Page 6 of What A Rogue Wants (Lords Of Deception #1)

As Lord Gravenhurst stepped aside, Madelaine leaned forward in her chair eager to get a good look at the man that Grace wanted and the queen became human over.

In her haste to see him, she knocked her easel with her knee.

What an oaf she was! She reached for the easel, but missed, and the dratted thing slid off its perch to land in the grass.

Maybe no one had noticed? Snickers rose around her, and her heart fell.

Now, not only was she odd, she was a klutz. Surely things couldn’t get worse.

“Really, Lady Madelaine, do try to have a modicum of decorum,” the queen said.

Heat enveloped Madelaine’s face. It had to be impossible to be more embarrassed than she was at this moment.

Keeping her gaze downward, she bent to retrieve the easel.

Blast! It was out of her reach. Maybe if she shifted her weight.

Her chair creaked as she did so. She held her breath and reached.

Almost there. If she could just reach a little bit further.

There! Her fingertips brushed the easel, and she stretched a bit more to grasp the thing.

Underneath her, the ground shifted. Or was that her chair?

Egads, she was falling. She tried to throw her weight backward, but the weight of the heavy hoops the queen insisted they wear pulled her forward.

Strong hands with a gentle touch pushed her back into her seat.

When she glanced up, her gaze locked with wintery blue eyes and a wave of shock sent a shiver through her body.

Dear God. Lord Grey was her Lord Drivel.

How many times had she dreamed of him and wondered if he’d gone the next day to Golden Square to meet her?

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end at the icy beauty of the aware gaze holding hers.

He recognized her too! And if she had any doubt his thick black eyebrows arching questioningly then coming down into a furrow over narrowing eyes, quashed her uncertainty.

Leave it to her to break into an anxious sweat on a cool day.

Lord Grey’s haughty aristocratic expression hadn’t changed a whit from last year.

Yet, he had changed. Clearly he was not the preening peacock she’d thought he was when they’d first met.

His skin was unfashionably bronze. His hair—inky black and touching his shoulders—was in disarray.

But what a beautiful mess it was. He needed a shave, and that scar above his lip…

The man looked like a virile knight of old.

The queen had, for once, been perfectly correct.

Madelaine sighed and Lord Grey blinked. She blinked back.

Dear God, had she been staring? The unusual quietness told her she had.

“Here you are.” Lord Grey held out her easel.

“Thank you,” she automatically replied and took the easel while praying he was smart enough to keep their prior meeting secret.

“No, thank you.” Lord Grey’s voice washed over her with its warmth.

“For what?” Blast. She should have let the conversation die. The queen was frowning at her.

Lord Grey leaned forward on bent knee, the fine tan cambric of his coat stretched tight over his broad shoulders.

“It’s not every day that I get to come to the rescue of a beautiful lady-in-waiting.” He plucked her sketching utensil from the ground and handed it to her.

As she reached to take her instrument from him, his fingers brushed hers and her skin tingled in the wake of his touch.

She rubbed her tickling fingertips together and racked her mind for a coy, yet proper reply, to his flattery.

Before she could speak, Grace did. “I, for one, am not the least surprised you had to help Lady Madelaine. She’s a terrible lout.

Why just last night, she tripped Lord Carlisle whilst they were dancing. ”

It was entirely too bad the opportunity to take revenge on Grace hadn’t presented itself earlier.

An angry blush singed Madelaine’s cheeks.

It was true she had tripped Lord Carlisle on the dance floor, but it had been purposely.

His hands had kept “accidentally” brushing her bottom though she had quite sternly told him to quit.

But she couldn’t very well explain herself with the truth.

She ground her teeth at the futility of her situation.

Lord Grey stood, his powerful frame extending in one fluid motion. He glanced down at her. Was that a conspiratorial smile stretching his lips? “I find it hard to believe someone who looks as graceful as Lady Madelaine could cause anyone to trip, yet I find I hope it’s true.”

“And why is that, Lord Grey?” asked the queen.

“If I might be bold, Your Majesty?”

“Of course you may.”

Madelaine gawked at the queen. How amazing she looked with a genuine smile on her face. She was almost pretty.

Grey moved to the side of Madelaine’s chair, his thigh brushing her arm. “I’ve an affinity for awkward people, being one myself.”

