But the most fascinating thing was what the smile did to his usually cold, bored eyes. It turned their dark blue to the shade of warm tropical waters as they gazed at her with all-encompassing concern. She was embarrassed and didn’t know where to look, which was just as well, because she couldn’t look away.
As he focused on her, she realized he seemed to emanate a growing warmth that she could feel in every pore. He positively radiated a subtle heat. His gaze gentled, and she realized he was now looking at her lips, but not as though he was expecting to see her answer there. Her mouth tingled as though he’d touched it. So did other soft parts of her body, to her utter astonishment. But she couldn’t help it. He was no longer chilly, or aloof. Neither was there anything foppish or feminine about him now; he seemed entirely, intensely masculine, although he didn’t smell like the men she’d known. Instead he gave off the heady scents of soap and spice and sandalwood, warm sandalwood.
He was something she’d never known, a man who desired her in a way she’d never encountered, but with great lust, nevertheless. That, she knew. He made her remember he was a man and she a woman and what he wanted had nothing to do with the rough invasion she hated, and yet everything to do with it.
She caught her breath. Her skin felt damp, her heartbeat picked up, she felt trapped and frightened, and yet fascinated. She wanted to answer; she wanted to get away from him. But she couldn’t remember his question.
“So, do you like Papa Hayden this evening?” the earl called from across the room.
The viscount turned his head to answer in his usual laconic tones. “Yes, if Mrs. Masters would be so kind. Always a treat.”
Daisy looked away and swallowed hard. She gave herself a mental shake. She didn’t know what had come over her; this was the same effete nobleman she’d met days before. Was she mad? His interests lay in what she was wearing, not the body beneath. She’d probably had too much wine. They’d likely slipped brandy into the sauces, too. As for the viscount? He probably just lusted after her gown, she told herself, and felt much better.
“Singing lessons,” she said, making him turn his head to her again. “Finding a house for myself is first. But singing is next on my list. Because I can’t play as well as Helena, and won’t even try.”
“You don’t know how good you are at anything unless you try it,” he said softly, smiling as though he knew exactly what she’d been thinking.
But she’d been caught in his web before, and she learned fast. She would not amuse him at her own expense. She rose to her feet. “Then I’d better go watch her fingers for a start,” she said.
Then, as though she’d narrowly escaped something fearful and still worried about being caught in its clutches again, she made her way over to the piano to join Helena and the earl. She could swear she felt the viscount’s gaze, as if he’d placed a large, warm hand on her back, so she moved smartly while trying to look as though she were only strolling there.
“They make a nice couple,” Daffyd said as he settled down on the settee next to Leland, inclining his head to where the earl, Daisy, and her companion were gathered at the piano.
“The earl and your Daisy?” Leland asked wryly.
“Geoff and Helena Masters,” Daffyd said. “But he don’t see her at all. She might as well be the piano.”
“Charming woman, but she’s just a companion,” Leland said. “He’s a nobleman; he’s not supposed to see her.”
“Not Geoff. Class and rank don’t matter to him,” Daffyd said, slipping into slum argot as he sometimes did when he wanted to make a point about his origins. “Nothing like being locked up with the riff and raff as well as the toffs to learn that a man or a woman’s worth ain’t in their class or rank. No, he doesn’t see the companion only because he’s too busy seeing Daisy. She sees to that. You were right. She’s after him. I don’t know why, and it don’t make me happy. It wouldn’t exactly be a mismatch, but it wouldn’t be right, neither.
“She’s had a hard life, and Tanner was a right bastard,” Daffyd said. “But that’s no reason for her to try to snare Geoff now. He needs a mature woman. Whatever else she is, Daisy ain’t that. It isn’t that I’m afraid of being cut out of the will if he breeds a houseful of kids with her, because I won’t be. I’m not his son and heir in the first place, and anyway, I don’t need his money. I’ve done all right for myself, and I think and hope he’ll live forever. It’s because I’m not sure she’s right for him. You were right about that. It doesn’t fit, and I don’t like things that don’t fit. Means somehow something’s askew. So, what’s to do?”
“Talking to him won’t help,” Leland said, watching how Daisy hung on the earl’s sleeve, this time literally. “Warn a man about something and he has to look at it more closely. Once he concentrates on it, it may be he’ll decide he wants it even if he didn’t before. By the way, do you think he wants her?”
Daffyd shook his head. “Dunno. Hard to tell with him. But he’s available and male and he breathes, so he must. I’m as faithful to my Meg as the sea is to the shore, and glad of it, but even I can’t stop looking at Daisy. She’s an eyeful, ain’t she? And it won’t do any good to talk to her, neither. She’s learned to keep her thoughts to herself; we all did, but her, especially. If she’d ever told Tanner what she wanted, he’d use it against her, and she isn’t stupid.”
They stared at the trio at the piano.
“Have you investigated her finances?” Leland asked. “She says she’s rich, but she was only a prison guard’s wife, after all.”
“Aye. Still, Tanner was the cheapest man I ever met. He squirreled away every bit of bribe he ever got, and he took every one he could squeeze out of his job. But that wouldn’t make him rich. He did invest with Geoff, and that made rich men of many of us. I’ll look into it. Don’t think she’s lying, though. She knows it would be too easy to find out the truth. That’s the thing about dealing with a woman like her; she knows every angle. Doesn’t mean she’s up to no good, just means she has her wits about her, because she’s had to.” He looked at Daisy and sighed. “Won’t be the end of the world if he does marry her, I suppose. Just not the best thing for either of them, I think.”
“So do I. But it’s early days. Don’t go and buy a wedding gift yet,” Leland said, stretching his long body as he spoke. “There’s a long road to travel before we get to sit on either side of a flower-draped aisle. Geoff’s not a rash man or a fool. I don’t know what your Daisy is. But I mean to find out.”
“Well then, good. But Lee?”
Something in his half brother’s voice made Leland turn his head to look at him.
“Whatever you do, don’t hurt her. She’s a game ’un, and she’s been through hell. Maybe all she does want is a little peace.”
“Maybe,” Leland agreed. “Who doesn’t? I won’t hurt her. I hope to merely educate her.”
But Daffyd didn’t smile. “She’s a friend, Lee. I mean it.”
One thin brow went up. “Indeed? You’re very serious. Very well, so am I. I won’t hurt her, I’ll promise you that. I don’t think I’m capable of it anyway, in any sense. But you have my word on it. I just want to find out what’s happening.”
“And your vanity is wounded,” Daffyd said.
“Of course,” Leland agreed so pleasantly that Daffyd didn’t know if he meant it or not. But it didn’t matter to him. He was content. He had Leland’s word, and no bond was stronger.
“Well, that was an evening!” Daisy said as she shed her cloak when she got back to her hotel room that night. Her maid took it. “Thank you,” she told the girl. “Now go to bed, it’s late. Look at that,” Daisy told Helena with a crooked grin, as the maid scuttled off to do her bidding. “Me, ordering a maid around as though I’d done it all my life, when my father couldn’t afford help at home for years before we were arrested. I feel good and bad about being mistress to a servant, I can tell you.”