Chapter 22

“Ican’t believe you didn’t ask her to dance,” Taylor reprimanded Arthur as the two of them walked away. “It couldn’t have been any more obvious that she was hoping to dance with you. Are you telling me you couldn’t see that?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Arthur said.

“It doesn’t matter? She’s your wife, Arthur. How can it not matter? Are you telling me you have so little regard for what makes her happy?”

“I brought her here, didn’t I?” Arthur asked.

“I suppose you did that much,” Taylor agreed. “But why bring her at all if you weren’t going to show her a good time? You and I don’t have any business to discuss.”

“Of course, we do. We always have business to discuss. I want to know whether you’ve learned anything more about what happened between my father and Lady Reeves.”

“Well, I haven’t,” Taylor said. “And even if I had, it’s been years since his death, Arthur. Even if I had new information for you, it wouldn’t be the sort of thing you would need to hear about tonight.” He shook his head. “I really thought you were going to change once you got married, but you’re the same as you’ve always been—just as fixated on this thing that happened in the past.”

“But you did think I had changed?” Arthur pressed.

“Well, yes, I did,” Taylor admitted. “When you came to the ball with your wife, I thought—finally he has learned to give his attention to something other than this vendetta. Finally, he’s going to relax and have a good time. And I was happy for you, Arthur. I was eager to see you embrace this new chapter in your life. I believed you were going to be able to do it.”

“That’s good,” Arthur said.

“What difference does it make if it isn’t true?”

“It matters because if you saw things that way—my best friend—it means that the people involved with my parents’ murder might believe it as well. And if they do, that means that their guard will be lowered. It will be easier for me to catch them.”

“Don’t tell me you got married for this reason,” Taylor said. “Just to make it easier to achieve this vendetta you have.”

“No, that’s not the only reason,” Arthur argued.

“But it is one of them?”

“If it helps, I can’t see why I shouldn’t take advantage of it.”

Taylor sighed. “You don’t seem to realize how fortunate you are,” he said. “It’s as if you can’t see what a beautiful wife you have—and against all odds, she wants to spend time with you. I can’t imagine why any lady would, but she clearly does. Rather than appreciating her, though, you’ve decided to focus on the past.”

Arthur said nothing.

Taylor wasn’t quite right, of course. He was correct to have noticed that Arthur was hoping his marriage to Isabella would change the way he was perceived—not only by the ton but also, and perhaps more importantly, by the people he was hunting. If they thought he had lost focus, they might lower their defenses.

But there was more to it now. He did genuinely care about Isabella. He was glad to be married to her—he thought he would have wanted that marriage even if it didn’t have any of the helpful implications that it did.

And he wondered—was he making a mistake here tonight? Should he have stayed by her side and danced with her? Maybe Taylor was right. Maybe he should have allowed himself, for one night, to simply focus on being a husband, to stop worrying about everything else that usually plagued him.

Why hadn’t he been able to do that? Why had he walked away from Isabella when she had looked at him the way she had, so clearly desiring a dance? It wasn’t as if he hadn’t wanted one. He would have loved to take her in his arms, but he hadn’t been able to do it. Why?

Maybe it was just that he had wanted it too much. That sounded nonsensical, and yet, in a way, it seemed to make perfect sense. There was a part of him that feared that if he allowed himself to hold her, he would never be able to bring himself to let her go. And that was dangerous. Arthur knew all too well how much you could stand to lose by letting yourself care too much about people. He was determined never to feel the pain he had felt at the loss of his parents again.

“Well,” Taylor said, “what’s done is done, I suppose, and if you want to discuss business, we might as well do it.”

“I thought you said there was no new information,” Arthur accused. Had Taylor been holding something back?

“No, there isn’t,” Taylor said. “But Lady Reeves is here tonight.”

“What?” She was here? Of course, it made sense that she would be, he supposed. This was a society party, and all the members of the ton were likely to show up to it. Still, because of what he knew about Lady Reeves, she felt more like a figure out of a fairy tale than someone who might actually appear at a party. While he’d thought about talking to her, the fact that he might actually be able to do so was almost surreal. “Where is she?” he asked. “Point her out to me.”

“No,” Taylor said.

“What do you mean, no?” Arthur was furious. “I have to know who she is, Taylor. You must point her out to me.”

“And what will you do when I have?” Taylor asked. “Are you going to march over to her and demand all the sordid details of a years-old love affair with your father? In front of all these people? Are you going to disgrace your father like that?”

“Well—no, of course I’m not going to do that.”

“Then what? You have no plan for confronting her, and without a plan, how can you possibly hope to achieve anything. How will it help you to know who she is? I won’t tell you. Not now. Not until I’m sure you know what you’re going to do with the information.”

