“There is nothing to say I have to dine with anybody.” With that, she gathered her new shawl into her arms, picked up her key, and left the room.
Once down in the lobby, she entered the dining room. In spite of her boldness she hesitated, suddenly uncertain whether this was such a good idea after all.
“Madam?” A tall, dapperly dressed mâitre d’ murmured.
“A table if you have one, please,” Georgiana replied.
“Will madam be joined this evening?”
“Yes, by me,” Simeon replied from behind her before she could open her mouth to reply.
Georgiana glared at him, annoyed that her little adventure of dining alone had been thwarted.
“Please?” Simeon asked. He held his elbow out and waited.
Georgiana looked at him. There was something in his eyes that was almost daring her to reject him in front of the other diners.
There was no harm in that was there? She mused. While they would be dining at the same time, they would not be alone per se because there were plenty of other diners in the room. Would there be anything wrong with it? If he tried to kiss her hand again then yes there would be but, if he maintained his distance, and she said goodnight to him after the meal while he remained in the dining room, it would be alright, wouldn’t it?
Who even knows I am here?
She turned to study Simeon. “How did you know I was here?”
Simeon sighed almost theatrically. “I am staying here as well.”
Georgiana didn’t believe him for a second. There was something shifty in the way his gaze slid away when she stared at him that warned her he was lying. Politeness dictated that she shouldn’t call him a liar right there and then, though, but she knew it was wise to keep her distance.
“He is waiting,” Simeon prompted with a nod at the mâitre d’ standing patiently beside a table for two.
“Thank you,” she replied awkwardly, too hungry to decline his invitation. She didn’t take his arm though, and merely walked ahead of him to the table. At that moment, she didn’t care if he was offended by her behaviour or not. She had several questions she wanted answering, and wasn’t going to trust him until he provided her with proper–and honest–answers.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Georgiana studied him across the table and was acutely aware that she had made a huge mistake in agreeing to dine with him. While she enjoyed the luxurious confines of the resplendent dining room, and had consumed the sumptuous meal with a sigh of delight, her company for the evening was nothing short of disturbing.
Conversation with him about anything was stilted and awkward. His manner kept swaying between being watchful, affable, and jesting, to stoic and bored. It was difficult to decide which one was the real Simeon.
Of course, it doesn’t help you gain any trust in the man when he keeps trying to get you drunk, she mused.
“No thank you,” she murmured for about the tenth time that evening. When he appeared inclined to ignore her, she placed her hand over her goblet. “I said no, thank you.”
“You have only had one goblet,” Simeon chastised as he continued to hold the bottle aloft.
“It is enough, thank you,” she replied, her voice firm. There was a steely glint in her eye as she stared hard at him that warned him he was pushing too hard. Would he recognise it? She waited. When he didn’t relent, she lifted a querulous brow and moved her goblet out of reach.
His sigh was heavy, but she was unmoved by it.
“You thwart me,” he murmured sulkily.
“Do I take it that your intention was to get me drunk? That is hardly the behaviour of a gentleman,” she remarked, less than pleased at the notion.
“I confess that I was hoping a
little alcohol would loosen you up. I get the feeling you are hostile toward me for some reason. I do believe you are not as wayward as I first considered you to be.” There was a sinister tone in his voice that made her study him.
The air shifted and turned faintly threatening. Something within her began to worry. It was so strong that she struggled to fight the urge to get up and leave the table. Inwardly fear began to grow. Outwardly she made her actions as slow and careful so she didn’t betray her alarm while she desperately sought to find a way out without angering him.
“Well, it has been a wonderful evening,” she murmured as she stood.