Page 6 of An Earl Most Inconvenient (Regency Mishaps #2)

CHAPTER 6

“ O h Diana, it is all so grand!” Grace breathed, looking up at the ornate facade of the theater in front of them, glimmering under the gaslights. “Shall we go inside?”

The evening air was filled with the scent of blooming jasmine. Standing outside the theatre, Diana adjusted her gloves and cast a sidelong glance at her sister. Grace’s face was awash with excitement and Diana felt a sense of mild relief washing over her. She had been worried that the occasion might overwhelm Grace and that she would become shy and nervous, but her sister’s confidence seemed to be growing. And it was just as well, thought Diana, as she was sure that Grace would attract plenty of attention from young gentlemen this evening. She looked particularly beautiful tonight, wearing a new gown of pale pink silk, with her hair arranged elegantly on the top of her head. Diana hoped that Mr. Sinclair would be there this evening, or some of the other gentlemen who had visited them after the ball. Only a few more occasions like this, highlights of the season’s calendar, and Grace was sure to receive an offer. And then all would be settled and Diana could relax a little, knowing that her work was done and her duty to her sister exercised.

With the sound of laughter and chatter spilling from within, the anticipation was palpable, and Diana too was keen to enter the building. Their father, however, was nowhere to be seen, even though he had travelled there in the carriage with them.

“We must wait for Papa,” she said, scanning the crowd looking for him. She spotted him after a few moments, standing on the pavement chatting to his friends. He looked up and caught her eye, and she beckoned him to them.

“I quite lost track of time,” Jerome said mildly as he approached them. “Forgive me, my dears, shall we go in?”

They entered the theater and made their way through the lobby. Diana could see that Grace was looking around at all the people assembled in the rather cramped space.

“Are you looking for someone in particular?” she enquired. She hoped against hope that it was not the Earl of Silvermere who was on her sister’s mind. She had been trying her hardest to forget all about him for the last few days, but if he turned up here tonight then there would be no escape.

“No, not especially,” Grace said, not making eye contact with Diana.

Diana suppressed a sigh. She could tell that her sister was lying, but she decided in that moment not to say anything. What good could come of it? She did not imagine that the earl would be here tonight, anyway; she did not imagine that he would have had the concentration to sit through a whole play.

“Shall we take our seats?” she whispered to Grace, taking her arm.

Grace nodded, and she and Jerome followed as Diana led the way along the corridor.

“Diana, you have done a fine job as always of organizing everything,” Jerome said, as they settled into their seats in a box to the left of the stage. “We shall see things very well from here, and of course we will be seen by everyone as well!”

Of course, Diana thought wryly. One came to the theater not only to see the play, but also to be seen by everyone. It faintly annoyed her the way that people talked throughout the performance, not concentrating at all on what was going on on the stage. Sometimes people even turned their backs to the stage entirely, and focused purely on the social aspect of the evening. But that was the way of the world, and she knew what was expected of her. Perhaps one day she would come alone, she thought, and stand in the pit, closer to the actors, where she could concentrate fully on the performance.

She chuckled to herself at the thought. It could never happen, of course, but it was nice to imagine such things, all the same.

Some of the empty seats in the box behind them were soon taken by some friends of her father’s, those who he had been conversing with just a little while before, and they resumed their discussion in earnest. Some younger gentlemen joined them and began to chat with Grace. Their father seemed to barely notice what was going on around him, but Diana kept a close watch. They could not be too careful tonight, with the eyes of the whole of London’s society upon them.

Grace turned to her for a moment. “There are so many people here, Diana!”

Diana nodded. “Are you quite well? You are not feeling anxious?” she whispered.

“No, not at all,” Grace said, smiling. “I am enjoying myself!”

“I am very glad to hear it,” a voice interjected, and Diana looked up and let out a sigh of exasperation at the sight of the Earl of Silvermere entering their box.

“You cannot be seated here?” she said bluntly. “There is not enough space!”

The earl laughed. “Quite the polite greeting, Lady Diana,” he replied. “Do not worry. We will stand until the play is about to start, and then we will work out a solution, I promise you.”

Diana wanted to snap back at him that she did not need him to find a solution, thank you very much, other than leaving them alone, but she held back. She knew that if she was openly rude to him, there would be gossip, and that was the last thing she wanted, for herself or her sister.

She glanced for a moment at her father, wondering if he would come over and speak to the earl, but he did not look in their direction. She wished for a moment that he would show a little more interest in his daughters’ affairs, and particularly in this thorny matter of Grace’s marriage. The burden of responsibility weighed heavy on Diana as she looked around the theatre at the sea of faces. She did not always feel fully equipped to navigate herself and her sister through the complexity of this social world. But she had no choice. She had to do what was right for Grace, and that included protecting her from gentlemen like the Earl of Silvermere.

