Chapter 4
Having entered the dining room far later than anyone else, Thomas was surprised to find that they had waited to begin. Even more surprising was that his dear friend Kendall had chosen to leave a seat empty for him close by. Several of the guests murmured amongst themselves as he entered as inconspicuous as possible, finding that the only seat left available was at the far end of the table, beside the Viscount himself.
"Ahh, there you are, Thomas, do come and sit beside me!" Owen called, waving him down the table with a brilliant grin upon his face. "I have saved you a seat at my right hand."
Thomas was not one for blushin,g though he did indeed find that it was hard not to at that moment, walking down the length of the dining room to join his friend beneath the questioning gaze of all the other guests. He was all too certain that he knew what they were thinking.
A lone earl, an unmarried and practically family-less earl, had arrived inappropriately late to dinner and they all wished to know why. His story of his horse having cast a shoe was likely not enough for these gossip-hungry sharks. Though he was more than a little pleased to be seated beside his close friend, having not seen him since his wedding almost a month earlier, Thomas was all too eager for the dinner to be over.
"Are you quite well now, Thomas?" Owen asked almost as soon as the earl had seated himself beside his friend.
Taking a moment to allow himself to breathe, Thomas merely offered his friend a smile before responding, "Quite well, thank you, Owen."
"Good." Owen smirked back, glancing over at the butler with a simple nod. Almost instantly, the servants began to move to serve dinner. As many of the other guests became distracted by the platters being unveiled or offered at their shoulder, Thomas took a moment to gaze around at the people around him.
Sitting on his left side was Owen's own cousin-in-law Philip, while across from him sat an elder woman who Thomas vaguely recognised as a Viscountess though he could not quite remember her name. He was certain that it would not be long before one of the guests around them would offer her name in conversation.
Until then, Thomas kept himself relatively quiet, looking further down the table to Owen's wife who had chosen to sit beside the fellow Viscountess. For a moment, he found himself wondering why the woman had given up a seat beside her husband for her equal, but the thought was quickly quieted by the vision sitting beside Lady Kendall.
Having seen her previously before dinner in the entrance hall, Thomas taken aback by the reaction the sight of her caused within him. Though she offered him no attention, choosing instead to speak with Nancy and Philip and the gentleman sitting to her left, her radiance had a profound effect upon him, causing his loins to heat in a way that he had not felt in such a long time.
Of course, he was a man and prone to certain desires, but none such as this, none with such an urgency that he found it was an itch he could not scratch.
She was quite beautiful, this Miss Skeffington, with her golden blonde locks decorated with emerald hairpins and her dark hazel eyes catching a glint of candlelight from the candlesticks upon the table. Her porcelain skin was creamy as milk, unblemished and supple.
A single emerald droplet necklace rested in the dimple between her collarbones, a second longer necklace drawing his attention downward toward the fleshy mounds that could not be hidden by her green silken gown.
Almost as if she sensed him watching her, Miss Skeffington turned her gaze discreetly from where she had been talking to Lady Kendall and she looked at him from beneath heavy, dark eyelashes. Her gaze was dark and for only a moment, Thomas believed it seductive.
Yet as if she had just realised, they were gazing at each other, eye to eye, she quickly looked away with an obvious blush to her cheeks. Thomas also quickly turned his gaze away, glancing at the people around him to be sure that nobody had seen the exchange. Though the Viscount’s daughter was quite beautiful, he would not allow it to be said that his attention was more than mere admiration for her beauty.
“So Lord Warrington, how have you been these past few weeks since my cousin’s nuptials?” Mr Tulk asked, and the raised eyebrow perhaps suggested that had indeed seen the exchange between the Earl and the Viscount’s daughter.
“I have been quite busy in all honesty,” Thomas responded, turning his attention to the plate of food that now sat upon the table before him. The serving size was quite petite and whatever it was, it was as Philip had put it: a delicacy. Though it smiled quite exquisite, Thomas could not help but silently admit to himself that it looked rather revolting.
Upon giving it a taste, he realised that it was some kind of cold meat and whatever it was, it was slimy. It was not entirely disgusting, though Thomas decided if he never tasted it again, it would be no great loss. “And you, Mr Tulk?” he added after taking a sip of wine from his glass.
“Yes, I do imagine that the like of an earl can be quite hectic at times,” Philip responded and perhaps if not for his tone, Thomas might have found his words slightly mocking. “I must admit I have been quite busy myself. Having found a new business partner in Lord Kendall, he keeps me quite busy indeed.”
“Is that quite so?” Thomas responded politely, feigning interest even as the dinner moved into full swing though silently, he thought,Are we already to the point of talking of business?
As the dinner progressed, it continued in much the same fashion, with Thomas talking politely to the people around him. Every time he found himself at a loose end for what to say or found that there was a general lull in conversation, he found that his attention was drawn elsewhere. Though he would not allow himself to truly realise that his eyes always seemed to find themselves drawn to the same face.
She is quite beautiful indeed,Thomas found himself thinking one moment, before quickly throwing himself back into conversation the next, urging his gaze away from the woman had had captured his interest from the moment he walked into Lord Kendall’s home.
Glancing further down the table in the hopes of finding someone else to interest his mind, he began to realise perhaps why he was having such a hard time of keeping his gaze from the woman. Though she was not the only young lady at the table, she was quite certainly the only unattached female.
Every other lady was sat beside a gentleman, and from his knowledge of all their connections and attachments, Thomas could say for certain that each one, whether with their partner or not, was married.
Even the Viscountess across from him, though much older than Miss Skeffington and unaccompanied, she was most certainly married. In fact, now that Thomas thought on it more, he quickly realised who the woman opposite him was.It is Lady Skeffington! The woman’s mother!
Deciding that it was best merely not to think on it any longer, Thomas quickly turned his full attention onto Owen. It was better not to think of why Miss Skeffington and her mother were the only two women at the table unaccompanied by men.
“Lord Kendall, can I assume we shall be having a drink and a game of cards after dinner?” Thomas asked. Having finished his entree, he turned his hand to his wine glass. Something did not quite add up about the festivities and Thomas was not sure he wanted to know what it was. It might be better to have a little more drink in him before finding out.
“Too right, we shall,” Owen assured him with a bright smirk. “We have much drinking and smoking to catch up on.”
Thomas did not miss the way that Nancy scowled at her husband, clearly unimpressed by his tone. He offered her an apologetic expression in return, looking quite contrite indeed and, not for the first time, Thomas was grateful for the fact he had no intentions of marrying. What it must be like to be held at such daggers for saying the simplest of things.