Chapter Thirteen

"I must know something, Lord Granton. I beg of you to give me your answer at once."

James frowned. "You are a little in your cups, Lord Talbot. Are you quite certain that it is me that you wish to speak to?"

Lord Talbot chuckled and leaned into James' shoulder a little, making James' frown turn into a scowl. "Of course I am. You are the only one who is recently engaged, are you not?"

"I am," James answered, slowly. "What does that have to do with your question?"

"I must know!" Lord Talbot exclaimed, his eyes wide now. "What is it that has made you change your mind?"

Becoming a little frustrated, James threw out his hands. "What do you mean? What has made me change my mind?"

"Exactly!" Lord Talbot pressed one finger hard into James' chest. "What has made you alter your mind in such a fashion? What could have forced you to alter your habits in such a way?"

"I do not understand what you mean," James stated, firmly, growing all the more frustrated with Lord Talbot's drunken questions. "You are not speaking clearly and – "

"I believe that my friend is trying to ask you what it is about your betrothed that has caused you to change from a scoundrel to a supposedly excellent gentleman, though I myself do not believe that you are in any way altered." Lord Childers came over to join them, his arms folding across his chest though he smiled all the same. "I believe it is nothing more than an act."

"An act?" James snorted, hoping that his guilt would not leak into his expression. "I do not know what you mean."

"I think that you do." Lord Childers tilted his head but let his hands fall to his sides. "I have heard that the reason you are now engaged to Lady Newton is because you lost a bet with her father. Within that bet, I am quite certain that there was an agreement that you would have to turn from your less than pleasing ways and devote yourself to the lady. That is why you are so altered, rather than there being anything special about the lady herself."

James hesitated, looking to Lord Childers, then shrugged. "You may believe what you wish, Lord Childers, I do not care."

"But you were forced to wed her because of a bet, were you not?"

"Ah, but while that may be true, does that mean that he would be in any way inclined towards her?" Lord Radford appeared out of nowhere, sidling in towards them all with a broad grin on his face. "You have said yourself – as has Lord Talbot – that there is a marked difference in the Marquess of Granton's behaviour. Is that not so?"

Lord Childers nodded slowly as Lord Talbot grinned, his eyes a little slanted as he looked back towards James.

"Then, if you have both recognised such a thing, then you surely cannot expect that the reason for such a thing would be because his hand has been forced? While it might be true that a bet was made and the lady's hand was put on the table, Lord Granton has clearly found something remarkable in the lady, else he would never have turned from his roguish ways."

James smiled, finding himself rather satisfied with all that his friend had said. "That is precisely so," he stated, quite firmly. "It would be foolish to suggest that it came from anything other than that. I have been quite surprised by it myself, of course, this great sweeping emotion which has captured me so but it is there, nonetheless." He let out a sigh, which he hoped sounded heartfelt, before smiling vaguely and looking away from all the other gentlemen. "Lady Newton is the most beautiful, most remarkable creature I have ever met. The bet was foolish, yes, but once I was introduced to her, once I spent some time with her, I found myself quite entranced! And to know that no other gentleman had given her even the smallest look made me all the more grateful to have her as my betrothed. If the other gentlemen of the ton had taken note of her, then I would never have been given the opportunity I have now!"

Lord Childers blinked, seemingly astonished that James would speak with such fervour. Lord Talbot on the other hand, threw out one hand towards James and let out a loud exclamation. "Then tell me, will you not?"

"Tell you?" James frowned. "Tell you what?"

"What it is about the lady that demands your attention in such a way?" Lord Talbot exclaimed, his eyes going wide. "There must be something that we other gentlemen have not uncovered, something about her character or her beauty which we have otherwise ignored."

"I cannot help you there, I am afraid," James chuckled, though he found himself a little surprised at the fervour with which Lord Talbot asked his questions. "There is so much about her which draws me to her, I do not think I can describe it all to you."

"That is very interesting, Lord Granton," Lord Childers said slowly, his eyes now fixing to James', searching his expression as if he were still rather suspicious that there was yet more to this than James had told them. "You are stating that the lady has, in fact, truly captured your heart? And so quickly too?"

