An Excerpt from Compromising Situations by Carolynn Carey
A commotion at the front of the house caused Beatrice to stop in mid-sentence and turn toward the doorway. She heard the butler babbling something about "unexpected" while a footman hurried to relieve a gentleman of his gloves and hat.
The new arrival stood just inside the hall, looking around with brilliantly blue eyes and lowered black brows. He was a tall man who held himself rigidly, his broad shoulders square and his firm chin high. He appeared to look down his straight nose while his gaze swept the room. His stern expression softened perceptibly when his gaze found Lady Thane, whose raised brows spoke of her surprise.
"Nicholas, my dear." A smile brightened Lady Thayne's face. "How wonderful to see you. But I thought you were settled at Chiloath. What brings you to London?"
"A bit of family business." The Marquess of Thane hurried to take his mother's outstretched hands. "I trust I find you well."
"Better than well," Lady Thane said. "You find me ecstatic. As you can see, I have guests. You must allow me to introduce you to my goddaughters, Beatrice and Chloe Crowell. Their mother is allowing me the pleasure of presenting the twins this Season."
Beatrice was perfectly aware that she had been staring at her godmother's son. And how could she resist? If Chloe represented feminine perfection, surely this gentleman was her equal in masculine beauty. His dark hair framed a face that was as potently handsome as any that had ever been sculpted in the image of a god. His eyes, an incongruously bright blue, shone like pieces of strained glass, and his lips were firm but well shaped.
The smile that had brightened the Marquess's features when he greeted his mother faded when he turned to Beatrice and Chloe. His brows shot up, and his gaze passed over Beatrice as though she were naught but another suit of armor cluttering up his entrance hall.
Bea suppressed a sigh when she realized that Thayne's gaze had paused on her sister's lovely face. She had grown accustomed over the years to being ignored when Chloe was nearby, and she had never before felt the least bit slighted. Rather, she had welcomed being spared men's fatuous stares of amazed admiration. Today, however, she was forced to admit to a stab of jealousy when Thayne's attention passed over her to light on Chloe.
With a silent sigh, Beatrice watched Thane closely, waiting for the half-muffled gasp and stunned expression that usually followed a gentleman's first glimpse of Chloe's ethereal beauty. But Thayne's reactions, she soon realized, were quite different from most men's. Beatrice blinked, disbelieving, when she saw that Thayne had lifted one elegantly clad foot and placed a toe toward the side, apparently preparing to spin around and turn his back on Chloe. There was no doubt in Bea's mind that Thayne was about to deliver the cut direct to her poor sister.
Too stunned to do more than gape, Beatrice saw Chloe drop her gaze to the floor, her face first growing flushed and then pale. Furious that her sweet and inoffensive sister was about to be subjected to such treatment, Beatrice took one quick step forward, planting herself between Chloe and her oppressor.
The Marquess of Thane allowed a tiny smile to tease the corners of his lips when he saw that the unbelievably beautiful female in his entrance hall had correctly interpreted his contempt for her. He could not help but be pleased that the lovely Chloe had wilted beneath his scathing gaze.
Then, frustratingly, the other one—the ordinary, brown-haired twin—stepped in front of her sister and subjected him to a gaze that was every bit as scathing as his own. Be damned! Who did this plain little chit from the country think she was, to regard him with such blatant disrespect?
More accustomed to females who fawned over him than to young ladies whose luminous eyes clearly communicated a desire to murder him, Thane was well practiced in the art of suppressing pretension. With eyebrows raised so high they touched the dark lock of hair that had fallen onto his forehead, he subjected the scowling twin to his most disdainful smile.
That smile froze in place when he realized the young lady was not going to drop her gaze. She continued to glare at him, looking down her slightly upturned nose as though she was observing a particularly repugnant toad.
Infuriated, Thane realized his only recourse was to ignore the girl. Lifting his own nose a notch higher, he turned to address his mother. "I regret having interrupted your reception of guests, madam, but I must ask that you join me in the library for a few minutes on urgent business."
A tiny frown furrowed Lady Thayne's brow. "Certainly, Nicholas. I shall be with you as soon as I have shown Beatrice and Chloe to their chamber."
"I need to see you immediately. Perhaps the young ladies could await you here."
Beatrice heard a small gasp escape Chloe's lips, even as Lady Thane addressed her son in a severe tone. "Perhaps you are not aware, Nicholas, that the girls have been traveling since early morning and are no doubt weary from their journey. If you will await me in the library, I shall ask Mrs. Jamison to escort Beatrice and Chloe to their chamber where they can rest while you and I discuss this business that has brought you rushing back to town."
Thayne's lips thinned. "As you wish, madam." He turned and strode down the hallway. Within seconds the stunned ladies in the entrance hall heard the sound of a door being opened and then closed a bit too firmly.
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Copyright © Sue Carey.
This excerpt is copyrighted material.
It may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the permission of the author, Sue Carey.