“You are maddening,” Arthur said. “I could easily find out, you know. All I would have to do would be to ask around.”

“Yes, you could do that—if you wanted everyone to know that you were investigating her,” Taylor countered. “You wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret for very long if you were going around talking about it to anyone who would listen. There’s a reason you have me make these inquiries for you, remember? So that nobody will tie you to the investigation.”

“Yes, but I never dreamed that you would use your power over me to keep me away from the information I so badly need!”

Taylor sighed. “Be sensible, Arthur,” he said. “I’m your friend. You asked me to help you with this because you trust me, so trust me now. I’m acting in your best interests, even if you can’t see it. You shouldn’t be worrying about this. Not tonight.”

“I’ll always worry about this.”

“Then allow me to keep my eyes on her,” Taylor suggested. “Let me keep track of her movements tonight, and I’ll report to you in the next few days. Maybe we will learn something. But it’s as you said—the last thing you want is for the people involved in your parents’ deaths to know that you’re on their trail. Much better for them to remain ignorant of that fact.”

“That’s true,” Arthur admitted. “I did say that. And you’re right.”

“I know I am. Now, for heaven’s sake, find your wife and dance with her. That’s the best thing you can possibly do today. It’s what you came here to do, even if you don’t realize it.”

“Perhaps you’re right,” Arthur said.

“Aren’t I always? Let’s go back and collect her. And I would love to dance with that utterly charming sister of hers. I’ve never seen a lovelier lady. You’ve been holding out on me by not introducing me to Miss Felicity sooner.”

The two gentlemen walked back across the ballroom to the place where they had left the ladies—but Isabella and Felicity weren’t there.

Arthur frowned. “Where could they have gone?” he asked. “We told them we would meet them back here.”

“Don’t look now, but I see the answer to your question,” Taylor said, inclining his head toward the dance floor.

Arthur did look—he couldn’t help himself. Sure enough, there she was in the arms of a gentleman he didn’t recognize, beaming up at him. “Who is that?” he demanded.

“Lord Hussington,” Taylor said. “A very kind fellow. I’m sure he’s showing her a good time.”

“And what gives him the right to do that?”

“You weren’t doing it,” Taylor said gently. “And this is a ball. Shouldn’t she be able to enjoy herself? She ought to dance with someone if you’re not going to dance with her.”

“You make it all sound perfectly reasonable.”

“Well, I think it is,” Taylor said. “I did warn you that you had made a mistake by not dancing with her when you had the opportunity. You can hardly complain that she’s found someone else.”

Arthur felt the scowl on his face and didn’t bother to fight it.

“Don’t worry yourself about it,” Taylor said. “It’s one dance, and when it’s over, they’ll go their separate ways.”

“And no doubt someone else will ask her to dance. She’s the most beautiful lady here.”

“Forgive me, Arthur, but you didn’t think of this before you brought her here tonight?” Taylor asked. “Didn’t it occur to you that she would wish to dance and that she would find people who wished to dance with her?”

“I suppose so,” Arthur said, “but it’s different seeing it.”

“You’re falling for her,” Taylor observed.

“Perhaps…more than I thought I would,” Arthur admitted. “I didn’t think that I would care as much as I do when I saw things like this. I thought I would be able to look the other way.”

“You’d be within your rights to tell her she’s not permitted to dance with anyone else, you know,” Taylor said, observing him.

“But how could I do that when I know it’s what she wants?” Arthur asked. “You’ve never cared for a lady the way I care for her, Taylor.”

“It’s true. I’ve never felt anything like what you seem to be feeling. But what do you mean? What’s your concern?”

“I couldn’t possibly take away something that’s bringing her joy,” Arthur explained. “Not unless I had to.”

They stood and watched as Isabella and Lord Hussington spun around and around in time to the music. The smile on Isabella’s face was so lovely that Arthur knew he could never be the person who took it away—no matter how envious it made him feel to see her in the arms of another gentleman.

And Taylor was right. This was a ball, after all. He had known what would happen when he had brought her here. Of course, she had found someone to dance with. And that was a good thing.

With a sigh, he turned away.

“Just dance with her next,” Taylor said. “She’s your wife. That’s all you have to do.”

But it wasn’t that simple, and Arthur knew it. If he could have simply danced with Isabella without risking becoming too emotionally involved, he would have, but he didn’t trust himself to be able to do that.

He had to keep his distance. It was the only sensible thing to do—for his own sake, and for hers as well. Because he didn’t want to give her false hope. He didn’t want to let her believe that the two of them could ever be anything more than they were right now.

Even if he was starting to wish that they could.