you play in their selection?”
“Some,” she said vaguely. “Although I have been good in talking you up. Subtly, of course. Oh, I do like Elise, Weston. She will make for a perfect duchess and can be my best friend. We’ll live next door to one another and raise our children together.” She gazed at her husband. “I never knew I could be so very, very happy.”
George kissed her and Weston heard a few whispers and tittering.
“I say, Charm, you better save that for your bedroom,” he teased. “Wouldn’t want to cause a scene here on the first night of the Season.”
“He won’t,” Sam assured him. “However, he does cause quite a scene in our bedchamber on a nightly basis.”
Weston laughed. “I’m sure he does, little sister.”
They went inside and he gazed across the room, looking for Elise. Spotting her, he cursed aloud.
“What is it?” George asked, glancing about the room. “Oh.”
He hadn’t asked any individual to dance with Elise tonight, despite what she thought. He knew with her beauty that she would attract a bevy of men. Any that she asked him about, he would find something wrong with them. Unfortunately, he should have thought to warn her away from certain gentlemen, including the one she danced with now.
Lord Ivy.
Anger surged through him. Weston took a step forward and was immediately pulled back, George’s fingers tight on his arm.
“Let go,” he ordered quietly.
“No. Listen to me and cool your heels, West,” George insisted. “I’ve already escorted you out of London once over Ivy. You don’t want to storm out onto the dance floor and cause a scene in front of the entire ton. You’re trying to show what a good man you truly are. Punching Ivy in the middle of a ballroom would be the kiss of death in your pursuit of Elise.”
George relaxed his hold and Weston took a deep breath.
“You’re right,” he agreed. “As usual.” He took another calming breath. “Thank you. For keeping me from making an idiot of myself and ruining any chance I have with Elise.”
George smiled. “That is what friends are for.”
*
Elise hadn’t had time to catch her breath since the ball began. Her programme had filled quickly. She had glanced about and seen Weston dancing twice with women she’d suggested he partner with. She knew what each of the three looked like, thanks to Samantha and Elizabeth. One had visited the same modiste and Elise had even been introduced to her in the shop. The woman was a widowed countess with a young daughter. She’d met the second woman in a bookstore she’d visited with Elizabeth, who had known the girl since childhood. The third woman, a childless widow and dowager viscountess, had been standing nearby when they arrived tonight. Samantha pointed her out and Elise planned to speak with her before she left this evening.
All three women were very beautiful, so much that it hurt to see Weston dancing with them. She hadn’t seen him lately, though, and hoped he would return to the ballroom in time for their dance. She supposed he was in the card room, a place her father enjoyed going so he wouldn’t have to see his wife flirt shamelessly. Elise still found it hard to believe that Papa had loved Mama so much and had allowed her to hurt him as much as she did.
The dance ended and the tall baron she’d partnered with led her from the dance floor.
“Might I call upon you tomorrow, Lady Ruthersby?” he asked casually.
“Yes, you may,” she said.
She’d given permission to every man who’d asked to call. It was hard to decide which ones were worth knowing. Conversation was impossible with some dances and limited with others. She would keep her dance card and go down it tomorrow with Weston, seeking his opinion on the men who’d claimed a dance with her this evening, as well as discuss the ladies she’d suggested to him. It pained her to think of this time next year. She would arrive at the first ball of the Season, a married woman, and see Weston from across the room with his duchess. Perhaps he would speak to her. Most likely, they’d merely make eye contact and he’d nod. The closeness they’d discovered as they’d been thrown together these past few weeks would be gone. They would be wed to others. He might have even forgotten her name by then.
But she would never forget him. Never forget his kiss. His scent. The way her body tingled with