Amanda smiled a bit brighter than she felt and laughed a bit louder than the joke merited. Her dance card was full as usual with smiling, hopeful men determined to win her hand and purse. She tired of their company, their conversation; but Molly had told her countless times she excelled at acting, and Amanda had a part to play.
She batted her eyes. Here was her test. “Lord Walter, what do you think of all these reformists?”
A handsome young lord faltered in his steps for a moment but soon recovered. “Why Lady Amanda! I am all amazed. That is not something you need to be worrying about, to be sure.”
Amanda smiled, hiding her regret. “Oh, but I am curious! They wear such droll red hats! Is it to be the new fashion, do you think?”
Lord Walter laughed, returning to comfortable social ground. “Well, my lady, if you were to wear it, I am sure it would soon be all the rage.”
Amanda laughed. “Oh, too true! Perhaps I will try it. Shall you join me?”
Lord Walter continued to laugh along with her. “Name the day, name the event, and I will join you. What a jolly joke we shall share.”
Amanda’s laugh carried across the room to Lord Nathaniel who, she saw with some gratification, scowled at the sound. His disapproving expressions followed them as they whirled by in their waltz.
He excused himself from the lady glued to his arm and made his way toward the dance floor. He stood, feet apart, arms folded across his chest, glowering at Amanda and Lord Walter as new ladies joined him, trying to catch his eye.
“Don’t look now,” Amanda said, “but I do believe we have caught the attention of Lord Nathaniel.” She motioned with her head in his direction.
“What? Ho! But he does look serious.” Lord Walter looked at her speculatively. “Perhaps he feels I am in his place?”
Amanda laughed at that, too. “If that were the case, I am sure he would ask me to dance. No. I will tell you his secrets. You see, I have it on good authority that—” She leaned closer to Lord Walter, breathing lightly on his neck and whispered, “He likes to be miserable.”
Lord Walter burst out laughing again, and Lord Nathaniel scowled even deeper. Amanda smiled in satisfaction.
Lord Walter said, “So unexpected, my lady.” He wiped tears from his eyes and returned his hand to her lower back as they continued to waltz. “I have not enjoyed a turn about the floor this immensely all Season.” His eyes twinkled at her, and he pulled her closer to him as the music finished. “Thank you. Perhaps I might call on you this week?”
“It would be my pleasure to receive you, Lord Walter.” She smiled deeply at him and curtsied as he bowed.
Lord Nathaniel interrupted their path off the dance floor. “Lord Walter.” Lord Nathaniel nodded briefly in his direction and turned his eyes to Lady Amanda. “I believe this is our dance, my lady.”
“Oh? I don’t believe you have secured a set—”
“Lord Needley left to see to his mother’s sudden illness. So I am here in his stead.” He bowed elegantly over her hand and offered his arm to lead her back onto the floor.
Amanda shared a look with Lord Walter, raising her eyebrows as though to say, So, he chose to dance with me after all. Lord Walter waggled his eyebrows ridiculously in return. She couldn’t hold back her laugh as she turned and placed a hand on Lord Nathaniel’s arm. She hadn’t spoken with him since his departure from her home two weeks ago. She willed her heart to slow. What can he mean by dancing with me? His silence weighed on her as they moved through the steps, changing couples and then coming back together again.
She finally broke the silence. “I trust you have acquired a new cloak?”
Lord Nathaniel’s eyebrows rose. He cleared his throat. “Ah. Actually, no. I already had several others. If you recall, the one you pilfered was my best cloak, not my only cloak.”
“Oh, I see. Of course.” She searched for something else to say.
He surprised her by adding, “I’m having yours mended, you see. I didn’t see the need to commission a new one when your cloak is perfectly serviceable.”
Amanda was sure confusion showed on her face. “My cloak?” She nearly stumbled to see a faint redness rise to his cheeks. He cleared his throat again.
“Well, no, not yours.” He paused and seemed to rally. “I can’t help but see all the marks you left on it. You have quite claimed it as your own, with the inches of London dirt, tears from London’s poor, tatters from the miles you walked in it, strands of your hair in the hood, and . . .” He leaned close to her ear and whispered, “your lovely perfume that still hovers about the thing.”
Heat filled Amanda’s face, and she couldn’t stop it.
“I decided I cannot live without it and am therefore having it repaired.” He smiled and nodded his head decisively.
Amanda could not at first respond. Lord Nathaniel waited, eyebrows raised. Finally, she said, “I am glad you will still get some use out of it.” She cleared her throat. Seeing him now, she recognized her conscience had been pestering her. She said, “I know I should thank you.”
Lord Nathaniel raised his eyebrow in an amused expression. “You know you should?”
She smiled and blushed. “Yes. I mean, I do. I thank you for rescuing me, again. I am still not certain what business you possibly could have had on those streets, but if you had not been there—”
“Think nothing of it, my dear. I cannot resist a—”
“Damsel in distress. Yes, I know.” She found herself more intrigued by him than ever. It was so difficult to keep up with all his different personas. Who was this man? When all the layers were finally peeled away, what would she discover at his core? She realized with a start that during their past few moments together she had dropped her facade. They were the first moments of the evening when she felt completely without disguise. She felt an odd sense of relief to rest for their time together and simply respond as herself. She very much hoped the person she saw right now represented more of his true core.
Smiling, he said, “I noticed you are luring quite a few gentlemen.”
She choked. “What?”
His mouth quirked in a half smile. “You have a gift, my lady. You are quite proficient as a coy debutante flirt; but . . .”
Her eyebrows drew together. “But?”
He laughed. “Well, you are currently in the presence of the master. They do not call me a rake for nothing . . .” He waggled his eyebrows at her in a most silly manner.
“Are you saying you could best me? Out . . . flirt me?”
“Shall we have a bit of a contest?”
Amanda swallowed. She knew she was no match for Lord Nathaniel, whatever his contest might be.
“A bit nervous are you? Perhaps you doubt your abilities to withstand my charm?”
Understanding dawned. It was Amanda’s turn to laugh. With a challenge in her eyes, she moved closer to him, her lips parted, close to his own. “I doubt your ability to resist mine.”
Nathaniel’s hand tightened on her back, his fingers pulling at the fabric on her gown, but he relaxed his hands just as quickly. He leaned closer to her face, locking his eyes on hers, tilting his head, his lips a mere inch from her own. “Lady Amanda, you don’t want me to resist.”
Her blood raced. She closed her eyes, and she felt Nathaniel’s whisper in her ear. “Do you?”
Amanda shook her head before she could stop herself.
Nathaniel leaned his head back and laughed.
Amanda’s eyes opened wide, then narrowed. He was too confident. Oh, but his flirtation was effective. She felt her blood warm to him. She enjoyed his attentions too much, but she could not resist. She wanted more, and more often. And she wanted to feel his weakness in reaction to her. She chuckled a low, slow laugh and said, “Challenge accepted, my lord. But how does one win such a contest? What are the rules?”
Lord Nathaniel laughed again. “Oh, but you are fun, my lady. We shall have to come up with answers as we go along.” His eyes twinkled and he stared down at her with so much admiration, Amanda almost faltered in her steps.
“How will we know whose flirting is the most effective?”
They waited their turn to skip down the line of dancers. Nathaniel locked her with his gaze. “When one of us can no longer resist.”
Amanda needed something to hold to balance herself. She felt an unfamiliar yearning and a need for his arms around her. She clutched at his hands as they moved together down the line. “My Season just became much more interesting, Lord Nathaniel.”