stop him, but he was thwarted almost immediately, the second he stepped out into the spring sunshine.
“Cristofori,” one of his English professors stopped him before he could bolt. “Congratulations on a truly excellent play last evening.”
“Yes,” one of the university’s administrators stepped up to join the conversation. “I haven’t seen anything so entertaining in years. You and Lord Stanley were absolutely spiffing playing opposite each other.”
“Everyone involved enjoyed themselves,” Niall said by rote. It was too late to run. He was trapped in what he knew would be an endless round of conversations and congratulations.
He chatted with everyone who came up to shake his hand and ask about his future plans as best he could. John and David joined him, silently offering their support and helping to deflect the conversations Niall didn’t feel up to. But from the moment Lord Selby, Mr. Cannon, and the rest of Blake’s family stepped out into the sunshine, Niall’s attention flew mostly to them. He tried turning away when Blake walked out of the building, Miss Cannon latched to his arm like a barnacle, but a professor stepped up to the conversation he was having about the London stage in such a way that forced Niall to stand with Blake and his adoring fiancée directly in his line of sight.
Annamarie Cannon was the sort of wealthy, artless Dollar Princess who didn’t care that she was stepping on every rule of social propriety Great Britain had. She simpered and fawned all over Blake, turning Niall’s stomach. Worse still, Blake looked like an absolute block of wood as he stood there, letting her make a fool of him. His smile was tight and his shoulders tense, and even though Niall was yards away, he could tell that Blake’s eyes were absolutely dead.
“Is it true that Joss Hanover from the Royal Swan Theater has offered you a contract to write three plays for him?” one of the men talking at Niall asked.
It took every inch of Niall’s will to drag his gaze away from Blake so that he could answer the question. “Yes, it is,” he said, unsure which of the four men staring expectantly at him had actually asked the question.
“You’re going to take him up on that offer, I assume,” another said.
“I would be a fool not to,” Niall answered.
He was distracted again as Ian charged out of the theater, making a beeline toward Blake’s group. Niall’s gut squeezed in dread at the pure venom in Ian’s expression.
“You cheated.” Ian was loud enough for everyone on the lawn to hear him, let alone Niall. “I know you did. You cheated to win that medallion, just as you cheated to win everything else.”
“Excuse me.” Niall broke away from his conversation, sending a wary look to John, then marching toward the confrontation. He should have left well enough alone. He should have let Blake deal with what he had coming to him without help. But goddammit, he loved the man, and even though he’d been painfully rejected, he had to help.
“I beg your pardon,” Blake said, blinking fast, face coloring. His eyes grew wide and he visibly sucked in a breath when he saw Niall approaching.
“That medallion should be mine,” Ian growled. The Cannons and Blake’s family looked alarmed at Ian’s vehemence. “You weren’t even going to sit that exam until I mentioned it to you.”
“Ian, don’t,” Niall warned when he was close enough to join the group. “It isn’t going to do any good.”
“You know I should have won that prize.” Ian turned to Niall as though appealing to him would change everything. “You know I love Miss Cannon a thousand times more than he does.”
“Oh!” Miss Cannon gasped and clapped her hands to her mouth.
For one, glorious second, Niall thought he saw love in the young woman’s eyes. His heart balanced on edge, praying that they could play out a drama of another sort and Miss Cannon would fly into Ian’s arms, refusing to marry a man she clearly didn’t love. He prayed she would let Blake go so that the two of them could work out the impossible after all.
“Young man, I’m sorry that you’ve been disappointed,” Mr. Cannon said, stepping in and resting a hand on Ian’s shoulder. “But my Mimi told me she wanted to be a duchess, so that’s what she’s going to be.” He beamed at his daughter.
Miss Cannon glanced between Ian and Blake for a moment, looking as though she might burst into tears, then grabbed Blake’s arm and