too polite to ask.

They danced out the remainder of the song in silence, and just as they were about to part, Lord Sinclair stiffened. “What in tarnation is he doing here?”

Before she could stop herself, Juliet’s traitorous eyes swung around to see the he in question. Disappointment flooded her. “Sir Wallace?”

Lord Sinclair nodded.

A burble of laughter welled up in her throat. “Surely you’ve no reason to be jealous of Sir Wallace.” The man was one of the oddest creatures she’d ever met, clothes laundered and pressed to perfection, impeccable manners, and always counting something.

“You’re right, I have no reason to be jealous of the man, but it doesn’t mean I want him to dance with my wife. Will you excuse me, please?”

Juliet shook her head at his retreating form, and whispered. “Who knew he was so possessive.”

“All men are possessive of the women they love,” whispered another familiar male voice at her side.

Chills ran down her spine and she stiffened. “Lord Drakely, I wasn’t expecting to see you here.”

He stepped in front of her since she hadn’t bothered to turn to face him. “No, I imagine you weren’t,” he admitted. He shoved his hands into his pockets, drawing her attention to his horribly disheveled state of dress. “I was hoping we could talk for a minute.”

“I’m afraid I don’t have any time just now. I was informed a baronet has recently joined this social and I’d like to dance with him.”

He rolled his eyes. “No you don’t. You just don’t want to dance with me and you think by dancing with Wallace you’ll avoid me.”

“No. I think by dancing with Sir Wallace I’ll be able to check baronet off my list of dancing partners, and save the poor man from Lord Sinclair’s jealous wrath at the same time. It’s just an added boon that it provides me with a means of escaping you.”

He scowled. “You can dance with him another time. For now, I’d like to talk to you.”

“But there may not be another time,” she protested, taking a step away from him. “Besides, he needs my intervention now before your friend kills him.”

Drake stepped in front of her, halting her steps. “And what do you plan to do, just go up and ask him for a dance?”

“If I must,” she said, raising her chin a notch.

He laughed. “An iron will and nerves of steel. Well, my dear, have no fear, your services are no longer needed over there.”

Juliet cast a glance over to the corner, and started. Emma was dancing with her husband, and about ten feet away, Sir Wallace was dancing with Edwina, Lord Watson’s sister who was here for the holidays. Against the wall, Lord Watson stood with wide eyes and a clamped jaw, staring at his sister and her dance partner.

“I’d say my plan worked,” Drake whispered, placing his hand on the small of Juliet’s back.

“Your plan?”

He nodded, and took her other hand in his then started dancing to the music. “I knew it would be hard to get you alone, so I brought him to serve as a way to distract your two watchdogs.”

“Why?”

“Because I wanted to talk to you.”

“Why?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“No.”

He sighed. “Juliet, I’ve come to apologize.”

“Surely I misunderstood.” She blinked rapidly. “I could have sworn you said the word apologize, but I know that cannot be, since you’ve never done a single thing in your life for which you needed to apologize.”

He frowned. “You know I have. And I’ve come to make it right.”

“Well, you’re a bit late.”

“No, I’m not,” he countered, pulling her close. “It’s never too late to make things right.”