Page 45 of The Lady's Forbidden Marquess
He paused, then deftly righted her gown’s askew shoulder, his touch lingering as he tucked a few curls behind her ear.
His thumb grazed her swollen lower lip.“Gabriel,” he murmured, raw.“For you, I’m merely Gabriel.”He pressed a tender kiss to her forehead, a vow unspoken.
Glancing through the curtains, he gently pushed her into the dim hall, the ballroom’s glow a return to propriety.Pere steadied her breath, fighting a wild grin as she walked sedately back, her lips still burning, her heart alight with a dangerous hope.She had begun the season with the intention of reforming a rake; little did she know she’d befriend one instead, and that would do something impossible—reform them both.Taking a sobering breath, she stepped into the bright light of the ballroom and skirted the edge, scanning the sea of humanity for Henley.Upon spotting him, she made a detour to the refreshment table, her andGabriel’soriginal destination.She gave a soft smile to herself, a small shiver of delight teasing up her spine at thinking his name.Lifting a glass of lemonade, she forced a composure she didn’t feel, and started toward her brother, who had apparently spotted her and was walking toward her.
“Henley,” she said.
He regarded her, his eyes narrowing slightly, as if determining if she were hiding something.“Pere,” he greeted, paused, and then closed his mouth.The silence stretched on for a few moments.“I… don’t need to know now but, please, do not disappear.I don’t think anyone else noticed but we’re trying to save your reputation, not question it further.”
Pere wanted to give a hint, to tell her brother that he could expect an important conversation with a friend, but she hesitated.This was not the time or place, too many listening ears and wandering eyes sharp for gossip.Tomorrow.It couldn’t come soon enough.
Chapter Eighteen
Gabriel peeked throughthe curtains as he watched Pere escape back to the ballroom after their deliciously private moment together.She paused, smoothed her skirt, and walked confidently into the ballroom, the gentle sway of her hips and the curve of her shoulder burning through him as he watched, held captive by each nuance.When she disappeared from view through the small sliver of the curtain’s opening, he stepped back, leaning against the cold stone of the window’s alcove.Closing his eyes, he thought through the past few moments.
God help me, I am lost.If he’d been uncertain of her feelings, he was no longer in the dark.For that, he was thankful, but it now presented a new path, with new obstacles.One question answered now opened the door for a million more, but he’d welcome each one, because they all pointed toward something he’d never dared dream of—a future.
For a moment, his heart stuttered, as he remembered his mother, his father, their pain, but Lady Peregrine wasn’t cut from the same cloth, no.A dark chuckle vibrated through him as he considered that any unfaithful behavior would likely result in bloodshed—his.But that brought into sharp focus the truth that her heart was worthy of his fidelity, and fragile, so it was upon his honor to keep it safe.He would rather die than wound her the way his father had been wounded.As much as he regretted and despised his mother’s actions, he must use them as a caution to not repeat those same decisions.
He opened his eyes and counted to one hundred before peeking through the curtains, and finding the hall vacant, took his leave of the private haven.As he walked into the bright ballroom, his eye found her immediately, as if her soul were calling his.He offered her a nod and grin before taking a wide, circular route to where she waited with Henley.
As he thought the name, it gave him pause.Henley.He needed to talk with Henley soon; he owed it to him.But first, he needed to truly speak with Lady Peregrine, because it was her decision.Her future.And please, God, let that future have a new name.His.
He forced his powerful thoughts to the back of his mind; they would have their moment later.But now, with the ton watching and with Henley and Anna standing guard, he had a different part to play, and it was its own form of protection.He would play the friend, and it was true—however it was only part of the story.
Odd that, he’d never really quite considered it.He’d been so cynical of women for so long, he’d never considered that one could be a friend.They were partners in seduction, in pleasure, not in life.Furthermore, he hadn’t realized how friendship could truly be the gateway for love, and now, on the other side of that gate, he couldn’t believe how blind he had been.Life always made more sense after the fact, and this was certainly one of those cases.As his eyes met those of Lady Peregrine again, her eyebrow rising in a gentle test, he decided that friendship was far more dangerous than seduction.Because it wasn’t a temporary delight of the body.No.It was an ownership of another’s soul, and he was a willing captive.He wandered with purpose toward Pere, and consequently Henley and Lady Anna, where they lingered beneath the musician’s gallery.He nodded to Henley, but it was Lady Anna who regarded him suspiciously, but not with caution, just amusement.At least he knew he had her approval.But his attention was quickly commanded by Lady Peregrine, her expression alight with daring interest and a hint of challenge.
“You look suspiciously pleased with yourself, Lord Hawthorne,” Lady Pere murmured when he took up a position beside her.
Her voice was low enough that only he and Anna, who blessedly pretended sudden fascination with her fan, could hear.
“Do I?”He let his expression turn lazy, wicked.“Perhaps I am merely enjoying the sight of you attempting not to smile at me.It is a valiant effort, but the corners of your mouth are traitors.”
Anna snorted softly, closing her fan and spearing him with a suspicious grin.“Careful, Pere.He’s in rare form tonight.”
“I had noticed,” Pere replied, eyes never leaving his.“Though I suspect rare form is his natural state.Like a peacock that has learned sarcasm.”
Hawthorne laughed—actually laughed—drawing a few curious glances.“A peacock, my lady?I was aiming for dangerous wolf, perhaps a touch mysterious.”
“You overshot,” she said, deadpan.“You landed squarely on absurdly pleased with yourself.”
“Absurdly pleased is still pleased,” he countered, stepping just close enough that the scent of her—something like rain on roses—wrapped around him.“And I find I rather like being pleased in your company.”
Her cheeks warmed, but she did not look away.“Flattery, my lord?”For a second, her gaze flickered beside him, likely checking to see if Anna overheard his words.
He cared not but understood her impulse to check.
“Honesty,” he said softly.“I find it suits you far better than flirtation ever did me.”
Anna cleared her throat with theatrical delicacy.“I believe I hear my mother summoning me from across the room.With her mind.”Anna grinned unrepentantly and departed, leaving her loosely chaperoned by her brother a few steps away and in a conversation with another gentleman.
Peregrine tilted her head.“You frightened her away.”
I hope I did, he thought.Aloud, he said, “She is made of sterner stuff than that.She merely recognizes when two people need to stop pretending they are only friends,”
“Perhaps she is quicker to notice things that her sister-in-law…” he baited, alluding to their earlier conversation, where Pere admitted to not noticing the budding romance between her best friend and Henley.
Pere narrowed her eyes playfully at his words, then glanced down, her expression shifting as she glanced up to him once more.Something flickered in her eyes—hope, fear, both.