James nodded, the lies coming easily to his lips. "I would say so, yes. It was not something I ever imagined would happen to me but, alas, it has. Therefore, I shall turn my head away from every other young lady and instead, seek to pursue the only young lady who has ever captured my heart."

"Goodness," Lord Talbot exclaimed, leaning now towards Lord Childers rather than towards James. "I think I must spend time with the lady to discover what it is about her that has captured him so! What say you, Lord Childers?"

Lord Childers, while still remaining thoughtful, nodded slowly. "I suppose that could be an interesting diversion, yes."

A hope flickered in James' heart, though, for whatever reason, it did not burst into a furious fire as he had expected. Instead, it remained dulled, not fanned into flame by the gentleman's words.

"We shall find out what it is about her that has captured you so, I am determined!" Lord Talbot chuckled, waggling one finger in James' direction. "There must be something remarkable about the lady if she has taken the Marquess of Granton away from every other diversion possible!"

James chuckled and spread out his hands. "If you should like to spend time in her company, I cannot protest," he said, seeing the way that Lord Radford grinned. "I am certain that you will find her just as wonderful as I."

So saying, he excused himself and stepped away to another part of Whites, telling himself that he ought to be glad – nay, delighted – that these two gentlemen were beginning to show an interest in Lady Newton. Yes, it was more of a curiosity but that could lead to something a little more, could it not? For the moment, all he had to do was pretend that he was in love with Lady Newton, that she had captured his heart and quite stolen it away from everything else that he had ever desired.

"Desires I cannot wait to pursue again," he reminded himself, snapping his fingers at the footman in the hope of garnering a glass of brandy just as soon as he was able. "For I am barely able to wait even for a moment until I am free of Lady Newton, once and for all."

For whatever reason, that declaration did not sound as firm nor as intentional as he had hoped, even to his own ears. Whatever was the matter with him?

***

"There she is."

James looked across the ballroom, finding his gaze fastening on Lady Newton as she drew closer to him. She had not seen him as yet and thus, her expression was open, a light smile on her face as she spoke to Miss Stockton. Something she said made Lady Newton laugh, her green eyes dancing, her cheeks a little flushed and her red curls spinning gently from the cascade at the back of her head.

James' stomach turned over on itself.

"She is remarkably pretty, I will say."

Turning rather sharply to his companion, James scowled as Lord Radford lifted an eyebrow. "Yes, my friend, I am aware that she is," he said, a little crisply. "Though I have never been drawn to redheads."

"Mmm." Lord Radford considered, rubbing his chin as he considered. "I have heard it said that ladies with red hair have a fire within their heart, a passion which might be absent from every other."

James scowled and shook his head. "I hardly think that is true."

"Why could it not be?" With a chuckle, Lord Radford jammed an elbow into James' ribs. "Mayhap you will have the chance to find out for yourself one day, though you are hoping that such a day will not take place, I know!"

"Indeed," James answered, emphatically, still struggling to look away from Martha. She was, as his friend had said, very pretty if not quite beautiful, leaving James to wonder why he had not noticed such a thing about her before. With something akin to displeasure, James realised that he had not thought about Lady Lamberton in some days – ever since their final meeting, in fact. Was that because of Lady Newton?

As he watched and silently considered, a gentleman came towards both Lady Newton and Miss Stockton, making to stand directly in front of them so that they were forced to stop, and James' frown immediately appeared across his forehead.

"Whoever is that and what are they doing?"

Lord Radford tilted his head. " That appears to be Lord Childers," he said, a broad grin spreading across his face. "Goodness, that was quick, was it not?"

"Quick?" James glanced to his friend. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that this was clearly an urgent matter for him!" Lord Radford exclaimed. "You spoke to him very recently about the lady, declaring that you found yourself quite in love with her, willing to remove yourself from all other distractions and he is now quite determined to find out what it is about her that has captured you so. I did not think that he would be as eager as this, however!"

An attempt at a smile began to force its way across James' face but it did not spread and nor did it linger. Instead, he found himself rather confused, wondering why he did not feel the same hope and anticipation as Lord Radford. This was what he wanted, was it not? So why, then, did he find himself suddenly unwilling to encourage Lord Childer's interest in Lady Newton?