How to Plan a Wedding for a Royal Spy Page 12

  Why, she hadn’t a clue.

  “Of course, sir,” Will replied calmly. “This is Miss Evelyn Whitney, the daughter of Viscount and Lady Reese.”

  If anything, the duke’s scowl went from bad to worse after the introduction. Evie dropped into another deep curtsey, just to be on the safe side.

  “Are your parents about?” the duke asked in the same blunt manner. “Perhaps you can find them while I have a chat with Captain Endicott.”

  Evie flinched, staggered by the rude dismissal. Will went stiff beside her, silently radiating disapproval of his father’s tactics. The fact that the duke’s followers were listening with avid eagerness made the situation doubly distressing.

  She struggled to maintain a semblance of dignity. “Of course, Your Highness.” She nodded a good-bye to Will, trying not to show how rattled she felt. But when Will’s hand again grasped her elbow, pulling her up short, she let out a little gasp.

  “I should be most happy to speak to you, sir,” he said quietly, “after I have escorted Miss Whitney back to her party.”

  The duke’s narrowed gaze signaled how little he appreciated his son’s defiance. “I’m sure Miss Whitney can find her way back to her mamma, William. She’s not a chit of a girl, after all.”

  That last bit was clearly not a compliment.

  Evie glanced nervously at Will, and her heart sank when she saw his jaw go rock-like. She mentally groaned at the idea of him defying his powerful father in public—and all out of a misguided sense of loyalty to her. She honored him for it, but neither of them would benefit from the gossip that would surely follow on the heels of an ugly little scene.

  As if sent from heaven, Gilbride appeared through a small gap in the crowd, moving to stand next to Evie. For a big, dominating man who seemed to bull his way through life, he had a remarkable ability to move with cat-like stealth.

  “Your Highness,” he said, giving the duke a respectful bow. Then he smiled down at Evie. “May I escort you back to your party, Miss Whitney? Your mamma sent me to fetch you.” He cocked what looked like an ironic eyebrow at Will’s father. “With your permission, sir.”

  The duke waved an impatient hand. “Yes, yes, go on.”

  Forcing herself not to look at Will, Evie took Gilbride’s arm and let him lead her away through the crowd. He chatted amiably all the while, sounding like a featherhead, even though Evie was coming to conclude he was far from it. His arrival had been too well timed to be anything other than deliberate, and he’d handled the situation with polite efficiency. When she was no longer choking back a dreadful sense of humiliation, hoping the floor would open up and swallow her, she would make a point of thanking Gilbride for his welcome intervention.

  Halfway up the ballroom, she could no longer resist looking over her shoulder. Will and his father stood where they had left them, although the duke’s entourage had widened the circle around them. Apparently, at that point they feared a prince’s displeasure more than they wished to overhear his conversation with his son.

  Evie’s heart sank as she took in Will’s stone-faced expression. He listened politely to his father, and nodded his head once in agreement. But she knew what that blank expression meant. He was furious, but as embarrassed by the little scene as she was. That she had caused the scene, however unintentionally, made her stomach cramp with dismay. She and Will had just started to heal the wounds between them and this episode would surely destroy any chance of reconciled friendship.

  Without Will ever having to tell her in so many words, she understood how important it was for him to please his father. Years ago, when the duke had decided to pay for his schooling and his commission in the army, Will had been overjoyed. His father’s private acknowledgment had been one of the defining milestones of his life. Openly defying the duke out of loyalty to her, even over something so inconsequential, would surely have repercussions.

  “It’s not your fault,” Gilbride said in a quiet voice as he steered her around a clutch of languid dandies. “You did nothing wrong, and neither did Wolf.”

  It took a moment to swallow the lump in her throat before she could answer. “Thank you for your kindness, sir. I’m not sure why the duke was so gruff with us, but I would hate to be the cause of any unpleasantness between Will and his . . . and the duke.”

  Gilbride let out a sardonic snort. “Most members of the royal family excel at unpleasantness, at least the dukes do. One eventually gets used to it.”

  “But—”

  He gave her a reassuring smile. “Truly, Miss Whitney, you have nothing to worry about. Wolf is more than adept at handling his father. You needn’t be concerned.”

