The Harmless Deception by Lesley-Anne McLeod

Author:Lesley-Anne McLeod
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Regency Romance
ISBN: 978-1-60174-091-5
Publisher: Uncial Press

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CHAPTER SEVEN

"I think we must host an evening party." Grace had not known she was going make this statement. She only knew, as Evenswood entered the drawing room, that she had to say something to forestall any personal conversation. She felt a warm rush of colour stain her cheeks; everything had been different, and difficult, since the day Evenswood had met Joel Heskett.

She need not have worried; the baron was followed closely by Morris bearing the tea tray she had requested. Any intimate topics were precluded by the servant's presence.

"Having said that you look conscience-stricken," he said, assessing her cursorily before taking a biscuit from the plate that had accompanied the tea on its tray. "Have we new trials? Where is Tansy?"

The colour ebbed as quickly as it had come. Grace prepared the tea, glad of the occupation, and wondered briefly about the package that the baron laid on a nearby table. She decided to answer only his final question.

"Tansy is walking home from Grafton Street in the company of Mr. Heskett."

"Heskett again. He is a fribble, Grace, a very pretty young man, with no more intelligence behind that face than a fine-looking gun-shy hound or handsome, high-strung mount. There can be no happy outcome of a relationship between them. I wish you will not encourage her." He paced to the window to look into the street below and then returned to stand before her.

"I have not been able to discourage her, my lord." Grace, uncomfortably aware of his proximity, kept her attention on the tea tray. "And indeed it is nigh impossible to prevent their encounters. From formal occasions to which we are all invited, to walks in the park and visits to the circulating libraries, the young man is always in the Alphetons' company and Tansy is constantly in their party." She dropped a piece of sugar into Evenswood's tea and stirred it absentmindedly.

The butler withdrew, unnoticed by them both. Rufus accepted the cup when Grace proffered it and sat down near to the sopha on which she seated. He drank his tea in silence for some minutes, then set the china aside.

Before he could speak, Grace said, "I have watched their friendship develop, Evenswood. I think more of the young man than you apparently do and I have neither the heart nor the inclination to deny your sister happiness."

"She would discover his shallowness and tire of him in a month," the baron replied, stretching his long legs with a sigh of comfort.

"Well, if you are correct, you need not worry." Irritation overcame Grace's reticence and her discomfort at the ease of his manner.

He was silenced, and Grace was surprised he did not immediately excuse himself. Their discussion appeared to be at an end, and he did not usually linger in her company. Searching for conversation, she thought to speak of the party she proposed, then her eye lit upon the parcel he had laid on the side table. "Books, my lord?" she asked, nodding her head in its direction.

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