Page 45
Sebastian
Charades was embarrassing but enjoyable, especially being on the same team as Miss Hu. They were remarkably good at understanding what the other was trying to portray. Much better than Drake and Lady Astrid, who looked as though they might come to blows over their inability to guess what the other was doing. Which was also why they lost, and Lady Astrid was sitting with her arms crossed, glaring at the ceiling.
“Would anyone like to take an evening walk in the gardens?” Tiffany asked, glancing at the pouting Lady Astrid and glowering Drake. “To cool ourselves after such, ah, rambunctious amusement.”
“That sounds like a capital idea,” Lord Hayworth said, offering his arm to Lady Juliette, who stood to take it. The expressions on their faces were smitten. Sebastian mentally wished them good luck together.
If Lady Juliette’s parents were disappointed when she came home with an offer from a lord, rather than a duke, hopefully, they would be mollified by the fact that he obviously adored her. Not that they would have much choice, as Lady Juliette seemed a rather determined young lady who knew her mind. She would have made an admirable duchess, but she would be much happier as Hayworth’s wife.
“I am to bed,” Zachary said, shaking his head. “Besides, I need to check on Monkey Sinclair. He has been alone since before supper.”
If Lady Annabella was disappointed, her expression did not show it, and she begged off as well. In the end, Lord Hayworth and Lady Juliette and Drake and Lady Astrid were the only ones who were interested.
“Come, Mei, you must come too,” Tiffany coaxed, glancing at Sebastian with significance. He gave her a nearly imperceptible nod of understanding. Tiffany was trying to arrange time for him to speak with Mei alone. Gregory hovered behind them, following the two ladies out the doors onto the portico.
Sebastian exited with the others, pretending he was going to bed along with them. If he’d stated a desire to go into the gardens, he would have risked one of the debutantes deciding that she wanted to go for a walk as well. This way, he could be assured of time to speak alone with Miss Hu.
Perhaps not assured, but he was far more likely to be able to if no one knew he was out there and with Tiffany’s assistance.
He skirted through the hallway to the doors they’d used earlier in the day to enter the gardens. Hearing voices drifting up through the greenery, Sebastian quietly made his way down the stairs and onto the walkway.
“Must you always be so competitive?” That was Drake, sounding more aggrieved than usual. Lady Astrid must have sorely tried his patience.
“What is the point of playing if you are not playing to win?” Lady Astrid’s sharp tone cut the air.
Sebastian halted, stalling. Of all the people to join, they were the ones he least desired to.
“Not everything is about winning!”
“Of course you would think that.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“If you do not know, I am not going to explain it to you.”
“You— Astrid, come back here! You cannot walk through the garden alone at night!”
“What do you care?”
“I will not have my bride—”
“Bride? Ha! We’d have to be planning a wedding for you to call me that!”
“Fine, my betrothed—”
“No, it is not fine, it is—”
“It can be dangerous—”
“In Tiffany and Gregory’s garden? Have you lost your mar-mmph!”
Lady Astrid’s acerbic retort ended with a muffled sound, as if something—or someone—had very suddenly covered her mouth. Going by the noises that followed, Sebastian had a feeling that the most dangerous thing Lady Astrid would face in the garden was Drake’s frustrated passion.
Maybe some kissing would do them some good.
Since they seemed as though they would be staying in one place for a bit, Sebastian took the opportunity to quietly slide along the walk. The moon was very bright, and there were lamps lit along the walkways, but there were quite a few shadows too. As he went across an intersecting path, he glanced down it toward where Drake and Astrid were, and saw Drake lift his head to see who was there.
Raising his hand in greeting, Sebastian kept moving, just as Lady Astrid drew in a deep breath.
