The Heir - Catherine Coulter [100]
“We share that opinion. He is leaving on Friday. Contrive to control your ire until then.” Arabella was there in the Velvet Room. He wanted very much to see her.
The earl heard Lady Ann say without guile to the turbaned Lady Talgarth, “Dear Aurelia, how very kind of you to pay us a visit this morning. I was just saying to Arabella that it is so very nice to have friends.” Lady Ann tried to keep her eyes from straying to Lady Talgarth’s purple satin bosom, an awesome sight, one that made her eyes twitch.
“Ah, here you are, my lord,” Lady Talgarth said in a girlish voice, turning to welcome the earl. “We were showing our dear Lord Graybourn about the countryside. We could not exclude a visit to Evesham Abbey.”
The earl lifted her beringed hand and kissed her plump fingers.
A merry smile played about Suzanne Talgarth’s pink lips as she observed the earl. She said softly to Arabella, who stood at her side, “If only poor Lord Graybourn had thought to kiss Mama’s hand. Had he done so, Mama would have forced me to wed the little toad, although,” she added, a small frown on her forehead, “he isn’t as much of a toad as I’d believed he was in London. No, not at all.”
“Here, I forget my manners, my lord, what with you distracting me so obligingly. Yes, I have always liked a gentleman who could distract so nicely.” Lady Talgarth sighed as she finally withdrew her hand from the earl’s, though, in reality, it was she who was holding his hand. “My dear Edmund, allow me to present to you the Earl of Strafford, Justin Deverill.”
The earl saw that Lord Graybourn had not been particularly favored by nature, only by fortune and birth. He was not above medium height, and the extra weight he bore made him look shorter than his actual inches. In five years, he would be fat as a flawn. His eyes were a bit on the protuberant side, but of a pleasant light blue. There was a good deal of intelligence in those eyes, and kindness as well. He affected dandyism, unfortunately, for the heavy jewel-encrusted fobs and rings, the high-starched shirt points, and the fawn breeches that stretched over his ample stomach, did not suit him at all.
Surprisingly, Lord Graybourn had a quite firm, pleasant voice. “A pleasure, my lord. I trust we do not inconvenience you with our visit this morning.”
“Not at all,” the earl said and liked the young man immediately. “It is always a pleasure to see our nearest neighbors.”
The earl took the offered hand and pumped it. He drew the viscount forward for introductions to Arabella, Lady Ann, Elsbeth, and finally Gervaise. He found himself smiling as he watched his wife greet the viscount warmly, politely inquiring after his journey from London.
She would not meet his eyes, and he was staring hard at her, damn her stubborn hide. What was she thinking? Was she worried that he wouldn’t still want to forgive her? He found himself looking at her hands—white and smooth, the fingernails short and buffed. Her thumbnail was slightly ragged. That made him smile, just a bit.
As for Gervaise, he appeared to undergo a pronounced foreign transformation. He lisped his greeting to the viscount, who did not understand a word he said, and proffered a deep, flourishing bow reminiscent of the French court of Louis XVI. The viscount, believing such a formal greeting was in deference to his own notable lineage, and not wanting to seem discourteous, endeavored to return a bow of similar style. His cumberland corset creaked in protest.
Gervaise preened, there was no other word for it. He looked about complacently. He was quite pleased that he’d made a fool of the viscount.
Even though he’d succeeded, no one was about to reward him. He saw an angry gleam in Arabella’s eyes. To his further chagrin, Elsbeth, who had stood quietly at Lady Ann’s elbow, stepped forward and said in a clear, sweet voice, “Lord Graybourn. I am most delighted to meet you, sir. We have heard many nice things about you.” She extended her small hand, and the viscount, who in a flight of confident gallantry, brought her fingers to his lips. She blushed