Page 8 of A Diamond for Christmas (Diamonds of the First Water #6)

G eoffrey said the words spontaneously, not to intrigue or ensnare her. Yet as soon as they were out of his mouth, he considered their absolute truth. He would not confess to already loving her, yet his heart might say differently.

Lady Caroline stopped and turned to face him, even as others walked around them along the path.

“I know precisely what you mean. Strange as it may sound, I feel attracted to you beyond reason, beyond the shallow knowledge I have of you, and certainly beyond the little amount of time we have shared.”

Hearing her confession, he nearly drew her close, then recalled where they were.

“I would like to kiss you again,” he said frankly, “but I think it would be better to act honorably if we have any chance of winning over your parents.”

“What about yours?” she asked.

He shrugged. “My parents do not control whom I marry, nor do I live with them. Thus, it is yours we must succeed in placating.”

She sighed. “I believe you are correct. Shall we return to our friends? ”

Thus, after being alone with a woman at Vauxhall, he returned her to Trent and Lady Hollidge without having kissed her. It was almost unnatural!

Ignoring Jasper’s knowing look — the devil take him! — Geoffrey had to leave Lady Caroline in his safe hands and watch the three walk away. It was irksome and as she’d once said, it was plainly ridiculous. They were being penalized for something that had occurred before either of them was born.

It was time to speak with his father.

A short while later, Geoffrey entered his parents’ house, hoping they were at home.

For all he knew, he’d just left them behind in Vauxhall.

His luck held. Not only were they there, they were together, both of them in the upstairs salon, wearing slippers and dressing gowns, sipping brandy and reading.

Lord and Lady Diamond were the picture of domesticity, which tickled him considering his parents’ reputations as being a little wild when they were younger.

After kissing his mother’s cheek and accepting his father’s offer of French brandy, Geoffrey suddenly wasn’t sure if he ought to speak privately with the earl. If there was something unsavory in his father’s past of which his mother was unaware, he would become as tight-lipped as a clam.

Deciding to risk it, Geoffrey flopped down in a chair and poured from the decanter on the table beside him.

“I saw Lady Caroline Chimes tonight at Vauxhall.”

Both his parents lowered their books.

“That was unwise,” remarked his father, James Diamond, “but probably a delightful experience, nonetheless.”

His mother, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes. “Not if she was with her parents. In which case, I’m sure you had a ghastly time of it.”

“I didn’t meet with Lord and Lady Chimes. In case you’ve forgotten, I am not allowed,” Geoffrey said, hoping all his frustration was in his voice. “Because of the two of you.”

His father started to laugh until his mother jabbed him in the ribs with her elbow.

“Why must you be so intent upon this particular girl?” she asked. “There are marriageable young ladies all over London.”

“What do you mean intent on her?” his father asked. “What have I missed?”

“Geoffrey spotted Lady Caroline at the Fenwicks’ ball. Lady Chimes gave him a public dressing down and refused an introduction.”

His father looked unimpressed. “And now you’re going out of your way to try to meet your elusive, impossible quarry, is that it? Is she a copper-haired beauty like her mother or a sandy-brown toad like her father?”

Geoffrey gripped his glass tighter, irritated by the earl for making light of the situation.

“I have succeeded in gaining an introduction to Lady Caroline,” he said, “at Lady Plain de Ville’s home. And I have come to admire her greatly, but Lord and Lady Chimes have forbidden us to keep company, not even to dance.”

“You have come to admire her,” her mother echoed. “I take it you’ve had more than a single introduction.”

That was not their business. Geoffrey shrugged, making his father laugh again.

“What do you want us to do? Grant our blessing?” Lord Diamond gestured to Geoffrey to hand him the decanter so he could refill his glass.

“As if we would do that,” his mother said. “Blessing, indeed!”

“Why?” Geoffrey snapped.

“That mushroom,” she began, but he interrupted her.

“Why do you call Lady Chimes such a thing?”

“Because she sprung up out of nowhere and landed in the titled class with nothing more than a baronet for a father and no dowry to speak of, or so I’ve heard. ”

The earl crossed his arms and said nothing.

“Come along, Father. Surely you have an opinion.”

“On Lady Chimes? No, not really. I don’t know her. I saw her years ago. She’s beautiful though, with that fiery hair I mentioned.”

“When?” Lady Diamond demanded. “When did you see her?”

Geoffrey’s father sighed. “It was probably at that ball when you and I arrived together as a couple for the first time. I thought Chimes was going to fall upon his sword. Instead, suddenly, he was dancing with her, looking pleased as Mr. Punch.”

“You noticed her?” Lady Diamond asked.

“Only because of her hair, my love. Obviously, she can’t hold a candle to you. If she could, then I would be with her instead.”

He laughed hard at that, but by her scowl, Geoffrey’s mother didn’t think her husband the least bit amusing.

“I’m only teasing,” the earl reminded his wife, draping his arm along the back of the sofa and around her slender shoulders. “Remember, once I saw you, I had to have you, despite how you were ill-advisedly keeping company with Chimes.”

