come now she knew he was here? Part of him wished she wouldn’t, yet the other part of him wanted to see her. Plus, he wanted her off that boat and on land. Safe.
“Hello, Mr. Dillinger.”
“Miss Spencer.” He regained his feet and bowed to the woman who had approached him.
“It seems so long since I last saw you.” She held out her hand, and he wasn’t quite sure what to do with it, so he bowed over it once more. She ran her thumb over his fingers before he could release her.
“And you, Miss Spencer.” Her words suggested they were familiar with each other, but Daniel was struggling to remember the last time he’d seen her. The theater, perhaps?
“It is a fine night for a walk.” She smiled, and it held no warmth like Abby’s did. This smile was cold and calculating, and suddenly Daniel felt extremely uncomfortable.
“Indeed it is. If you will excuse me, Miss Spencer.” Daniel walked back around the table to Oliver’s side and sat, now with the solid wood between him and that woman.
“You’re sweating,” Alex Hetherington said from the side of his mouth. “And flushed.”
“I am not.”
“You are, and you have a wild look in your eyes, like you want to flee.”
Daniel muttered something foul.
“She wants you and your money, as her father is on the verge of losing everything and has told his daughter to marry anyone wealthy. Title is not important.”
“Charming.” Daniel picked up the ale that was placed before him and drank deep. “He is clearly desperate then, to throw her at me.”
“You are handsome, articulate, and wealthy. I’m not sure what more a woman could want in a man.” Thea’s loyalty was showing.
“He thinks his blood is not rich enough, darling,” Alex said. “Apparently we are all better than him because of our birth.”
“Yes, thank you, Alex, I think we can leave that alone now.”
“What alone?” Oliver asked.
“Your brother is as intimidated by noblemen as you once were, Ace.”
“I am not intimidated,” Daniel said, refusing to snap. “I just know the way things work.”
“What way is that?” Oliver asked.
“I’m not discussing this any further. Why is Miss Spencer’s father not getting help if they are in such a dire situation?”
“Even you can’t save them. The man’s an idiot and wouldn’t listen to a word you said anyway,” Alex said.
“It is very sad,” his wife, Hannah, added. “To be forced to sell herself to the highest bidder can only bring heartache for her.”
You know nothing of my life, and I did not say that it was trying, but until you’ve walked in my shoes, Mr. Dillinger, do not judge me. Abby had said those words. Was her life trying? It would certainly seem so, considering who her brothers were.
“That may be, but I have no intention of my brother being the money behind her father’s elevation from poverty,” Oliver said.
They all drank to that.
“Good evening, all.” Luke and Isabella Fletcher arrived and took seats at their table. Like he, Luke did not frequent society often.
“But we do want him to marry,” Lady Levermarch said. “A nice lady with intelligence and wit.”
“Who is musical,” Thea added, winking at Daniel.
“I have no wish to marry,” he said calmly, sending his brother a look that said he could intervene and stop his wife from pursuing this topic at any time.
“You will, when the right woman approaches,” Thea said. “And I think I know just that woman.”
“No, you don’t, and when the time comes, I shall find my own wife.”
The women around the table launched into compiling a list of appropriate ladies.
“Miss Fairweather? Good lord, you would subject him to her?” Will looked horrified.
“She is a lovely woman,” Lady Ryder said. “Perhaps she has that one tiny imperfection but so do many of us.”
“Tiny?” Will scoffed. “She has a voice any bugler could be grateful for. The woman could stand at one end of London and be heard at the other.”
“You want me to marry such a woman, Thea?” Daniel asked, looking pious. “I thought I was your favorite brother-in-law.”
She pursed her lips in thought. “All right, perhaps Miss Fairweather will not do, but what of Miss Raddler?”
“They won’t stop, so just let them go. Eventually they will run out of steam,” Finn said. “We’ve all been through this particular discussion at various times in our lifetime with different people. My great-aunt made it her life’s work to throw women at me until she passed away.”
“Isn’t it lucky you caught me then, darling,” his wife said.