“Gil.” Rose frowned at him, pulling away slightly. “Didn’t you know that Sir Neville is an old friend of my father’s? I’ve known him since I was in leading strings.”
Sir Neville pulled a face at her. “My dear, it’s not quite that long. Your father—excellent man that he is—has a few years on me. And I’m certainly sprightly enough to beg a dance from you. Are you free?”
“I—yes, of course, Nev.” She sent Gil an apologetic look, and since she’d already accepted, he couldn’t even protest. Just had to watch as Grayson executed the most exquisite bow Gil thought he’d ever seen and stretched his arm out to Rose to escort her to the floor of the ballroom. She walked away with him, smiling and chattering, her face animated. When they took their places on the floor, Grayson murmured something in her ear that made her laugh and raise her hand to her mouth as though he’d ever so slightly shocked her.
Gil bristled with aggression. Damned coxcomb, making up to Rose, and him old enough to be her father! There was nothing he could do but watch as Grayson danced and flirted and laughed with his wife, and she flirted right back.
All of a sudden, he felt like an idiot. An idiot for forgetting that Rose was only here tonight because she’d plotted with Grayson to deceive and seduce him. Now she was doing it again, twisting him round her little finger with a few smiles. And he, like a fool, had been lapping it up.
He watched her skip down the line of gentlemen in her set, smiling happily. As she passed Grayson, she whispered something in his ear, and he laughed.
He wondered if she was laughing at him, even now as he watched.
Chapter Sixteen
“Does Stanhope know Lottie and I visited you at Weartham, dear heart?” Nev asked as they met to execute a brief turn.
“Not exactly,” Rose replied before the dance parted them again for a while.
“Is it a secret?” he asked when they were reunited.
She considered carefully. “Not as such, but it’s perhaps best not mentioned.”
He nodded. “All right. That’s diplomatic.”
They linked hands, holding them above their heads and stepping toward one another, their faces very close for a moment. For a heartbeat, no more, Nev looked uncharacteristically serious. “Is he treating you right, poppet?”
“Of course!” she replied. She looked away, pretending she was having to think about the steps of the dance. After a few seconds, she looked up with a bright smile. “Do you imagine he locks me up with nothing but stale bread and water? Don’t be ludicrous, Nev. I’m well looked after.”
He frowned at her. “He can’t have been too pleased when he found out who you really were.”
No point lying.
“He wasn’t.” She smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. “But he’s fine now. Truly. It’s all sorted out.”
Nev looked over her shoulder. “He certainly looks smitten. He couldn’t take his eyes off you when you were dancing with all those other gentlemen, and he’s still glaring at me now!” He grinned at her, amused. “Makes me feel young again, having a husband after my blood. It’s been a while since I engendered such jealousy.”
She frowned. Jealousy? Hardly that.
“You’ll be pleased about Miles, then,” Nev said, abruptly changing the subject.
She frowned at him, puzzled. “Pleased how?”
Nev’s look of dawning horror was almost comical. She saw the precise moment at which he realised he had spoken out of turn.
“What is it?” she pressed.
“Nothing. Really, it’s nothing.” They parted again, and she went down the line, executing a turn with each of the gentlemen in their set. When she reached Nev she gave him her gimlet look.
“You were about to tell me something about my father, Nev; don’t bother to deny it.”
“Don’t be absurd,” he said airily, but his eyes slid away from hers.
“Tell me. I won’t leave it alone. I’ll hound you till you confess.”
“Oh, damnation, Rose! I wasn’t supposed to tell you. It was supposed to be a surprise.”
“A surprise? What surprise?”
He stared at her for a moment more, then shrugged, giving up the game finally. “Your father’s coming home. His ship’s due to arrive in England in three weeks.”
Gil was silent and moody in the carriage on the way home. He’d been like this since her dance with Nev. It was disappointing, after their waltz and the good humour between them. It had been so unexpected. The first moment of amity they’d shared out of the bedroom. But now he was sitting opposite her, a frown on his face and his mouth all closed up and grim, fast as a trap. Back to normal, in other words.