  He gave her another one of his winks, though this one seemed friendly rather than flirtatious. Evie thought she rather liked the big Scotsman, no matter what Eden might say about him.

  But as they rejoined her family and friends, Gilbride’s jesting persona reasserted itself. She was now more than half-convinced he was playing some sort of role. That hardly sounded rational, but there seemed to be no other explanation for his rapid shifts in behavior.

  “Hallo, hallo,” he exclaimed in a booming voice that made her sister grimace. “Look who I stumbled upon in my stroll around the room. I knew Miss Evelyn would be as eager as I am to snabble up the lobster patties at supper, so I convinced her to toddle back with me.” He finished his clownish speech by giving Mamma, who was staring at him with her mouth slightly open, a buffoonish grin.

  “Oh, for God’s sake,” Eden muttered, taking Evie’s arm. She made a shooing motion at Gilbride with her free hand. “Thank you for retrieving my sister, Captain, but there’s no need to waste another minute on us.”

  Gilbride showed his blinding white teeth in a broad grin. “Nay, lassie, you’ll no’ be getting rid of me that easy. I have every intention of assisting you ladies down to the supper room.”

  As gloomy as Evie was feeling about the ugly episode with Will and his father, she couldn’t stifle a spark of amusement. Gilbride’s brogue seemed to be a matter of convenience for him, adopted when he wished to annoy or tweak someone.

  Like her twin.

  “That’s entirely unnecessary,” Eden responded in a blighting tone. “Evie and I will go down together, and Mr. Beaumont will escort my mother.”

  “Oh, of course,” Michael said, suddenly springing to life. “It would be my honor to escort Lady Reese to the supper room.”

  He peered at Evie with a perplexed expression on his face, and she felt a stab of guilt that she’d practically forgotten his very existence. She made a silent promise to stop thinking about Will and focus on the blessings right under her nose.

  “It would be lovely if you took Mamma down,” she said, smiling at Michael. “I, for one, would be happy to sit and chat in a quiet corner for the rest of the evening.”

  “Well, I wouldn’t,” her mother said huffily. “But I suppose we should go now if we want to find a seat that isn’t in a draft. Her Grace’s public rooms are exceedingly drafty, I’m sorry to say.” She bestowed a gracious smile on Gilbride, pointedly ignoring Michael. “Captain Gilbride, I would be most pleased if you escorted me to the supper room. Mr. Beaumont can follow with the girls.”

  Even Gilbride looked a little nonplussed by her mother’s rudeness. Michael simply shrugged and gave Evie a small, understanding smile. Despite Gilbride’s inanities, Mamma obviously found an heir to a Scottish earldom preferable to a younger son of a Catholic aristocrat—even if that younger son came from a wealthy and distinguished family.

  Gilbride recovered quickly. “I’d be delighted, your ladyship.” He moved with alacrity to her mother’s side, but smiled at Michael as he did so. “And perhaps while we’re having a bit of refreshment, Mr. Beaumont and Miss Evelyn can tell me a bit more about their charitable endeavors.”

  Mamma rolled her eyes but refrained from commenting as she took the captain’s arm.

  When Eden linked her hand through Evie’s right arm, Michael moved around to her left. They
fell into the slow-moving stream from the ballroom to the supper room, following in their mother’s wake.

  “I quite like Captain Gilbride,” Michael said in a musing tone. “He strikes me as a genuinely kind man.”

  “He’s a complete oaf,” Eden huffed, sounding alarmingly like their mother. “I don’t know how you can stand to spend so much time in his company.”

  “He’s not an oaf,” Evie said. “He just wants us to think he’s one.”

  Michael nodded. “I would agree with your assessment. I wonder why he would wish anyone to think him so clownish.”

  “Because he is a clown?” Eden commented.

  Evie frowned at her sister. It wasn’t like Eden to be so ungenerous, even toward someone who annoyed her. She was impetuous and sometimes impatient, but never mean-spirited.

  Her twin sighed. “Don’t mind me. I’m just annoyed that the Duke of York so roundly snubbed you. It was awful of him.”

  Blast.

  “You saw that from across the room?” Evie asked.

