‘I said, aren’t you going to thank Mr. Kirkwood for carrying you up the stairs?’ Millie repeated. Her moss green eyes were far too perceptive and there was a speculative gleam in them that Audrey did not care for at all. It was always best not to rouse either of her sisters’ curiosity for, once stimulated, it was hard to elude and the last thing she needed was to incur either of her siblings’ interest, especially not Millie’s who was not renowned for her subtlety.
‘Of course,’ Audrey said with as much composure as she could muster. Moistening her lips, she turned back to Kirkwood, who was smiling faintly. ‘I do thank you Sir, for… for your assistance.’ She refused to even contemplate what his assistance had entailed, how he must have scooped her up into his arms and held her close. She needed to collect her wits, not set them flying.
‘Not at all,’ he murmured. ‘Any time, my dear Miss Hathaway.’
She could not allow herself to dwell on the meaning behind those words for it was hard enough to sit next to the man and pretend that everything was normal. It was a difficult enough gathering; full of tension and, on Lady Allingham’s part, acerbic hostility. Beth Fielding excused herself to retire to bed at eight-thirty but Lady Allingham had remained until nine, to the overall detriment of the atmosphere. It was only after she had excused herself that the pressure in the room eased off. Everybody seemed to relax a little. Allingham had looked as if he were going to join her and say goodnight but Millie had distracted him by challenging him to a game of cards.
He’d smiled at her. ‘I am not sure that I would know any of the games you do, Miss Hathaway.’
‘You do not know how to play Whist?’ Millie had inquired sweetly.
‘Oh, do you know how to play that?’
‘A little. Would you like to hazard a small amount of money?’
‘Ware the child,’ Harry had warned Allingham humorously. ‘She has the devil’s own luck. She will fleece you unmercifully.’
His lordship gave Millie a doubtful look. She gave him a beatific smile in return. ‘I’m sure I can manage,’ he said, obviously unwilling to disappoint such a charming young lady. ‘Yes, I would enjoy a few hands if it would help pass the time for you, Miss Hathaway.’
‘Oh excellent. And please, call me Millie,’ Millie said as she dug into the pocket of her gown and produced a small copper coin. She laid it on the table expectantly.
Allingham, eyes twinkling, did the same. ‘A small wager, hmm? To make it interesting.’
Thirty minutes later the man was on his mettle, totally focused on trying to win back some of the money that Millie had wheedled out of him while she continued to gently tease him. It said much about that gentleman’s excellent temperament that he did not give in to temptation and strangle her. Millie could be the most provoking creature possible if the mood was upon her.
Harry had engaged Kirkwood in conversation and they chatted amiably together, Isabella contributing occasionally as she sat with her sewing. Audrey had taken pains to be off to one side, the better to escape participating herself, pretending to sew but really listening to the conversations around her while her body thrummed with an increasingly reckless tension that was exceedingly alarming. But she could not help it. Merely sitting in the same room as Kirkwood gave her a heightened sense of her own body. In fact, she reflected a little hysterically, she could not recall ever sitting over her sewing and feeling so physically aware.
After a time, just as she had known he must, Kirkwood came to her. Rising, he moved to put another log on the fire, then dropped into the chair beside her.
‘Do you recall that evening at Almack’s when we first met,’ he inquired blandly.
She gave him a narrow look. ‘Why yes, I believe I can recall it.’ She was delighted by the cool note in her voice. He was obviously determined to tease her but she would not give him the satisfaction of a flustered response.
‘I don’t, as a matter of course, enjoy such places,’ he observed gently. ‘But I have to admit, I did enjoy myself that night.’
‘Was it the dancing?’ she inquired politely. ‘From what I can recall, the orchestra was quite good.’
‘I cannot recall the orchestra as being anything other than a noise in the background but I will take your word for it.’
‘Darius hardly ever bothers with such things,’ Allingham observed from the table, almost absently. ‘He never has been able to stand a crush.’
This caused Mr. Kirkwood to glance at his brother, a curious expression on his face but he inclined his head. ‘It is quite true. Making polite conversation is not an art I have ever managed to muster.’
‘I believe most men suffer in such a way,’ Isabella observed with a sleepy smile. ‘Harry certainly suffers at such events.’
‘Oh, no,’ he protested. ‘And I thought I was hiding my sad lack of enthusiasm so well.’
‘I love the fact that you try to,’ his wife responded softly.
Kirkwood returned his attention to Audrey. ‘And did you enjoy the rest of the Season?’
‘It was very pleasant,’ she retuned cautiously, wondering if there was a trick to this conversation. ‘And you, Sir? Have you been enjoying your time in town?’
‘I make it a habit of enjoying myself,’ he replied. ‘Although I confess, some pastimes are more pleasurable than others.’
Audrey shifted uneasily, catching a certain note in his voice. Was he implying… just what was he implying? ‘Indeed, Sir? What pastimes do you enjoy the most?’ Even as the words left her mouth, she knew they were a mistake. It sounded very much as if she were asking him something improper.
His dark eyes glinted. ‘Oh, the usual ones, Miss Hathaway. Most men are simple creatures. There are only so many things that can hold our attention for long.’
‘What a refreshingly honest admission!’ Isabella chuckled.
Audrey stared at him, wondering if it were just the mood she was in or if his words really were suggestive. Was he flirting with her? Did he dare in such company? She thought it very likely that Kirkwood would dare anything, if it suited him to do so. Fortunately, Harry claimed him again, rising to pour the men glasses of brandy and she was allowed to subside back into silence, although he had left her with a head full of the most inappropriate thoughts.
After Allingham had thrown down his last hand of Whist in disgust and Millie had pocketed her winnings, his lordship took a chair by the fire. He grimaced at Harry. ‘You are right. She has the most astonishing luck.’
‘It’s irksome, but we have all learned to deal with it. Except for Harry,’ Isabella added, giving her husband a mischievous smile. ‘Poor Harry continues to believe that his luck will change.’
‘I think she loads the deck,’ Harry muttered.
‘You are just a poor loser,’ his youngest sister-in-law retorted.
‘Now Millie,’ her mother said, as she always did when Millie required a word of warning. Audrey thought they must be the two most used words in Mama’s vocabulary.
Millie sighed and turned her attention to Mr. Kirkwood. ‘Did we meet in London?’ she inquired, with an air of one making an effort. ‘I don’t believe we did for I would certainly have remembered you.’
‘No, Miss Millicent. We did not.’
‘Millie,’ Millie automatically corrected him as she always did if anybody called her Millicent. ‘If you please, Sir.’
‘Miss Millie,’ he agreed gravely.
‘I thought not. I would have remembered because of Mrs. Radcliffe.’
‘Mrs. Radcliffe?’ Kirkwood repeated, bemused.
‘The Mysteries of Udolpho,’ Millie explained. ‘Although now I am reading The Romance of the Forest.’
‘I see,’ he murmured, obviously not seeing at all.