Her Secondhand Groom (20 page)

“
Then dance,” he promoted, his rich, silky voice washing over her like satin.

She hesitantly moved her feet to the music, taking extra care not to step on his toes. His movements were not so hesitant, however. With each step he took forward, his warm body connected with hers. She forced a smile. “Perhaps―”

“
Just move, Juliet. I’ve got you, you won’t fall.”

“
I’m not afraid of falling.” She took a step back that almost matched his stride, but not quite. “I’m afraid I’ll bruise your toes.”

The hold he had on her shoulder tightened. “Bruise them.”

A shiver ran down her spine and her heart tripled its pace. The heated look in Drake’s eyes was different, darker, primitive―intoxicating. Yes, that’s what it was. Seeing him look at her thus was intoxicating. Heedless of the couples around her, she let her fears go and gave into his command, gliding back, then to the side, then back again. All worries abandoned, she followed Drake’s lead as he guided her all over the floor during the waltz and continued long after the music ended.

Drake pulled to an abrupt stop, and Juliet almost stumbled. His hands tightened their hold. “Sorry,” he murmured, helping her regain her balance.

“
Distracted, Patrick?” Lord Sinclair teased, after Drake had escorted her to the edge of the room.

The tips of Drake’s ears pinkened. “Of course, Juliet is a thing of beauty, is she not?”

“
That she is,” Lord Sinclair agreed, making Juliet blush. “Say, why don’t you dance with Emma and I’ll attempt to dance with Lady Drakely We wouldn’t want you to become distracted again.”

Drake flashed Juliet a quick smile and gave her hand to Lord Sinclair. “My lord,” Juliet murmured when Lord Sinclair’s fingers closed around her hand.

“
Is he treating you well?” Lord Sinclair asked without ceremony as soon as the music started.

She blinked at him, and it had nothing to do with how ungraceful his steps were. “I suppose.”

“
You suppose, do you?” He stilled his uneven steps and spun her, his lips twisting. “I’ll admit I wasn’t overly excited when I first learned of your marriage, but now―” he sent one shoulder up in a lopsided shrug― “I think I’ve altered my opinion.”

Her face heated. Had people taken notice of their unusual closeness this evening? “I see.”

“
Do you?”

“
I think so.” She ducked her head, not wanting him to see how red her cheeks were.

A few measures went by with Lord Sinclair giving an honest attempt to dance with her before he spoke again. “I don’t know what to make of it. A few weeks ago I could have throttled him for viewing your marriage as a business arrangement. But then tonight I see him, and it’s clear something’s changed.” He tipped his head up and to the side a fraction and pressed his lips together. “Curious, I’ve known Patrick more than thirteen years and I’ve never seen him dance with anyone but―”

Though he abruptly broke off, Juliet took his meaning. As far as Lord Sinclair knew, Drake hadn’t danced with anyone but his first wife. That couldn’t be true. Surely he’d danced with someone in between. Besides, he was dancing with Emma right now, wasn’t he? She couldn’t see them because her back was to the rest of the room. Perhaps if she acted like her heel caught into her skirt she could have an excuse to look behind her. She bit her lip and brought her right foot backward.

Lord Sinclair’s soft chuckle distracted her and she nearly tripped. “Sorry,” he murmured, catching her and helping her get a solid footing on the floor. “If you wanted to see, you should have just said something.” Two notes later, he released his hold on her back and spun her out. Not a great deal, just enough to see―

“
Well, I never,” she breathed as her eyes connected with the end of the room where Drake and Emma were standing side by side, alone. Everyone else was dancing around the floor. Following Lord Sinclair’s subtle prompt, Juliet spun back around to face him—a knowing look in his grey eyes.

“
I may be a recluse, but I do know a thing or two about Patrick. He rarely goes to London for anything except parliament and even then, he doesn’t participate in Society.” He snorted softly. “I think a few months ago he made Lady Algen’s
Tattle and Prattle
column just by going to a ball held by the Duke and Duchess of Gateway, and he didn’t even dance with a debutante to earn his
on dit
.” Something flickered in his eyes just then before he cleared his throat and continued, “What I’m saying is, it’s rare he dances with anyone and I don’t know what to make of it. I don’t know if it’s because― Excuse me.”

Juliet stood motionless as Lord Sinclair released her and all but ran over to a liveried footman wearing his powdered wig askew. The room grew quiet as the servant and Lord Sinclair whispered. Occasionally, the footman’s voice would grow louder than he might have intended, and just to emphasize his point, spastic hand gestures would accompany his words. Lord Sinclair put his hand on the man’s shoulder, and gently guided him to the hallway.

As soon as he was out the door, Juliet’s eyes shot to Emma and her heart suddenly ached. She walked over to her friend and looped her arm around her. “What’s wrong, Emma?”

“
Nothing,” Emma said quickly. Too quickly. But even if her response hadn’t given her away, the glossy sheen in her eyes would have.

“
Is there anything I can do?”

Emma shook her head. “No.”

“
What about me?” Caroline asked, coming up to stand on Emma’s other side.

Emma exhaled and offered a weak smile. “No, I’m afraid there’s nothing you can do, either.”

“
Are you certain?” Drake asked, his low tone and sheer closeness sent a shiver down Juliet’s spine.

“
Quite,” Emma answered, turning her false smile toward Drake. “I think it’s time we go home. Caroline, thank you for inviting us. I shall see you both in a few days.”

Juliet murmured her goodbyes to Emma. After Drake escorted Emma from the room to go in search of Lord Sinclair, Juliet turned back to Caroline. “What’s going on?”

