Aurora had grown accustomed to hearing Sullivan mention his late wife and son, but it pained her just as much as it always had. The man never failed to bring up their names at least twice in any conversation.
“The Castlereaghs are friends of Exeter’s, too, so here I am, as well.” She looked away from him, catching sight of Scarsdale doing the pretty by Lady Eloise still, and smiled.
“A lucky circumstance for us all to have your company at any event. I paid my respects to Mrs. Berringer already, and then I saw you standing here alone,” Lord Sullivan murmured as he drew closer, and her lungs filled with the scent of his distinctive cologne.
She struggled to breathe for a long moment, choosing silence over a response that might have come out as a moan. Why must such a tempting scent exist and be worn by this man? He must bathe in the cologne several times a day.
She ought not to imagine him bathing naked. Nothing good could come of that wicked speculation. She suppressed another shiver though. “Thank you.”
“I wonder if you might do me the honor of a dance tonight, Miss Hillcrest? Perhaps the dance before supper, so we might talk.”
She winced. “I’m sorry, but my dance card is full,” she apologized.
“Ah, I’m too late again.” He smacked his fist into his palm as if severely disappointed by the news. “I should have sought to secure a dance earlier.”
She risked a deep sniff of his delicious cologne, a scent that never failed to curl her toes in her slippers, before she answered. “Another time, perhaps. Please don’t let me keep you, my lord. Do enjoy your evening.”
“Of course, and the same for you.” Sullivan inclined his head, but the frown line between his eyes deepened as he met her gaze. “But first, before we part, Miss Hillcrest, perhaps you’d do me the honor of reserving me the supper dance at the next ball we both attend.”
Aurora inclined her head graciously. “I should enjoy that very much,” she promised as her next partner approached. “The next dance is about to start.”
Sullivan sighed heavily before striding off across the room, shoulders back, head turning this way and that as he likely looked for his next dance partner.
Aurora welcomed her own partner and was swept onto the dance floor. Yet, she watched Sullivan’s long legs increase the distance between them with a heavy heart. He was handsome and wealthy. A nobleman in every sense of the word. He was good, and deserved to be happy, and Aurora hoped he would pick a bride this season.
But there was something wrong with the earl…a shadow that would forever prevent him achieving true happiness. He was completely and utterly devoted to his dead wife and son still. No woman should have to compete with that.