Jane Feather - [V Series] by Virtue Read Free Book Online Page B

instead? She ran through the consequences in her head. “Let’s try pawn to queen seven.”
    Sebastian moved the pieces, following the logic now on his own, bringing the problem to solution. “Clever girl,” he said, toppling the black king with a fingertip. “You’ve always been able to see farther than I can.”
    “At chess, but you’re better at piquet.”
    Sebastian shrugged, but offered no disclaimer. “Shall we have nuncheon?” He gestured to the table.
    Judith wrinkled her nose at the dull and insubstantial repast laid out by their landlady. “Bread and cheese again.”
    “But we’re dining with the Gardeners,” he reminded her, cutting into the loaf. “And supper at the Duchess of Richmond’s ball should be more than palatable.”
    “And I daresay the Most Honorable Marquis of Carrington will be present.” Judith sat down and dug a knife into the wedge of cheese. “I don’t seem to have done too well at disarming him, do I?” She frowned. “Threatening to shoot a man isn’t very flirtatious.” She took the cheese off the knife with her fingers and absently popped it into her mouth. “Oh.” She was suddenly reminded. “I have to settle a debt of honor. I owe Carrington twenty guineas.”

4
    I t hardly seemed possible that Napoleon and his army were gathered a stone’s throw from the city, Judith thought, as she and Sebastian joined the receiving line that night, slowly progressing up the wide shallow staircase, to be announced to the Duchess of Richmond standing at the head.
    There were more men in uniform than in civilian evening dress. The women glittered under the brilliant chandeliers—a swarm of jeweled butterflies in gowns every shade of the rainbow. But something lurked beneath the gaiety—a feverishness to the conversations, a slightly shrill pitch to the laughter, the distracted darting of eyes around the room, on the watch for a sign, a hint of new information. The world contained in the Duchess of Richmond’s salons this hot June night was in waiting.
    The Marquis of Carrington was speaking with the Duke of Wellington and General Karl von Clausewitz across the salon from the double entrance doors as Judith and Sebastian entered the room. Judith glanced sideways into the massive gilt-framed mirror on the wall, checking her reflection. She was abruptly annoyed with herself. After this morning’s debacle, Carrington was unlikely to approach her, and why did she want him to? The man had offered her the most offensive insult imaginable. She turned to her brother. “Dance with me, Sebastian.”
    “If you wish.” He looked at her quizzically. “But since when have you been dependent on your brother for a partner?”
    “My card is filled from the third cotillion,” she said, taking his arm. “I refused partners until then because I didn’t think I’d want to dance immediately. But I find that I do.”
    Sebastian said nothing, merely clasped her waist lightly and whirled her into the dance.
    They were a strikingly handsome couple, Carrington reflected, watching them, his mind wandering from the discussion of the need for latitudinal support for the Prussians behind the Sambre. Copper-haired and with those fine golden-brown eyes, flecked with green, they could almost be twins. There must be barely a year between them. Judith’s chin was slightly more rounded than her brother’s, but they both had straight, well-proportioned noses and generous mouths, slanting cheekbones and firm jawlines. An elegant pair of disreputable adventurers. Who were they? And where the devil had they sprung from?
    Would she refuse to dance with him after the morning’s fiasco? A man’s pride could take only so many defeats at the hands of an impudent, though admittedly clever, baggage.
    After excusing himself from his companions, he moved around the dance floor until the Davenports were abreast of him. Then he weaved his way deftly between dancing couples and lightly tapped Sebastian’s shoulder.