“
Olivia.”

Juliet knit her brow. “What does Lord Sinclair’s sister have to do with anything?”

“
She probably requires some attention, specifically Marcus’.” Caroline pulled Juliet to the side of the room with one hand and simultaneously directed the musicians to begin playing again with the other. “She was always a bit mad, mind you, black moods, tantrums, rash decisions, and the like. But from what I understood the footman to say, Marcus is needed back at Ridge Water before something far more extreme than normal happens.”

“
Do you think something happened to her in America?” Juliet asked, truly concerned about the safety and well-being of this infamous creature.

“
Besides getting a good dosage of what it’s like not being born to wealth and privilege? No. No, I think the reason she’s taken such a leave of her senses tonight is quite simply due to her current condition.”

“
Of course.” Juliet nearly forgot Lord Sinclair’s sister was increasing. That explained quite a lot, actually. Juliet had seen her mother breeding enough to know the drastic changes in emotions and reactions a woman often faced during that time. A hint of sadness settled over Juliet as, not for the first time since she married Drake, she was reminded she’d never get to experience that part of motherhood. Sure, she’d always get to play the mothering role to his three daughters, but she’d never get to feel life growing inside her, or hold a baby and rock him to sleep. Drake had said he wanted to start fresh, and she was more than willing to do just that, but he’d never said anything about a real marriage, and while she’d never admit such to him, she’d be lying to herself if she didn’t admit a part of her―albeit a small one―yearned for a real marriage with him.

“
You know―Oh, Juliet, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you,” Caroline said.

Juliet blinked. “It’s all right, I was just woolgathering. What was it you were going to say?”

Caroline leaned closer. “I was about to comment that if the way Drake’s been looking at you all night is any indication of his plans for later, you just might find yourself in the same condition as Olivia rather soon.”

Heat crept up Juliet’s face. She highly doubted Drake wanted to visit her bed tonight, or any night, but she couldn’t tell her friend that. Instead she forced a smile and said, “Is it true he hates to dance?”

Caroline blinked. “You know, now that you say that...” She cocked her head to the side and tapped one finger on her right cheek. “I wouldn’t say he hates dancing, but I think he’s very selective in his partners.”

“
Oh?”

Caroline picked at the seam of her elegant gloves, her face turning a pale shade of pink. “As you know, I spent much of my girlhood studying him, and with the exception of the late Lady Drakely, I never saw him dance.” She swallowed and glanced at the far wall before turning her gaze back to Juliet. “Marcus even tried to bribe him to dance with me once and he refused.”

Juliet stared at her friend, mouth agape. “He didn’t,” she forced herself to say when she could finally get over her shock.

“
He did.”

“
I should have known he’d always been Lord Presumptuous,” Juliet muttered, shaking her head.

“
What?” Caroline asked laughingly.

“
Lord Presumptuous. It’s what I called him because of his high handed and presumptuous ways. Apparently, I was right and his arrogance is nothing that started the day he married me.”

Caroline smiled warmly. “Juliet, you missed my point. I may have been slightly distraught at the time, being fifteen years old and all, but that’s not what I meant and I hope you don’t leave tonight thinking your husband is the biggest snob ever to grace England’s shores. He’s not. He’s just...” She trailed off and sighed. “Let’s find a little corner, shall we?”

“
But don’t you wish to dance with Alex?”

Caroline glanced at her husband and grinned. “No. He appears occupied at the moment.”

Juliet looked over to where Alex was talking to a very captivated duke. Gateway, the duke in question, stood with a short, broken-in-half quill in one hand a very small notebook in the other, jotting something down. “What are they doing?” Juliet wondered.

“
I’m not sure exactly.” Caroline sat in an empty chair and waited for Juliet to sit next to her. “Since he married Alex’s cousin, Madison, he’s taken up an interest in science. Alex said he can’t explain the sudden interest, but apparently every time Gateway comes to any family event, he corners Alex and asks for some obscure scientific facts he can recite to impress his wife.”

Juliet’s eyes went to the duchess. She was dancing with Paul Grimes, the country vicar. Juliet had spoken to her before dinner and hadn’t gotten the impression the duchess had any interest in science. It seemed quite endearing if her husband was able to discover her love for such a subject and went out of his way to find little-known facts to impress her with. Juliet smiled.

“
Now, about Drake,” Caroline said, effectively pulling Juliet from her wistful thoughts.

“
Right.”

Caroline shifted in her chair. “He’s not had an easy life, Juliet. I don’t know all the details―and as far as anyone else knows, I don’t even know the select few I’m about to tell you―but Drake was forced to take on a wealth of responsibility far sooner than he should have. If I remember right, his father died while he was still in leading strings and his uncle stepped in to run the viscountcy until Drake was of age. But his uncle’s greed led to the abrupt end of Drake's carefree childhood and transformed him into a judicious lord.”

A hush fell over their section of the room and Juliet desperately hoped Caroline would offer any further explanation she could.

“
As I said, I don’t know everything,” Caroline continued a few moments later, wrapping a loose thread from the seam of her glove around her finger. “But what I do know is that Drake was thrust into his position as viscount when he was young and the viscountcy was on the verge of complete financial ruin because his uncle had been dipping into the accounts. Drake was forced to leave Harrow and without the financial help of anyone else, he was able to save the viscountcy and make it turn a profit. But as you can see, that came at the cost of not merely his youth, but also his innocence and ability to trust anyone.”