Her father shrugged and scooped a drink from the nearest passing waiter. “You certainly have not been our busy little Clementine recently.” He eyed her. “Do I need to take action against the blackguard who broke my daughter’s heart?”
Clem shook her head vigorously. “No. It was of my own making.”
She’d been unable to compromise and unable to see things from Roman’s point of view. How would she feel if she had been raised in such a miserable manner with centuries of family heritage upon her shoulders? It had been easy for her family to leave London and pursue their own interests. With her father a self-made man, they had nothing but poor ancestors who could only dream of the wealth and privilege they now had.
And a duke for a grandfather. But that was beside the point.
“Well, I am always here to give a stern word,” her father promised. “Oh look, there’s Sir Mayer. I must have a word with him...” Her father hastened off before Clem could catch the end of his sentence.
Not that she minded. Her father was a lovely, warm man but terrible at giving advice, and she did not want her father involved in her love life one jot. What would she say?Oh, Papa, I made love to a man who had not even proposed or even insinuated we would have a future together and now I am left bereft because he is going to propose to the perfect woman for him, which by the way I was fully aware of beforehand?
Ridiculous.
“The best cure for a broken heart is dancing and keeping active,” Mama said as though she had come up with something truly insightful.
Lily snorted. “Or ignoring the opposite sex entirely.” Her sister watched men dance by. “They are all buffoons.”
“Not that anyone wants to dance with us anyway,” Ivy pointed out, and tugged a book from the many layers of her skirts. “I think I shall try to find a quieter spot.”
Ivy had rather a good idea in Clem’s opinion although she had not been clever enough to secrete a book upon her person.
Before she could follow Ivy, however, a group of older women bustled between them, pausing long enough to give the remaining Musgraves a disdainful glance. “Why must the Musgraves ruin everything?” The woman at the front of the pack muttered loudly enough for everyone to hear, even over the music. “I think I should cease coming to Bath now thattheyare here.”
Clem took a step forward and her mother grabbed her arm while Lily did not seem to have even heard the comment or if she did, was too preoccupied with rubbing the ink spot from her gown.
“Leave it be.” Her mother patted Clem’s arm. “They are not—”
“Worth it,” Roman finished for her.
He appeared at Clem’s side in an instant, his presence stealing her breath. Open mouthed, she glanced him up and down, noting the perfection of his finery and how his breeches clung to superbly strong legs. She didn’t even try to hold back the sigh as she recalled those very legs between hers.
“Mrs. Adams should know better than to cast aspersions,” he said loudly, “especially considering her husband was caught embezzling his client’s funds five years ago.”
If Mrs. Adams’s face could have turned any redder, she might well have exploded. Clem pressed her lips together to fend off a smile as the woman hastened away with her friends.
Roman offered a brief smile of his own but his expression grew serious when he greeted Clem’s mother and sister before turning his attention to her.
“May I have the next dance?”
She swallowed, or at least attempted to. Did he realize what he was doing? First defending the Musgraves then asking to stand up with one of them? She met his steady gaze and sucked in a breath. She should say no. He must only be doing this to tell her of his engagement to Miss Fisher or something.
When she looked down, she found her hand in his.No, she would say. It would be easy.No, thank you, I’m terribly busy with trying to avoid seeing you with Miss Fisher.
Her wretched feet had other ideas. She didn’t even utter a yes. Just let him lead her to the dance floor, her gaze fixed upon his. When he took her into his arms, she knew it was no good. She still loved this man and when he made the perfect family with his perfect wife, she would love him even then, too.
∞∞∞
The dance finished too soon.
Or not soon enough. Roman couldn’t tell. Holding Clementine for the first time in weeks made him itch to drag her out of the ballroom and keep her to himself. No one deserved seeing her so darned beautiful, so radiant.
Despite slight shadows under her eyes, he was certain he’d never seen a woman so lovely. Her cheeks were slightly pink from exertion and the tiny pearls dotted along her decolletage and hanging from her ears brought out her freckles and the gleaming red of her curls. He wanted to kiss each freckle and run the curls through his fingers.
Now was not the time, however. He had important things to do. Like grovel on his knees, if necessary.
Roman released her as the last violin strain rippled through the air. She opened her mouth then closed it. Clem went to turn around and he took her arm before she could escape. Her eyes widened as he took her dance card and scrawled his name on it, not once but twice.
Her brow furrowed as she scooped up the card and eyed it, then fixed him with a puzzled look. “Two more dances?”