“Now, now,” Richard admonished. “Women don’t like men who are overly possessive.”
“Mind your own business,” Giles retorted.
Richard basked in Giles’s scowl as he plucked the glass from Fiona’s other hand. Then he cast a meaningful glance toward the dancefloor. “Since you’re here and all, you should go dance.”
Giles gave it a moment of thought. “That’s a good idea. Come, Fiona.” He placed his own glass on a passing servant’s tray and took Fiona’s hand. “If you would excuse us, Lord Russel.”
“I’ll catch up with you again later. Go have fun.” Richard waved as Fiona and Giles made their way to the center of the hall. Within moments, he was swarmed by women.
“Why, Lord Richard! Do you know her?”
“How long have they been together? Are the rumors all true?”
The ladies were pushy, their eyes gleaming as they tried to get to the bottom of things.
“Just between you and me…” Richard lowered his voice with a hint of amusement, “it all began during the celebration for the prince’s debut the other day.” He testified that he had been there when Fiona and Giles first met.
The ladies agreed that if Giles’s best friend said so, then it must be true. Once his back was turned, however, they ridiculed her.
“That girl is not attractive in the least.”
“Lady Caroline would make a far more suitable match.”
At that remark, Caroline hid a smirk behind her folding fan. It was vexing for the man she had her eyes on to attend her party with another woman on his arm, especially a woman of lower status and appearance. While Fiona’s house—the house of Baron Clayburn—was indeed an old family, that was all she had going for her. Her family carried no influence, nor was her father employed at a major post. What’s more, standing next to Giles, it was clear he was out of Fiona’s league.
With her fan clenched in her hand, Caroline glared at the sight of them happily dancing a waltz. “How could he have picked someone like her over me?” she fumed and then walked away.
Richard looked askance at the women who hurried along in her wake and granted a charming smile to those who remained behind. “As it so happens, there was a bit of an accident. That was how they fell for one another.”
“What kind of accident?”
“They say it’s the secret of lovers… In other words, fate brought them together.” One of his pretty blue eyes closed in a wink, inciting another round of shrieks.
“He said it’s fate!”
“I suppose it would have to be, for Lord Giles to fall in love.”
The women chattered excitedly, declaring it to be like something out of a novel or a play. Satisfied that they were beginning to accept his story, Richard nodded and then raised his glass high. “To lovers.”
He toasted in the direction of the new couple, who were dancing intimately with one another. After a pause, Giles said to Fiona, “It’s really having an effect. Now do you believe me?”
“Yes. You and Rick were right. I underestimated how powerful rumors can be.”
Satisfied, Fiona smiled as Giles wrapped his arm around her back, drawing her closer. Their feet were already brushing against one another as they performed the dance steps, but now they were close enough that their knees touched as well. Fiona nearly stumbled, but Giles steadied her and corrected her position.
“I-it’s hard to dance when we’re this close.”
“He told us to stick close together, didn’t he?”
“But there’s a limit to that.”
“There is? It’s hard to tell how far I should go.” Gazing into one another’s eyes so closely, they certainly looked like a couple whispering sweet nothings to each other.
From a distance, with Giles’s dark blond hair sparkling from the light of the chandelier, it must have seemed as if his grayish-blue eyes were gazing adoringly at his beloved. But having spent the past few days with him, Fiona understood what that look was: those were the eyes of a scoundrel.
She didn’t mind his elation at seeing his plan succeed, but it wouldn’t do for him to expose them during their public debut as a couple. Fiona decided that a stern warning was in order. “Don’t distract me with your teasing. I’m not very good at dancing.”
“Get used to it, then. This will be the first of many dances.”
Fiona’s eyes briefly widened at this indication that he did not intend to refrain from touching her, but she quickly regained her composure. “Might you accompany me as I practice, then?” she retorted.
“My beloved’s wish is my command.”
Fiona averted her gaze to hide her shock. After a moment she asked, “You know what you just said, right?”
Giles was looking into the distance, but an amused smile tugged at his lips.
This display of another rare smile from Giles caused a small commotion amongst their onlookers. Several women stormed out of the hall in sheer indignation. Noticing this out of the corner of their eyes, Fiona and Giles exchanged a look.
“It’s working faster than I anticipated. By the way, Lord Giles, don’t forget that it should be ‘my fake beloved.’”
“Ah, my apologies. This is the first time I’ve enjoyed a party this much. I got a bit carried away.”
Had anyone seen up close, they would have realized that the feeling with which they gazed into one another’s eyes was not ardent love at all but solidarity. Fortunately, the crowd now maintained a wide berth around the “fervent lovers,” so no one was close enough to discover the truth.
“I say this again: I’ll be counting on you this season, Fiona,” Giles said. With the music approaching its conclusion, he stolidly twirled Fiona into her final turn.
Their linked hands were outstretched so that everyone could get a good view of the sparkling ring. Fiona lifted her skirts for a graceful curtsy. “I shall do my best to play the part of your lover, Lord Giles.”