The Heiress - Lynsay Sands [9]
Woodrow urged her forward again and Suzette gave up staring after her sister and turned her attention to her predicament.
“It really isn’t proper for a young lady to allow herself to be led outside by a strange man,” she pointed out grimly as he ushered her through a set of French doors and out onto a torchlit terrace. “We haven’t even been properly introduced.”
Daniel glanced down at the woman he held so firmly in hand. The sister to the woman George had married while pretending to be Richard. Truly that news had come as a shock to both him and Richard when they’d heard it from their host. Landon had approached them as they’d still been searching the ball attendees for the apparently not present George. The man had greeted them claiming to be surprised that Richard was attending because his wife had claimed he was too ill to come.
Wife?
That had been a problem neither of them had even imagined and it had sent Richard straight to the woman Landon had pointed out once the man had quit their company to see to his other guests. One of the women around Lady Radnor had addressed the wife as “Christiana,” when he and Richard had reached the petite blonde and she in turn had most helpfully named her sisters on their arrival. Lisa was the young blonde one he had released in the ballroom. The little virago who had made such rude comments about Dicky’s apparent resurrection, and who now remained in his care, was Suzette.
Daniel’s gaze was most thorough as he inspected her. Suzette. The name slid through his thoughts again. A pretty name for a pretty woman. He suspected she might even be beautiful did she not look so vexed. Oddly enough, though, he rather liked the vexed look on her. Most debutantes would have been hiding their anger behind madly fluttering fans and forced smiles. This one had no problem showing her true feelings. It made a refreshing change.
“I did introduce myself,” he pointed out mildly as he urged her across the terrace to the steps leading down into the gardens. Daniel had at first only intended on taking the sisters out to the terrace to give Richard some privacy to deal with Christiana and find out what he could about George. However, he now decided he might be able to aid Richard by finding out himself what he could. Certainly, there did seem to be a lot going on that was pertinent to the situation. All three women had seemed equally shocked to see who they thought was Dicky there at the ball, and it had been said more than once that he’d been thought to be dead. If George was dead, then all of Richard’s plans could be in jeopardy.
“That wasn’t a proper introduction and you know it,” she snapped, tugging at her arm again.
“Very true,” he agreed easily, holding firm and urging her deeper into the gardens, following a barely discernible path through the trees. “However, I suspect you aren’t a proper lady so we should do well enough.”
Suzette suddenly came to an abrupt halt and this time even his firm grip couldn’t keep her moving, at least not gracefully. If he didn’t stop he’d be dragging her along behind him like an old robe.
Pausing, Daniel raised an eyebrow in question.
“Would you care to repeat that?” she asked coldly.
Daniel hesitated and then pointed out mildly, “I simply meant that I suspect you can be a little less than proper at times. Surely a proper young lady wouldn’t say what you did back there to Richard?”
Her eyes became daggers, her mouth turning down with dislike. “Dicky deserved it. The man is a bounder. He’s a horrible husband and treats Christiana dreadfully.” She poked him in the chest with one finger of her free hand and added, “And you should be ashamed to be his friend.”
Daniel resisted the urge to grab the finger poking him so sharply and said grimly, “I assure you I have never and will never be friends with your sister’s husband.” He