‘And I wager the same on my brother,’ Daniel said. In the sunlight Alistair’s amber eyes glinted like those of a big cat and she shivered.
‘Will no one else back me? Lady Perdita?’
‘Ten rupees on Mr Chatterton,’ she said.
‘Then if I win I will claim a forfeit from you,’ Alistair said.
‘Indeed?’ Dita tried to sound dignified and knew she simply sounded flustered. ‘I am sure you will choose something that is perfectly proper, my lord. If you win, that is. Gentlemen, perhaps you would excuse us? There is something I wish to discuss with Miss Heydon.’
The men took themselves off, Alistair with a sidelong smile. He made as if to slide the notebook into his pocket and then bent and put it on the end of the daybed. ‘What is this? Someone must have dropped it. Is it yours?’
Her blue garter ribbon dangled from the tips of his fingers, the fingers that only moments before had been caressing her intimately.
‘Certainly not.’
‘Oh well, I had better keep it, then.’ He put it in his pocket and strolled off while Dita seethed.
‘That was a garter,’ Averil whispered.
‘I know. Mine. I have taken my shoes off, and a stocking. Very fast, I know, but it is so hot.’ She retrieved her stocking from under her skirts and pulled it on. Perhaps Averil would assume her raised colour was due to the embarrassment of being almost caught shedding clothing.
‘What was that about?’ Averil asked, sitting down on the end of the daybed. ‘One could cut the atmosphere with a knife, all of a sudden.’
‘I expect the men are getting bored.’
‘It wasn’t that, I don’t think. Lord Lyndon sounded as though he was challenging Mr Chatterton to a duel; his eyes positively made me shiver. I do wish you would not tease him so, Dita.’
‘I do not tease him. I am going out of my way not to do so, but he is being extremely provoking.’
‘May I ask? Have you and Callum Chatterton an under standing?’
‘No!’ Dita laughed. ‘Of course not.’
‘Why of course?’ Averil put her feet up and curled her arms around her legs. With her chin resting on her knees she looked like a curious cat. ‘He is intelligent and obviously destined for preferment. His brother is an earl, he is charming and good looking and he doesn’t flirt like his brother. You like him, don’t you?’
‘Of course. I would be foolish not to. But I couldn’t possibly marry him.’ It occurred to her as she said it that she had looked at Callum, back in Calcutta, with interest. And close contact had only heightened her regard for him. So why couldn’t she contemplate him as a husband?
‘You would be a very good match for him and could only help his career.’
‘You forget my reputation,’ Dita pointed out.
‘If you were the daughter of Mr Blank, with a dowry of five hundred pounds and freckles, then possibly that would be fatal. If he thought the worse of you for it, then he would not be so friendly, and if he had less honourable intentions, surely you have become aware of that by now?’
‘
True. But I do not love him.’
Averil was silent for just long enough for Dita to realise how tactless that was. They both spoke at once. ‘I am sorry, I did not mean—’
‘I am sure I will be very happy with Lord Bradon,’ Averil said with stiff dignity.
‘Of course you will,’ Dita said. ‘You are marrying with a strong sense of duty to your family and he is a most suitable choice and you have the type of character that will create happiness. I do not have a duty to wed and I do not have your amiable nature.’
Averil bit her lip. ‘Is it Lord Lyndon? You and he seem to have so much in common.’
‘Our only common ground is shared memories, and our only compatibility appears to be in the bedchamber,’ Dita said, goaded. And not just the bedchamber. Here, in the open air, at the dinner table when he only had to look at her from under sensually drooping lids for her to ache with desire. Anywhere, it seemed.
Averil blushed and investigated the lace at her hem intently. After a moment she said, ‘That is not enough, is it?’