Annabel had left the ball straightaway after the disastrous interlude on the heath, but apparently Mr. Grey had not. He must have made quite an impression on Louisa, because this morning, good heavens, it was all she could talk about.
Mr. Grey this, and Mr. Grey that, and how was it possible that Annabel hadn’t seen him at the party? Annabel had shrugged and made some sort ofI can’t imagine type of comment, but it didn’t matter because Louisa was still nattering on about his smile and his eyes which weregray and oh wasn’t it just the most marvelous coincidence and oh yes, everyone had noticed that he departed on the arm of a married woman!
This last bit did not surprise Annabel. He’d told her quite plainly that he’d been cavorting with a married woman before she’d tripped over him.
But Annabel had a feeling that this was adifferent married woman. The one on the blanket had been careful of her reputation, departing the scene well before Mr. Grey. No one who practiced such discretion would be so brazen as to leave on his arm. Which meant it had to be someone else, which meant he’d been withtwo married women. Good heavens, he was even worse than people said.
Annabel pressed her fingers to her temples. No wonder her head hurt. She was thinking too hard. Too hard, and about items too frivolous. If she had to develop an obsession, couldn’t it be about something worthwhile? The new Cruel and Improper Treatment of Cattle Act would have done nicely. Or the plight
of the poor. Her grandfather had been ranting about both this week, so Annabel had no excuse for not developing an interest.
“Is your head bothering you?” Louisa asked. But she wasn’t paying much attention. Frederick, her ridiculously fat basset hound, had spotted a fellow canine in the distance and was yanking on the lead. “Frederick!” she yelped, tripping a step or two before she found her footing.
Frederick stopped, although it wasn’t clear if it was due to Louisa’s hold on the lead or outright exhaustion. He let out a huge sigh, and frankly, Annabel was surprised that he didn’t collapse on the ground.
“I think someone has been sneaking him sausages again,” Louisa grumbled.
Annabel looked elsewhere.
“Annabel!”
“He looked sohungry ,” Annabel insisted.
Louisa motioned toward her dog, whose belly slid along the grass. “Thatlooks hungry?”
“His eyes looked hungry.”
Louisa gave her a skeptical look.
“Your dog is a very good liar.”
Louisa shook her head. She was probably rolling her eyes, too, but Annabel was watching Frederick, who was letting out a bored yawn.
“He’d be quite good at cards,” Annabel said absently. “If he could speak. Or had thumbs.”
Louisa gave her another one of those looks. She was very good at them, Annabel thought, even if she saved them for family.
“He’d win againstyou ,” Annabel said.
“That’s hardly a compliment,” Louisa answered.
It was true. Louisa was abysmal at cards. Annabel had tried everything—piquet, whist,vingt-et-un . For someone who was so good at keeping every emotion off her face in public, Louisa was dreadful when it came to games. Still, they played, mostly because Louisa was so bad it made it fun.
She was a good sport, Louisa.
Annabel looked down at Frederick, who had, after about thirty seconds of standing in place, plopped his bottom down on the grass. “I miss my dog,” she said.
Louisa looked over her shoulder toward her aunt, who was still engrossed in conversation. “What was his name again?”
“Mouse.”
“That was very unkind of you.”
“Naming him Mouse?”
“Isn’t he a greyhound?”
“I could have named him Turtle.”
“Frederick!” Louisa yelped, rushing forward to remove something—in all honesty, Annabel preferred not to know what—from his mouth.
“It’s better than Frederick,” Annabel said. “Good heavens, that’s my brother’s name.”
“Let go, Frederick,” Louisa muttered. Then, still grabbing at whatever was in his mouth, she looked back over at Annabel. “He deserves a dignified name.”
“Because he’s such a dignified dog.”
Louisa raised a brow, looking every inch a duke’s daughter. “Dogs deserve proper names.”
“Cats, too?”
Louisa let out a dismissivepfft . “Cats are entirely different. They catchmice .”
Annabel opened her mouth to ask how, exactly, that pertained to proper names, but before she made a sound, Louisa grabbed her forearm, hissing her name.
“Ow.” Annabel reached down and tried to pry Louisa’s fingers loose. “What is it?”
“Over there,” Louisa whispered urgently. Her head jerked toward the left, but in a way that said she was trying to be discreet. Except she wasn’t. At all. “Sebastian Grey,” Louisa finally hissed.
Annabel had heard the hearts-dropping-to-the-stomach expression before, and she’d said it, too, but this was the first time she actually understood it. Her entire body felt wrong, as if her heart was in her stomach and her lungs were in her ears, and her brain was somewhere east of France.
“Let’s go,” she said. “Please.”
Louisa looked surprised. “You don’t want to meet him?”
“No.” Annabel didn’t care that she sounded desperate. She just wanted to be gone.
“You’re joking, aren’t you? You must be curious.”
“I’m not. I assure you. I mean, yes, of course I am, but if I am going to meet this man, I don’t want to do it like this.”
Louisa blinked a few times. “Like what?”
“I’m just—I’m not prepared. I—”
“I suppose you’re right,” Louisa said thoughtfully.
Thank God.
“He will probably think you have loyalties toward his uncle and will prejudge you accordingly.”
“Exactly,” Annabel said, latching onto this like a lifesaver.
“Or he’ll try to talk you out of it.”
Annabel cast a nervous glance toward the spot where Louisa had seen Mr. Grey. Subtly, of course, and without actually turning around. If she could just escape before he saw her…
“Of course, I think youshould be talked out of it,” Louisa continued. “I don’t care how much money Lord Newbury has, no young lady should be forced to—”
“I haven’t agreed to anything yet,” Annabel practically cried. “Please, may we justgo ?”
“We have to wait for my aunt,” Louisa said, frowning. “Did you see where she went?”
“Louisa.”
“What iswrong with you?”
Annabel looked down. Her hands were shaking. She couldn’t do this. Not yet. She couldn’t face the man she’d kissed who happened to be the heir to the man she didn’t want to kiss but whom she probably was going to marry. Oh yes, and she could not forget that if she did marry the man she didn’t want to kiss, she was likely to provide him with a new heir, thus cutting off the man she did want to kiss.
Oh, he wasreally going to like her.
She was going to have to be introduced to Mr. Grey eventually, there was no avoiding it. But did it have to be now? Surely she deserved a little time to prepare.
She hadn’t thought she was such a coward. No, she wasn’t a coward. Any sane person would flee in such a situation, and probably half of the mad ones, as well.
“Annabel,” Louisa said, her voice sounding exasperated. “Why is it so important that we leave?”
Annabel tried to think of a reason. She really did. But there was only the truth, which she was not prepared to share, so instead she stood there dumbly, wondering how on earth she was going to get out of this fix.