He looked down at her. “You realize that by dancing with me you may cause more gossip than by not dancing with any man the entire evening?”
She feigned innocence. “Whatever do you mean?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know. There’s a black mark on my name, Isabel.”
A shiver of excitement ran down her spine. I’m counting on it, Marcus!
She was conscious of his hand touching hers, of his powerful body moving beside her, grazing her skirts. Her skin became increasingly warm, her breath short.
As they whirled across the floor, she glanced in the direction of her father and Lord Walling.
Her father appeared confused and agitated, and wiped at his brow with a handkerchief.
Walling looked furious, his fleshy face and neck mottled red.
Encouraged, she leaned lightly into Marcus, tilting her face toward his. “A black mark does not scare me, Mr. Hawksley. I’m old enough to know that society can be harsh, can be too judgmental, and rarely is correct when it comes to a person’s true character.”
He looked at her in astonishment, and then grinned. “Not only have you grown into a beautiful woman with your raven hair and clear blue eyes, but an astute one as well. A true surprise you have become, Lady Isabel.”
She didn’t know whether it was the attractive smile that had transformed his face or his flattering words, but her pulse leapt to life, and her feet seemed to drift along on a cloud over the dance floor.
The bold passage of his jet eyes over her face and the curve of her neck heightened her senses. She found herself extremely attuned to his strength, his overwhelming masculinity. He was unlike any other male she had ever known. Here was no fop, no dandy that the young debutantes swooned over. Here was a powerful man whose dangerous nature was disguised by a thin veneer of respectability.
Reason told her to flee, to abandon her impulsiveness, but instead a thrill tingled along her nerves.
Their eyes locked, and his dark brows slanted in a slight frown.
He senses it, too! she thought.
As the dance neared its end, she realized with bewilderment that she was no longer acting the awed female entirely for the benefit of her father and Lord Walling, but that she indeed felt an undeniable attraction to Marcus Hawksley.
Chapter 2
“I’m furious!” stated Edward Cameron. “For the third time, I’ve arranged a perfectly good match for you and how do you reward me? You turn down Lord Walling only to dance with Marcus Hawksley instead. He’s nothing more than the impoverished younger son of an earl, a mere stockbroker.”
Isabel watched her father pace back and forth on the thick Aubusson carpet in his library. Edward Cameron, the fourth Earl of Malvern, was short and stocky with round spectacles and a brow perpetually creased with worry. Tufts of sparse gray hair stood on end as he ran his fingers over his scalp in agitation. His mouth was tight and grim, his eyes flashing in a familiar display of impatience.
Isabel stiffly sat in a leather chair, her fingers curling around the nail head armrest. Her father had ushered her into the library as soon as they had returned home from Lady Holloway’s ball. She immediately knew it was going to be a lengthy night. Last time, he had taken her to the drawing room, and the lecture had been brief. He hadn’t been concerned with possible interruptions by the servants. But to demand her presence in his library—well, that meant the lecture would be severe enough to warrant complete privacy. No servant would dare interrupt the earl here.
Straightening her spine, she took a deep breath. “I apologize for having upset you by dancing with Mr. Hawksley, Father. But I’m not sorry that Lord Walling no longer wants the engagement to proceed.”
Edward stopped his pacing to stare at her. He reached up to rip his spectacles from his face, only to snag one of the wires behind his ear. It twisted and bowed as he tugged it free.
“Who said anything about Lord Walling not pursuing an engagement? It took considerable effort on my part, but I managed to assuage Walling’s doubts regarding your poor discretion.”
Isabel tossed her head. “Poor discretion! I do not wish to wed Lord Walling.”
“Why not?”
“He’s positively ancient. He has no interest in my art. And…and…he”—she struggled for the words—“he has depraved appetites in the bedroom,” she blurted out, not knowing how else to persuade her father.
“What?” Edward’s jaw dropped.
Her face grew hot. “That’s the latest gossip.”
He blew out his cheeks like a blowfish before releasing a burst of air. “Of all the nonsense, please stop listening to your friend, Charlotte Benning.”
His anger slightly abated, he took a seat in a chair next to hers and reached out to take her hand.
“My Isabel,” he said. “I will not live forever, and I need to see you well settled before I die. Your mother, bless her soul, would have wanted you respectably married.”
Isabel’s heart lurched, and a stab of guilt pierced her heart. Despite everything, she loved her father dearly. She squeezed his hand. “What would make me happy is to live with Auntie Lil in Paris. I could study my watercolors, just as she did. Ever since my visit two summers ago, she has regularly written asking for me to stay with her.”
Edward shook his head. “Your mother’s sister is an eccentric who never married. That’s what happens to women who never have a man’s guidance and who never bear children.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“Either way, you are a few months shy of your twenty-first birthday. You have already destroyed two previously good matches, now must you destroy a third?”
“I didn’t destroy anything.”
“Ah, you merely told Lord Darby that you were unable to bear children, and you merely let Lord Shelton’s controlling mother believe that insanity runs in the family, by using your Auntie Lil as an example. Both men ran as fast as their legs would carry them.”
“I won’t apologize for either man. Darby only sought a brooding mare to produce heirs, and Shelton wanted the country estate in Herefordshire that you had promised him. Don’t you see, Father, I want more.”
“It’s unspeakable. Forget returning to Auntie Lil. Letting you travel to Paris was an unfortunate mistake. As for Lord Walling, I gave him permission to pay a visit tomorrow afternoon. You had best be a perfect lady. The engagement will go forward.”
Edward rose and patted her shoulder. “As the eldest child, think of the twins. You will be setting a good example for them.”
Isabel often did think of her younger twin siblings, Anthony and Amber, and believed that setting a good example meant passionately pursuing one’s dreams.
At her silence, her father smiled. “Good girl, Isabel. I know you will stop carrying on about this artistic nonsense. I’ve allowed your watercolors as a pastime fancy, but now it is time for you to put art out of your mind and secure your future as a wife.”
Head bent low, Isabel nodded in what she hoped was a demure manner. From a sideways glance, she watched him turn and leave.
As soon as the library door clicked closed, she jumped to her feet and rushed to her father’s desk. Yanking open a heavy file drawer, she began to rummage through mounds of paper.
If Walling was coming tomorrow afternoon, there was no time to waste.