“Hardly that,” she grumbled. “He and I had barely enjoyed a few dances.”

“That’s not how I recall it,” Lord Diamond said, his tone growing serious for the first time. “I believe there was riding and a dinner party or two, as well.”

“Excuse me, dear parents, but while this stroll through your memories is as fascinating as waiting for bread to rise —”

“When have you ever done that?” his mother demanded.

“Never,” Geoffrey quipped. “Because it would be boring and tedious and not worth my time, precisely like this entire discussion. All I want to know is whether either of you or both of you perpetrated some wrong upon the Chimes and if I can do anything to fix it. ”

His parents looked at one another and then back at him.

“We have always acted with the utmost decorum,” his mother said, “except for what I told you before.”

“What did you tell him?” Lord Diamond asked.

“Just that you stole me from Lord Chimes and also beat him in a wager at your club.”

His father nearly spat out his brandy, which expensive as it was would have been a damn shame.

“How did you know about that?”

His mother smiled with satisfaction. “We wives have our ways of knowing what goes on at those gentlemen’s clubs.”

The next thing Geoffrey knew, his feisty parents were arguing loudly about “interfering, nosy-poke harpies” and “depraved, pompous bucks.”

Sighing, Geoffrey downed his brandy and rose to his feet. They didn’t even notice. In any case, he doubted they would ever be the least bit helpful.

After Vauxhall, Caroline endured a series of frustrating experiences.

Inside the new National Gallery, at number 100 Pall Mall, she was with her mother when she spied Geoffrey, as Caroline now dared to think of him.

He saw her nearly at the same moment. They both pretended to look at the works by Raphael and Hogarth while surreptitiously sneaking glances at one another.

Finally, Caroline’s mother caught sight of him, and they left without her getting to exchange more than a smile with him.

Then there was the night at the theatre when she and her parents had been in the same audience as the King and Queen of the Sandwich Islands.

Despite the impressive six-foot king and his exotic queen, she’d noticed Geoffrey in his family’s private box and soon had his attention.

When the theater was darkened and the performance began, she still stared in his direction.

And when the lamps were lit once more, they practically had a conversation across the expanse of the theatre with smiles and nods. She even risked the smallest of waves.

Finally, they were both at the same ball, and she prepared herself for another exasperating experience. Recalling what she’d said to Geoffrey, she wondered what her parents would do if he boldly came over and led her to the dance floor.

She sighed. It would be a disaster, and she couldn’t pretend otherwise.

Caroline’s mother was not above grabbing her daughter by the ear and forcibly removing her.

It would be humiliating. And despite being twenty, she imagined her father could and would confine her to their home for the rest of the Season.

Daphne, who was also at the ball, knew her sorrowful situation but had no suggestions. When Lord Hollidge was around her, as he was that night, her best friend was so madly in love, she only half-listened. Moreover, Daphne kept her eyes upon her husband, who gazed at her in return with equal ardor.

Geoffrey stayed on the opposite side of the room until Caroline accepted a partner. Each time she did, he would quickly ask a lady to dance and thus be nearby.

Shaking her head at him, she wished he would give up. While she wasn’t jealous of each and every pretty miss whom he took for a partner, she was dreadfully envious.

And then Daphne, bless her heart, with her cheeks in full bloom from having danced with her husband, announced a dinner party at her home. By the sparkle in her friend’s eyes, Caroline guessed Geoffrey would be invited, too.

“I shall send out the invitations over the next couple of days,” Daphne told Lady Chimes just before the ball ended. “Naturally, we will have musicians and perhaps some other entertainment.”

“We shall be pleased to come,” Caroline’s mother agreed .

“Oh, I am sorry, my lady. My husband and I are hosting this dinner only for unmarried people. No chaperones are needed nor allowed as there will not be even one unsupervised minute.”

“It’s a modern notion,” Lady Chimes said, “but I understand the fun of young people gathering together without their parents. I wonder if I can request any particular bachelors. My daughter is becoming fond of Lord Mangue. Isn’t that right?”

“Which one is he, Mother?” Caroline asked, hoping to dissuade her from pushing him toward her despite having danced with him again that night.

“Stop teasing! You know very well he’s that sturdy, solid viscount.”

With the single eyebrow , Caroline added silently. In truth, she was getting used to it, like a friendly caterpillar crawling across his forehead.

“I’m sure Lady Hollidge has a guest list in mind, Mother. We cannot start inserting our own guests into her party.”

“I shall certainly add Lord Mangue to my guest list,” Daphne promised, doing a better job of appeasing Caroline’s mother than she could do herself.

“What a generous hostess and a respectful young lady,” Lady Chimes said, piercing Caroline with a look that said she wished she were more like her friend.

Caroline didn’t care. She’d been given permission to go to a dinner party, and she would be there without her mother. If Lord Diamond agreed to go, she would be satisfied Fortuna had turned her wheel.