She would have grinned up at him for his kindness, but the queen was studying her with an inscrutable look.

Whatever was Queen Charlotte thinking? Before Madelaine could ponder the likely dire possibilities, the queen stood and Madelaine scrambled to stand along with all the other ladies-in-waiting.

The queen smiled and addressed Lord Grey.

“You’re too kind, Lord Grey. I happen to know from watching you ride and joust you have the grace of a prowling panther. ”

“Your Majesty—” He took the queen’s proffered elbow. “—you flatter me.”

“I flatter no one,” the queen replied with a laugh. “Just ask Lady Madelaine.”

Good gracious. If she answered truthfully it would make the queen look bad, yet if she lied, the queen would know it. The stubborn part of Madelaine that had gotten her into so much trouble was leading her there again. She didn’t want to look weak.

“Lady Madelaine?” Lord Grey’s gaze met hers.

She inclined her head toward Queen Charlotte. “You are my queen, therefore you are correct.”

“And if she wasn’t your queen?” Lord Grey asked. Blast the man. He had no idea the precarious situation he was putting her in.

“Then I would say her words carry the sting of a bee and not the sweetness of their honey. From my experience, of course,” she hastened to add at Lord Grey’s lifted eyebrows.

Why was he studying her as if she were some unknown species?

“Interesting. A woman not afraid to speak the truth.”

She most certainly was afraid, but she’d been presented little choice.

“Perhaps,” the queen agreed, though her voice held an underlying tone of doubt. “Lord Grey, tell me, are you here to see your sister or just to beguile us with your company?”

“Both. Unofficially. But officially, I’m here in service to Lord Pearson.”

“As?”

“His newest equerry.”

“I was not aware Lord Pearson needed a new equerry. What happened to Lord Sutton?”

“Lord Sutton has gone missing.”

Madelaine waited with baited breath for the queen to demand further explanation.

Instead, she nodded and gazed toward the dairy farm in the distance where the king had earlier gone with Lord Fox.

Well, that figured. The one time Madelaine wouldn’t mind the queen’s demanding nature, Her Majesty was preoccupied.

Or maybe she simply wasn’t demanding with Lord Grey.

After a moment, the queen focused on Lord Grey again.

“Then we shall thoroughly enjoy your time here. Perhaps you can even teach Lady Madelaine how to dance.”

“It would be my pleasure.” Warmth infused Madelaine. Lord Grey sounded very much like a man who knew a great deal about his pleasure.

Giggles broke out amongst the ladies which ceased when the queen waved a hand toward Lady Elizabeth who scurried toward her brother.

Lord Grey enfolded her in his arms. “Poppet,” he whispered into Lady Elizabeth’s ear before releasing her and ruffling her hair as if she were a child. The siblings’ likeness in coloring of hair and eyes struck Madelaine. “We’ve much to discuss.”

Madelaine’s heart leapt into her throat.

Did Lord Grey mean to tell his sister about Golden Square?

Her heartbeat raced as she discarded ridiculous scenarios of how to corner him and plead her case.

Whatever was she going to do? Was he really so cruel?

She studied him, and he winked at her. He understood!

Her breath released with a rush, yet her nerves still tingled.

He may appear willing to keep her secret, but at what price?

Everyone at this blasted Court had a price.

But those questions would have to wait until she had the opportunity to speak privately with him.

His fingers strayed to his jacket, and he touched a piece of parchment.

The letter! Lord Grey had been speaking of the letter his sister had written him.

Lady Elizabeth clearly saw the letter as well.

Her eyes were rounded in surprise. Some of Madelaine’s tension released, slowing her heartbeat.

How silly she’d been. Of course the letter would be forefront on his mind and not his distant meeting in Golden Square with her.

An odd sort of jealousy overcame Madelaine.

Lady Elizabeth was lucky. Lord Grey seemed a man more than capable of handling a malicious witch like Grace.

Fleetingly, Madelaine wished she had a sibling.

But that was impossible. She turned and found Grace glaring at her.

Did Grace think to cow her? Madelaine wasn’t the least bit intimidated, but she refused to play such ridiculously childish games.

She raised her eyebrows at Grace to let her know she was a fool, and then dismissed her.