She glanced over at him. Thankfully in that moment, his attention was focused on another young lady who had joined the party, who Diana did not know; perhaps she was the daughter of one of her father’s friends. He devil-may-care attitude seeped through him as he smiled and chatted with her.

Then he turned to face Diana, and saw her looking at him A smile crept over his face and he spoke quickly to the young lady, then began to approach her. As he came closer, the air around them seemed to thicken with tension. Diana felt a sense of frustration bubbling within her. The last thing she wanted to do was speak to him, but he had seen her watching him. What on earth would he have made of that?

“You did not seem very pleased to see me, Lady Diana,” he said smoothly, leaning against the back of her chair. “I trust you are prepared for a riveting performance?”

“I am looking forward to the play, My Lord,” Diana replied with as much politeness as she could muster. “But I confess that I am rather surprised to see you here.”

“Oh, and why is that?” the earl drawled. “This play has been the talk of the town for weeks. I would be a fool to miss it, I am sure.”

“I would be surprised, though, My Lord, if you were able to concentrate on the performance for the duration of the play,” Diana said in a low voice, holding his gaze as she spoke. There was something about his infuriating face that she found impossible to look away from.

The earl laughed. “You do have a very low opinion of me, don’t you, Lady Diana?” he paused and waited for her response. When none came, he plowed on. “Well, I promise that I will not distract you during the performance. I will be on my best behavior.” He looked at her and raised a slightly suggestive eyebrow. “Well, I shall try to be, in any case.”

Diana could feel her cheeks warming, a betraying blush creeping up her neck. She turned her attention to Grace, who had finally noticed that the earl was there and was looking up at him with interest.

“Lady Grace, what a pleasure it is to see you,” the earl said, looking away from Diana and focusing all his attention on Grace. “And I must say that you look particularly beautiful tonight.”

Grace was practically glowing as he spoke, basking in the light of his attention. Diana felt that she must put a stop to this somehow, but she could not work out how to do it without drawing attention to them.

“My Lord,” Grace said softly, looking at the earl through her long eyelashes. “I trust you have had a pleasant evening so far?”

“Indeed,” he replied. “Are there many people of your acquaintance here tonight? Perhaps some of the gentlemen who managed to call on you before I did, just the other day?”

Grace giggled. “I could not possibly say, My Lord,” she replied. “There are so many people here, it is hard to tell.”

“Grace has many suitors,” Diana said firmly. “As you well know.”

The earl glanced in her direction again. “Many more suitable than me,” he said in a low voice, so that not even Grace could hear him. “You made your opinion on the matter very clear to me the other day, and yet here I am, persevering.”

He was incorrigible, Diana thought. And the intimacy in the way that he spoke to her only made her blush even more. She felt that her cheeks were betraying her, as he stared at her.

“The play is about to start,” she said urgently. “Come, we must settle into our seats.”

“Lady Grace, perhaps I might sit beside you,” the earl said, moving towards Grace and looking as if her were about to insert himself into the chair next to hers.

“No, My Lord, forgive me,” Diana said firmly, stepping between them and sitting down.

“Diana, you cannot just – “ Grace said, staring at her incredulously.

“But that is my seat,” Diana interrupted her, feigning innocence. She knew that no one cared a fig for such things at the theater, and that her sister was annoyed with her for putting herself in between her and the earl. But the truth of the matter was that there was no way she was going to allow the earl to sit next to her sister for the duration of the whole play. There was no chance of that.

She settled into her seat, trying to hide her annoyance at the earl’s attempts to force himself into closer proximity to Grace. The earl sat down next to her, chuckling under his breath.

The arrogance of the man! She did not know how she was going to tolerate sitting so close to him, but tolerate it she must. There was no other option.

As the lights dimmed and the curtain rose, the theater transformed into a realm of intrigue and drama. Yet Diana found it impossible to focus on the opening of the play. As the story unfolded, she sensed his presence next to her even more strongly.

The end of the first scene came, and during the pause, the earl leaned closer to her, his voice a low whisper that sent shivers down her spine. “You are braver than you look, sitting next to a rake like me.”

Diana let out a soft laugh, trying to mask the fluttering in her stomach. “I am not afraid, My Lord. There is nothing you can do to me.”

“Are you sure?” he whispered, his breath warm against her ear. “Are you quite sure about that, Lady Diana?”

Diana bit her lip, her resolve wavering as she felt the closeness of his presence. The way that he spoke her name triggered in her a feeling that she had never felt before, a kind of tingling in her chest, and she was certain that her blush was visible to him, even in the darkness of the theater.

“Your charms will not work on me, My Lord, because I know what you are doing.”

The play continued, but Diana was distracted, her mind swirling with thoughts. She could sense that Grace was still irritated with her, but she was determined to shield her sister from the earl’s charm. If she was struggling to resist it herself, what chance did her sister have?