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Authors: Claudia Dain
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decided to sell a horse to buy a pearl necklace off of Melverley and then you decided that you simply had to give them to Caroline Trevelyan. You came up with this plan when? Last month? Last week? Or on the very day that Caroline was in need of a pearl necklace?"
Blakesley then had the cheek to laugh.
Dutton was not so foxed that he couldn't find his own reason to laugh. Blakesley was not without his own Achilles' heel.
"And you presented your own strand of pearls to Caro in full view of Louisa Kirkland. A happy coincidence, I suppose?"
Blakesley lost both his laugh and his smile. Perfect. It was flagrantly obvious to anyone who cared to look that Blakesley followed Louisa Kirkland around like a very well-trained dog.
"As I remember, the yellow drawing room was filled with people," Blakesley said, "which was entirely the point."
"Oh? You arranged with Sophia to ruin her daughter in front of as many people as possible? How very odd."
"I don't claim to understand how the woman's mind works, but I can hardly argue with her success. Caro is married to Ashdon. That was the point of the whole event, wasn't it?"
"Was it?" Dutton said.
"Obviously," Blakesley said crisply, taking a full swallow of his drink. Dutton took a full swallow of his drink, matching him. Blakesley, watching Dutton over the rim of his glass, kept swallowing his whisky until the glass was empty, as did Dutton. A ridiculous competition, but satisfying nonetheless.
For some inexplicable reason, his thoughts turned to Anne Warren again. They'd played at something and he'd lost. It was a state of affairs that was completely unacceptable.
"What is it you want, Blakesley?" Dutton asked in irritation, Anne Warren's rather pretty face floating through his thoughts in a sea of whisky.
"Nothing in particular," Blakesley said, pouring them both another glass. "I was just curious as to what you were going to do now. Now that you have sold a rather stellar horse and have a pretty string of pearls instead."
"I could sell the pearls, though they are rather fine and I suppose someday, when I simply must marry, I could give them to my wife. They make a pretty gift," Dutton said. "Or, as I said, I could sell them," he added, studying Blakesley's sardonic face over his glass.
Dutton took a swallow. Blakesley took a swallow. They stopped and stared at each other over their respective rims.
"You could," Blakesley said.
"It would enrage Louisa, I expect, as I imagine she considered them hers and would likely do anything to get them back, don't you think?"
"I have no idea."
A ridiculous assertion, and they both knew it. Henry Blakesley had made it something of a point to know every thought in Louisa Kirkland's pretty red head, not that it had done him any good so far as all her thoughts were aimed precisely at Dutton's head. Of all the positive attributes that could be laid at Louisa Kirkland's well-shod feet, an aptitude for subtlety was not one of them.
"You could buy them from me," Dutton suggested, leaning back in his deeply upholstered chair.
"Dutton," Blakesley drawled, "how can you have forgotten? I am currently in possession of a very respectable pearl necklace, a gift for my future wife at some future date. I hardly need two pearl necklaces and I most assuredly don't need a wife who requires two pearl necklaces."
"Don't you?" Dutton said before he took a very long swallow of his drink. Blakesley merely watched him, his own drink untouched. He'd won the drinking competition, though he wasn't certain at the moment what the prize was supposed to have been. He supposed it didn't matter; winning was quite enough of a victory, the only victory, in fact, that he cared about.
Which brought to mind Anne Warren again. He'd lost in his game of seduction with her and that was flatly intolerable.
Blakesley stretching out his long legs in the chair opposite him and crossing them at the ankle in the most relaxed pose imaginable swung Dutton's only slightly drunken
Blakesley then had the cheek to laugh.
Dutton was not so foxed that he couldn't find his own reason to laugh. Blakesley was not without his own Achilles' heel.
"And you presented your own strand of pearls to Caro in full view of Louisa Kirkland. A happy coincidence, I suppose?"
Blakesley lost both his laugh and his smile. Perfect. It was flagrantly obvious to anyone who cared to look that Blakesley followed Louisa Kirkland around like a very well-trained dog.
"As I remember, the yellow drawing room was filled with people," Blakesley said, "which was entirely the point."
"Oh? You arranged with Sophia to ruin her daughter in front of as many people as possible? How very odd."
"I don't claim to understand how the woman's mind works, but I can hardly argue with her success. Caro is married to Ashdon. That was the point of the whole event, wasn't it?"
"Was it?" Dutton said.
"Obviously," Blakesley said crisply, taking a full swallow of his drink. Dutton took a full swallow of his drink, matching him. Blakesley, watching Dutton over the rim of his glass, kept swallowing his whisky until the glass was empty, as did Dutton. A ridiculous competition, but satisfying nonetheless.
For some inexplicable reason, his thoughts turned to Anne Warren again. They'd played at something and he'd lost. It was a state of affairs that was completely unacceptable.
"What is it you want, Blakesley?" Dutton asked in irritation, Anne Warren's rather pretty face floating through his thoughts in a sea of whisky.
"Nothing in particular," Blakesley said, pouring them both another glass. "I was just curious as to what you were going to do now. Now that you have sold a rather stellar horse and have a pretty string of pearls instead."
"I could sell the pearls, though they are rather fine and I suppose someday, when I simply must marry, I could give them to my wife. They make a pretty gift," Dutton said. "Or, as I said, I could sell them," he added, studying Blakesley's sardonic face over his glass.
Dutton took a swallow. Blakesley took a swallow. They stopped and stared at each other over their respective rims.
"You could," Blakesley said.
"It would enrage Louisa, I expect, as I imagine she considered them hers and would likely do anything to get them back, don't you think?"
"I have no idea."
A ridiculous assertion, and they both knew it. Henry Blakesley had made it something of a point to know every thought in Louisa Kirkland's pretty red head, not that it had done him any good so far as all her thoughts were aimed precisely at Dutton's head. Of all the positive attributes that could be laid at Louisa Kirkland's well-shod feet, an aptitude for subtlety was not one of them.
"You could buy them from me," Dutton suggested, leaning back in his deeply upholstered chair.
"Dutton," Blakesley drawled, "how can you have forgotten? I am currently in possession of a very respectable pearl necklace, a gift for my future wife at some future date. I hardly need two pearl necklaces and I most assuredly don't need a wife who requires two pearl necklaces."
"Don't you?" Dutton said before he took a very long swallow of his drink. Blakesley merely watched him, his own drink untouched. He'd won the drinking competition, though he wasn't certain at the moment what the prize was supposed to have been. He supposed it didn't matter; winning was quite enough of a victory, the only victory, in fact, that he cared about.
Which brought to mind Anne Warren again. He'd lost in his game of seduction with her and that was flatly intolerable.
Blakesley stretching out his long legs in the chair opposite him and crossing them at the ankle in the most relaxed pose imaginable swung Dutton's only slightly drunken
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