Page 49 of Discovering Her Earl

But this evening she needed to speak with him about more personal things, so she allowed the footman to seat her to the left of the head of the table where Julian would be sitting.

As the clock on the mantle ticked, she began wondering about her request to have him join her.

She understood he might be embarrassed by his upset earlier in the day, but she wanted to reassure him there was nothing to be ashamed about. In fact, she wished to make sure he didn’t spend the evening thinking about the incident at all. She well knew how welcome a distraction could be when one was set on overthinking something.

When he entered the dining room, he was dressed in formal dinner attire. He paused only a moment at the door, while obviously taking in her position at his side of the table.

She could tell what he was thinking because he looked pointedly to the opposite end of the table as if surprised to find she was not sitting there.

“Miss Bantham, good evening.” He offered a bow.

“And good evening to you, my lord.” Since she was already seated, she returned a genuine smile.

“My valet insisted I join you. He said you wished to speak to me.”

“Yes. After the evenings I spent in my room, I wanted to make sure you knew I hoped to share a meal this evening.”

“Of course.”

He sat and the footmen came forward to serve the first course.

They sat in silence as they finished their soup. She stole a glance at him and could feel the heat of his stare when he looked at her.

As the footmen took their dishes away and served the next course, Lainey recalled all the times Aunt Rose noted Lainey’s lack of patience. It seemed tonight was going to be another one of those times she gave into her impulsiveness.

“Thank you,” she said to the servants. “If you’ll just put all the food on the table, we will manage from here. Please give us the room.”

“Of course, Miss Bantham.” The footman nodded to the others standing about the room and they filed out in a line as if they’d practiced it to perfection.

Thinking of perfection made her turn her attention to Julian and the nervous look in his eye.

She let out a breath and began cutting into her roasted duck.

It seemed she was not the only person at the table who struggled with patience, for Lord Melville set down his cutlery and let out a breath.

“Will you be dismissing me from the expedition, Miss Bantham? I understand you are well within your rights to do so. I agreed that you would make the decision regarding Egypt based on my performance here, and I’ve been less than successful during this trial period. I want to thank you for the opportunity and assure you I wish you no ill will for making such a decision.”

She stared at him in surprise. He had been thinking about this in great detail. She felt relieved she’d suggested they share a meal to clear the air. It was evident there was a great deal to clear.

“When you say you’ve been less than successful, I feel the need to point out that you were actually quite successful today. The goal is to preserve the artifact as best as possible as it is removed from the ground. You did that carefully and correctly, following my every instruction to ensure the pitcher was handled with the utmost care. You were, in fact, perfect.”

She should have said he’d behaved perfectly rather than admit to his perfection in general, but it was out now and taking it back would only call more attention to her misstep than ignoring it. Or so she hoped. Ignoring it was surely the easiest route.

Julian smiled. That devilish smile that started with the left side of his mouth, engaging his dimple before his lips lifted on the other side to match.

“You think I’m perfect?”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course, you would focus on those words rather than the rest of what I said.”

“It’s not every day a beautiful woman declares me perfect. Allow a man to bask in a compliment for a moment.”

“I wouldn’t say I declared anything.” She rolled her eyes.

“I couldn’t help but notice you didn’t argue that you are a beautiful woman.”

“You are being ridiculous.” Her words were true, but ridiculous or not, it had given her a thrill to hear his comment.

“Will you give me another chance?” he asked.