Nor did she want to risk the wrath of her parents by causing another scene. She could already imagine how her mother might react if she caught wind of what had occurred out on the lawn.
I am lucky she fell asleep, or I would not have had the chance to blow off some steam,Alice thought, hoping that none of the people at the table would bother to mention such a thing. She knew that she was more than lucky that only the men had witnessed her dancing about on the lawn with her friend’s spaniels for although it made her look less than demure in their eyes, they were far less likely to let the knowledge slip to her mother.
Women were far too loose-lipped when it came to such things, and she could imagine one of them slipping it into polite conversation to simply watch with amusement as a scene blew up between the mother and daughter.
“I am glad that I could amuse you, Mr Tulk,” she said politely before taking another bite of her food and glancing down the table to be sure that nobody else was listening to their conversation. She was slightly concerned that his bringing up that morning was another notch against her, reminding people of how improper she had been.
What do I care?she asked herself, yet even as she did, she found hers
elf turning her attention directly to the other nobleman sitting beside her, wondering if he might be listening. He appeared to be quite invested in his conversation with Mr Gouldsmith and Alice had to push down the odd sense of disappointment she felt. A part of her wished to get his attention and break the silence between them but if he was not even willing to glance in her direction then she would not offer him the effort.
“I must admit that I rather think I would have had much more fun running around on the lawn with you and the dogs than I have had hunting this morning,” Philip told her and because her attention had been entirely upon Lord Warrington, his words took her off guard.
Even before she realised it, she had laughed aloud at his words, causing several of the other guests to glance in their direction, including the very man whose attention she had half been wishing to grab ahold of.
No!she scolded herself for even allowing the thought to cross her mind for just a moment.I do not wish for Lord Warrington’s attention.
Turning her full attention back to Philip, she entered into a much more amusing conversation, laughing over and over though keeping it down to a gentle trilling so that she would not draw anybody’s attention again.
Several times she felt Nancy’s gaze upon her, obviously curious as to why Alice was spending so much time speaking to her cousin when there was a man as handsome as Lord Warrington sitting beside her. Even describing him so made Alice’s entire body tense and come out in gooseflesh.
How can I even allow myself to think of him so?she asked herself, trying to hold onto the irritation that she had felt the night before in the parlour when they had gotten the chance to speak to each other properly. His need to put himself above the rest of the men in the party had left her feeling quite disgusted with him, as had his reaction to learning why all of them had been invited to Kendall Hall in the first place.
If he is truly here only to see his friend then it is none of his business anyway,she quickly reminded herself, trying to force all thoughts of him from her mind entirely though it was a lot harder with him sitting right beside her. She could hear his voice whenever he spoke, the musical and husky tone of it making her shiver whenever she heard it.
No matter how much she tried to deny it, there was something about Lord Warrington that quite simply got beneath her skin, and she hated it. One thing that she knew for certain was, one way or another, she had to figure out a way of getting more comfortable around him. The last thing she wanted was for Nancy to notice her reactions and take it in entirely the wrong way.