A slight blush tinted her cheeks. “Some.”
“Oh?” He leaned slightly toward her. “What type of books do you enjoy?”
“Nothing of any literary importance.”
Then he understood what she meant. She enjoyed the inexpensive novels of the day.
“Where are your parents?”
“They had another commitment with my older sister, Anne. They will arrive in two days. My aunt brought me here but she was feeling ill so she requested a tray in her room.”
Matthew breathed a sigh of relief. So far, Miss Marston had no qualms about him. Maybe after two days, they would be so enamored of each other her parents would gladly consent to marriage. Although, in truth, he doubted he would be utterly in love with her. She seemed likable enough and he supposed marriage would be tolerable, but it wasn’t what he’d hoped for in a union. But he couldn’t be particular.
And perhaps if he continued to tell himself this, he would start to believe it. Miss Mary Marston would do for him. She would have to because his options were running out.
A footman placed a plateful of food in front of him. Once the footmen served everyone, Matthew attacked the ham. The meat seared his tongue with the most delectable flavors. While he’d kept his cook, there wasn’t much money to buy anything decent. His gaze roamed to Jennette. He watched as a forkful of potatoes gratin entered her mouth. She chewed her food slowly as if savoring the bite.
She turned toward her brother and laughed softly at something he’d said. Her blue eyes sparkled in the candlelight. The woman was beyond lovely. The sapphire gown she wore matched her eyes perfectly. The low-cut bodice showed just a hint of her small, rounded breasts.
He closed his eyes briefly and imagined himself lowering the sleeves of her gown, tugging down the bodice over her breasts, and untying the laces of her stays. Then he could scrape the cotton of her shift over her rosy nipples, exposing them to his hungry gaze.
“Lord Blackburn?”
Matthew’s eyes blinked open at the sound of Miss Marston’s voice.
“Yes?”
“Are you all right? You had your eyes closed for several minutes.”
“I am quite well, thank you. I was just thinking about someone—something,” he corrected himself quickly.
He glanced back down the table at Jennette for a moment. He had to get past this mad infatuation with her. Miss Marston was everything he needed in a wife.
And yet, Jennette was everything he wanted.
He looked happy. The thought should have made Jennette glad, not burning with an emotion she refused to name. She’d done her duty and found him a woman he could marry. The last thing she should have been doing was blatantly staring at him, craving his kisses and his touch.
“You look perfectly miserable.”
Jennette tore her gaze away from the card table where Matthew and Mary sat playing whist. She looked up to see Nicholas, Banning’s dearest friend, smiling down at her.
“When did you get here?”
“Only a few minutes ago. I even missed dinner.”
“I’m sure Lady Aston won’t mind as long as she can crow about the Marquess of Ancroft, or should I say the future Duke of Belford, attending her country ball,” Jennette said with a laugh.
“Yes, my cousin does love to boast about having a future duke in the family. I’ve already had five mothers stop me to tell me about their daughters.”
Jennette chuckled, happy to have an old friend to chat with. “Want to steal some brandy and talk?”
“Nothing would please me more.”
“Meet me on the terrace in ten minutes,” she whispered.
“If someone catches us you’ll be forced to marry me,” he said, teasing her with a positively evil grin.
“Somehow I doubt Banning would force that,” she said with a laugh.