  “It was quite evident to anyone watching,” Michael said. Oddly, he didn’t sound put out about it.

  “And I’m truly annoyed with Will for not escorting you back,” Eden said. “Whatever could he have been thinking?”

  “It wasn’t his fault,” Evie said. “The duke all but ordered Will to stay with him.”

  “A true gentleman would have seen to your comfort first,” Michael said.

  His tone confirmed he saw Will as a threat, and that made Evie feel guilty all over again. She held her tongue, swallowing her instinctive urge to defend Will.

  “I will give Gilbride some credit in this situation,” Eden said. “He obviously figured out the problem and took it upon himself to act. I wouldn’t have thought a big dolt like him could move so quickly.”

  Evie darted a nervous glance forward. They were separated from the captain and their mother by only old Lady Hanson and her two daughters. Fortunately, Mamma seemed to be happily chattering away with Gilbride, claiming his full attention.

  “Don’t be silly, Evie,” her twin said, knowing, as usual, what she was thinking. “They can’t hear anything we’re saying.”

  Just then, Gilbride glanced over his shoulder, straight at Eden. One of his eyebrows lifted in what could only be described as a sardonic tilt.

  “Well, I’ll be damned,” Eden muttered under her breath.

  Evie hushed her, but her sister simply grinned. Still Evie did notice that Eden flushed a bit, probably with embarrassment.

  They made their way down the broad staircase and turned into the supper room, two large drawing rooms normally separated by pocket doors but now open to create a space large enough for the necessary number of small and medium-size tables, covered in crisp white linen. At least half were already occupied, but Gilbride deftly steered them to a larger table by a set of French doors that lead to the terrace.

  With a sigh of relief, Evie sank into one of the little chairs grouped around the oval table, and glanced around. “Where did Mamma go?”

  “Lady Reese wished to speak with Lady Castlereagh,” Gilbride said, nodding to the other side of the room. “She said she would join us shortly.” He snagged an empty chair from a nearby table and placed it next to Evie. “There, we’ll save that for Will. No doubt he’ll be along any moment.”

  Evie had just started to relax, but that notion sent her nerves jumping again. She didn’t know whether she wanted Will to join them or not. Probably not, given the exciting but disturbing question he’d asked her just before the duke interrupted them.

  Eden glanced toward the door. “Yes, I see him coming.” She frowned, squinting. “Who is that with him? I can’t tell from this distance.”

  Evie turned in her chair, praying he wasn’t with the duke. Then she froze, realizing the truth was much worse.

  Will was escorting Lady Calista Freemont, daughter of the Marquess of Corbendale and one of the nastiest people Evie had ever met. She’d attended Miss Ardmore’s Select Academy for Young Ladies with Calista and had frequently been the target of the older girl’s mean-spirited pranks.

  Though Calista was both pretty and rich, her gruesome personality kept her from making a spectacular match. Will, unfortunately, wouldn’t know that, given all his years spent abroad. Right now he seemed fairly enamored, smiling down at Calista as she batted her eyelashes in bold flirtation.

  “Oh Lord, not her,” Eden groaned.

  Gilbride had been talking to Michael, but Eden’s comment brought his head up. He craned his neck forward like a turtle coming out of its shell, then sat back and shook his head with disapproval.

  “Idiot,” he muttered.

  Evie sent up a fervent prayer that Will and Calista would sit somewhere else, but Michael got to his feet and waved his napkin, drawing their notice.

  “Doesn’t he know what a shrew Calista is?” Eden hissed to Evie.

  “He knows,” Evie replied with a scowl.

  Will caught sight of them and waved back, and Evie’s faint hope that she’d be spared another humiliating scene died with a whimper. After tonight, she would do her best to avoid Will, since he’d obviously developed a knack for pitching her into dreadful situations. And why he was flirting with Calista—and he clearly was flirting—after doing the same with her less than a half hour ago was a mystery. She’d never thought of Will as the sort to play fast and loose with a woman’s feelings, but perhaps she was wrong about that.

  Just like she’d been wrong all those years ago when she thought he was in love with her.

