Free Candice Hern by Just One of Those Flings Page B

wife. But he did expect a certain degree of conversation. He could not abide a silly woman.
    He listened politely as the duchess continued to speak about the masquerade ball. The topic was one he would rather avoid, as it brought to mind images of yellow silk and powdered hair and uninhibited desire. Thayne made an effort to bank the heat brought on by such recollections. It would not do to embarrass himself in his mother's drawing room. He glanced at Lady Somerfield while his mother chattered on about costume possibilities for her and the duke, and about memorable masquerades from her youth. The countess kept her eyes on the teacup she held, but a slight frown furrowed her brow as though she, too, was remembering a masquerade, but much less fondly than the duchess.
    His mother rose and said, "Perhaps we should show you the ballroom now, Lady Somerfield."
    In a perfectly orchestrated maneuver, the duchess walked ahead with Burnett, and the duke walked alongside Lady Somerfield, leaving Thayne to escort Miss Thirkill.
    "It is very kind of your mother," the girl said, "to allow my aunt and her friends to use the ballroom."
    "I am sure she is pleased to oblige." He did not offer his arm, but walked with his hands clasped behind his back and kept his eyes straight ahead.
    "I will have to have a new costume made, of course," she said. "Everyone has seen the pink shepherdess costume I wore at the last masquerade I attended. What costume do you think I ought to wear?"
    "I am sure I do not know. Whatever pleases you."
    "And what would please you , Lord Thayne?"
    By Jove, she was a determined little flirt. "I am sure whatever you choose will be very pretty. Wear whatever you like, Miss Thirkill."
    Out of the corner of his eye he saw her give a little shrug. "You are right," she said. "It really doesn't matter. The effect will be the same regardless of my costume." She gave a resigned sigh. "I don't mean to draw attention, but I always seem to find myself surrounded by gentlemen. I suppose I should be pleased to be so popular, but it really is a trial at times."
    What a cunning little vixen. Did she really think his interest would be piqued by knowing that she was pursued by other men? Or was she trying to inspire a spirit of competition?
    "I understand you are staying with your aunt for the Season."
    "Yes, I am," she said in a bright tone. "She has been acting as my chaperone since Mother was injured in an accident and could not take me about herself."
    "An accident? How dreadful. I trust it is not too serious an injury, and that she is recovering."
    Miss Thirkill leaned toward him and lowered her voice. "She fell off a horse and broke her leg!"
    She seemed to find her mother's misfortune amusing, as she began to laugh. It was a musical laugh, similar to one he remembered hearing on a dark night in a particular garden. Was he destined to be reminded of that sweet interlude at every turn? By every laugh and every pair of blue eyes, even when they belonged to an innocent who could not possibly have been his Artemis?
    He steeled himself against the memory by employing his best Marquess of Thayne manner — polite, but haughty and formal. "I am glad it is nothing more serious," he said. "And how fortunate that you were not forced to postpone your Season, that Lord and Lady Somerfield were able to take you in."
    "Oh, but there is no Lord Somerfield," she said. "I mean, there is , but he is not my uncle. The previous earl, my Uncle Somerfield, died several years ago. Didn’t you know? I thought everyone knew my aunt is a widow. She is, after all, a trustee of the Benevolent Widows Fund, the charity supported by the ball she wants to hold here at Doncaster House."
    So, the aunt was a widow. Not that it mattered, but he cast a glance in her direction as she walked ahead with his father. A certain sway of hip gave him pause for an instant, sent a brief jolt of fire through his loins, but only because it reminded him of another pair of hips