“Enough about me. What lady has caught your eye tonight?”
Nicholas smiled, feeling strangely comfortable with Jennette. It had been several years since he felt this way with her. And the sensation was lovely without the tension of his attraction getting in the way. “I am a gentleman, Jennette. I would never dishonor another woman by discussing her with another.”
Jennette laughed. “Of course you are, Nicholas. Nonetheless, I cannot help but wonder if you are dancing with me only to make another woman jealous.”
“I would never do such a thing,” he replied with a smile. “Besides, you are married.”
“Oh, I am quite certain you would do whatever it took to win a woman.”
“Perhaps.”
“Will you tell me who she is?”
Nicholas shook his head. “No, I will not. She doesn’t believe she is the right woman for me.”
“And you do?”
“I am beginning to believe she is exactly what I need.”
Sophie blinked to keep her eyes from welling with tears. Watching Nicholas and Jennette dance together, left her feeling dejected and more alone than she’d ever felt. She had to leave before her tears fell. As she g
azed at them, she wondered if the reason she saw nothing for Nicholas was because Jennette was the right woman for him.
Could two men have the same perfect woman?
She had never encountered this before but it appeared to make the most sense. She wished her mother were here. She would be able to give Sophie advice since she had the same gift.
Maybe she had mixed up Blackburn and Nicholas. That wasn’t possible. She had clearly seen Blackburn for Jennette, not Nicholas.
“Perhaps we should get some refreshments,” Avis said, clasping Sophie’s elbow.
Sophie nodded.
Instead of leading Sophie to the refreshment table, Avis walked them both outside. She found a quiet place to sit and then turned toward Sophie. “He’s in love with Jennette?”
Sophie couldn’t swallow down the lump stuck in her throat. Tears tracked down her cheeks as she nodded her reply.
“Oh,” Avis whispered. “I always thought that they considered each more like siblings.”
“Jennette did,” Sophie managed to answer. “But at some point his feelings changed.”
“And he never told her?”
“No. He was certain Selby would be angry that his best friend wanted his little sister.”
Avis shook her head. “Banning would not have minded. He has nothing but respect for Nicholas.”
“Perhaps.”
“Maybe Nicholas was afraid of Jennette’s rejection.”
Sophie frowned in concentration. Could that have anything to do with it? He had told her about his mother’s death but nothing about his life after that. She’d sensed his brother died young and Nicholas’s loneliness. If he didn’t have a good relationship with his father, perhaps fear of rejection was the reason he’d gone no further with Jennette. Yet he’d shown no such reticence when he proposed to her. Perhaps his proposal had been nothing but the demands of honor.
“What do you know of his family, Avis?”
“Not much. I know he never wanted to go home during the holidays from school so he spent a great deal of time with Banning’s family. He and his father do not appear to enjoy each other’s company.”
“Why not?” What would make a man not love his own son? From what she knew of Society, the most likely cause was an affair by his mother. Although, it was unusual for the wife of a duke to have an affair before the heir and spare were born.