  As Will and Calista approached, Gilbride got up and took the seat next to Evie, the one he’d set out for Will only a few minutes ago. He leaned close and murmured. “Just ignore him when he’s acting like a clodpole, Miss Evie. That’s what I do.”

  She gave him a weak smile, startled by the revelation that he obviously knew something about her embarrassing history with Will. Even worse, Gilbride seemed to think it still mattered to her.

  Which, unfortunately, it did.

  “Good evening,” Will said with a smile. “May we sit? We don’t want to put you out, but most of the tables are full.”

  “Of course they won’t mind,” Calista said with honeyed malice. “Evelyn and I are old friends, are we not? And Eden, as well.”

  Eden eyed Calista like she was a poisonous viper about to strike. Fortunately, her twin held her fire, for once deciding not to raise a fuss.

  Michael and Gilbride came to their feet.

  “You are most welcome to join us,” Michael said with alacrity. He gazed down at Evie with an encouraging smile. “You don’t mind, do you?”

  Evie had to clear her throat before she could answer. “Of course not.”

  Will fetched an empty chair from an adjacent table, and they all shuffled to make room. Michael resumed his seat next to Evie and spoke to her in a quiet tone. “I didn’t realize you were friends with Lady Calista. I’m happy you have the chance to spend some time with her.”

  “I’m not, on both counts,” Evie ground out between clenched teeth.

  “Oh, well,” he said vaguely. “Captain Endicott seems quite chummy with her though, don’t you think?”

  Evie couldn’t muster a polite response and didn’t even try.

  “Beaumont’s jealous of Wolf,” Gilbride murmured from her other side. “That’s why he’s acting like a ninny.”

  Evie held back a sigh. Either Gilbride was a great deal more perceptive than most people gave him credit for, or she was ridiculously transparent. Neither thought provided any comfort.

  “He has no reason to be, I assure you,” she replied in a cool voice.

  “Lady Calista tells me that you and Eden attended school with her,” Will said in a hearty voice, obviously trying to restart the conversation. “I didn’t know that.”

  Since Eden’s only response was to cross her arms over her chest and glare at Calista, it was left to Evie to answer. “There was no reason for you to be aware of that fact.�
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  Will’s eyebrows shot up at her terse reply. His gaze jumped to Eden and then back to Evie. He pressed his lips into a grim line and shook his head, recognizing he’d blundered into another uncomfortable situation.

  “Oh, yes,” Calista trilled in a treacly voice. “We had such a gay time, didn’t we, Evelyn? You were a clumsy girl, forever tripping over things, much to everyone’s amusement. I do hope you’ve grown out of that unfortunate malady.”

  “Speaking of clumsy,” Eden said in dulcet tones that would have warned anyone who knew her, “I recall an incident where you ended up with your head in a wash bucket. Or have you forgotten that, Lady Calista?”

  Since Eden had been the one to engineer that particular result, it was a good bet Calista hadn’t forgotten. It had been in retaliation against Calista and her friends—all haughty, insufferable girls—after they’d placed a bucket of greasy slops against the door to the room where Evie and Eden slept with two other girls. When Evie opened the door, the bucket had tipped over and the slops had gone everywhere. She’d crashed to the floor in the slippery mess, accompanied by gales of laughter from Calista and her band of harpies. Furious, Eden had filled the bucket with ice cold water from the outside pump and dumped it on Calista’s head. Evie was sure Calista’s outraged screams had been audible for miles.

  “I haven’t forgotten anything,” Calista snapped, her big brown eyes sparking with rage.

  “I say, who’s for champagne?” Gilbride interjected, leaping to his feet. He waved down a passing waiter and then practically dragged Will up by the collar, claiming they would fetch some cakes from the refreshment table. Gilbride seemed to be lecturing Will as he dragged him off, who didn’t look happy to be at the receiving end of a scold.

  While Eden and Calista continued their glaring match, Evie turned to Michael and began talking about some financial details regarding the charity’s ledgers. She didn’t give a hang about the ledgers at this moment but desperately needed something to talk about that did not involve Calista. Fortunately, Michael gamely threw himself into the discussion, finally recognizing he’d committed a capital blunder when he’d invited Calista and Will to sit with them.