Redeeming the Deception of Grace (3 page)

S
he
replied simply
,
"
You probably should.
"

He
was
disappointed that she hadn
'
t taken the bait.
"
Touché.
"

The waltz came to a close
,
and Ewan escorted
Grace
to the edge of the room and back to her mother
'
s side
.
He tried not to smile
because h
er arm was stiff, radiating the hostility he
'
d come to expect and somehow appreciate
.

He bowed
to Grace
'
s mother
with practiced elegance.
"
Lady
J
ar
v
a
is
,
a pleasure
.
You grow more beautiful each time I have the delight of seeing you.
"
Ewan leaned over
to kiss
the air above her hand.

"
Well
,
Ewan, you are quite the flatterer, but please, continue
.
"
Lady Jarvais
leaned forward and
playfully
tapped Ewan with her fan
.

Grace
'
s
expression
took on an exasperated grimace
. It was no secret that Lady Jarvais adored him, much to Grace
'
s chagrin. He continued to banter with her mother
,
leaving Grace out of the conversation simply to irritate her. How he enjoyed it
,
when her green eyes would narrow and the hostility roll
ed
off her! Though he knew he was far t
o
o old for such childish impulses, he found he couldn
'
t
help
himself. He doubted Grace was truly resentful of his friendship with her family
;
he simply assumed it was because he
'
d
often used it
as a lad
to worm his way out of trouble.

"
Alas, your daughter doesn
'
t find my company nearly as charming as you do
.
I
'
m afraid I
'
ll never recover from her sharp tongue
.
"
He tilted his head slightly and winked
a
t Grace, causing her to narrow her eyes.

"
Grace! Where are your manners
?
Why would you speak harshly to Ewan? Why, he
'
s one of your oldest friends
.
"
Lady Jarvais
gently scolded
Grace
,
just as Ewan had hoped
.
The carefully contained fury on
Grace
'
s face was worth the tongue-lashing he
'
d surely receive later.

****

"
Mother,
"
Grace
started and then closed her eyes
,
collecting herself before she spoke without thinking
.
As she opened her eyes to reply
,
she turned her head and stopped, noticing the gentleman that had just entered the growing crowd
.

Light blond hair and dark brown eyes focused on her
,
and he smiled
,
revealing straight white teeth
.
Tilting her head,
Grace
gave
herself
the luxury of taking in his dress, the sculpting breeches,
high-collared
crisp white shirt and honey
-
colored cravat
.
The gentleman gave her a s
mall
nod
and started in her direction.
A minor
blush
warmed her face a
t
being caught
at brazenly staring at a man
.
S
he tried to recover her dignity and offer up a smile at the grinning man.

****

Ewan was shocked when
Grace
stopped her much anticipated reply
.
Resisting the temptation of waving his hand in front of her face, he turned slightly to see what she was gawking at
.
Spencer Raleigh, Earl of Shiply
.
Anyone but Shiply
!
But of course
Grace
would find his angelic looks
enticing
. Hadn
'
t scores of other debutant
e
s believed the same
?
Eyeing
Grace
,
he intended to set her straight but
paused, noticing how she
observed
the gentleman
from head to toe in a seductive fashion
. Ewan
doubted she even realized
it
.

I want her to look at me like that
, h
e thought, feeling the fire of jealousy burn in his gut as he realized that it wasn
'
t that
Grace
was immune to charm in general, she was simply immune to him
.
Disregarding the offensive thought, he focused on Shiply
'
s advance. He had to think fast, Shiply had targeted her and was sauntering over in an effort to secure an introduction.

"
Greys! I thought I saw you
,
"
Shiply
said
enthusias
tically
as he reached out to shake Ewan
'
s hand
.

Trying to think of a way
to keep
him away from
Grace
, he paused, stalling for time.
"
Shiply, didn
'
t expect to see you here. In fact, I know of a gentleman who wanted to speak with you, if you
'
ll just…
"
He
hoped
Shiply
would take the hint and leave
,
but Shiply waved him off and began another thread of conversation, one that led to
Grace
.

"
Why would I miss this crush
?
And who may I ask is this English flower?
"
h
e asked
,
turning toward
Grace
,
offering her a seductive smile that made Ewan cringe.

****

His eyes held her captive
,
and
Grace
felt
as though
she had stopped breathing
,
she
was
so lightheaded
.
She
marveled at how gentle he was when he reached out and grasped her hand before kissing the air above it. Thought many gentleman had done the same, his administration had
warmed
her insides.

"
Ah, yes, this is
Lady Jarvais
and her daughter,
Lady Grace
.
"
Ewan made the introductions, mumbling slightly. With a questioning glance
,
she waited for Ewan to offer up the stranger
'
s name
.

When Ewan stared back stubbornly, challenging her with the slight squint of his eyes, she turned back to her new acquaintance.
"
You
'
ll have to excuse
Greys,
he tends to mumble and forget his manners when he
'
s foxed
.
"

Grace
felt her eyebrow raise.
"
It
'
s a pleasure to meet you
,
s
ir…
"
She
waited
for him to fill in the blank
.
Out of the corner of her eye
,
she saw Ewan stiffen before settling on an unamused smirk
.

"
Spencer Raleigh, Earl of Shiply
,
at your service
,
"
h
e
said
with a smile
,
and
he
offered her a playful bow
.
His light hair brushed his brow as he leaned down, adding a boyish charm to the already handsome man
.

****

"
Excuse me, but I am not
'
foxed
'
, as you put it
,
Lady
Grace
,
"
Ewan interrupted
her conversation with Shiply
.
He tamped down the urge to get into f
isti
cuffs with the
flirting
e
arl but barely
.
Why was
Grace
reacting in such a way
?
He disliked the emotions the arrival of Shiply had uncovered.

"
My mistake
,
"
s
he quipped
,
b
ut never t
oo
k her eyes off Shiply,
which
irritat
ed
Ewan even more.

"
Care to dance
,
Lady Grace
?
"
The honeyed words dripped from Shiply
'
s mouth
,
causing Ewan to fight a gag reflex
.
Some people had no class.

"
I
'
d be delighted.
"
Grace
'
s smile lit up her face
,
and Ewan found himself unable to look away
.
She truly had grown into a beautiful young woman
,
though
when this had occurred was unknown to him
.

Her perfectly straight teeth flashed against full lips that reminded him of the
crimson
-
colored sheets currently covering his bed
.
Aroused at the thought
,
he imagined her kiss, with those passionate green eyes closed in rapture
.
She bit
her lower lip as she took Shiply
'
s hand
.
Ewan found himself licking his own
lips
, wondering
how her kiss would taste
.

Ewan
mentally
shook, pulling
himself from his desirous thoughts
,
and focus
ed
on
Grace
'
s retreating form
.
He
stood scowling and watching the
pair
dance and flirt, his mood darkening by the second.

"
Wipe that scowl from your face
,
Ewan
.
I
t
'
s not as if she
'
s never danced with anyone but you before
,
"
s
he chided, clicking her tongue.

Ewan started slightly
.
H
e had all but forgotten about
Lady Jarvais
'
s presence.
H
e turned toward
the dear woman and tried to act the unconcerned rogue.
"
Yes, well, he
'
s unsuitable. A rake, rogue
…
whatever you call the unsavory characters that prowl about
,
these days.
"
He lifted his hand in a dismissive gesture toward Shiply
.