“Oh, yes. You look like a guard dog about to attack.”
Alasdair merely grunted his response.
Seth followed his gaze, “So, it makes sense to me now. But then again, was there any other doubt?”
“What do ye mean by that?” Alasdair demanded.
“The murderous daggers shooting from your eyes are hard to miss, Redmoor. Let me guess: you’re puzzling over how Lady Elizabeth, formerly a wallflower of disaster, has transformed into a blooming siren mid-Season. One minute she’s tripping over her own slippers, and the next she’s fluttering her lashes at Huntington and the others like she was born to break hearts.”
“She’s nae doin’ such a thing,” the duke growled.
“Oh, but she did. You should have seen the way she looked at the young lord,” Seth teased.
“She’s only doin’ what she’s been told,” Alasdair replied, his jaw tight, shoulders stiff. “Lady Grisham has likely drilled it into her skull.”
“Ah,” Seth drawled, eyes still trained on Elizabeth. “So, the dragon breathes fire and the little lamb dances to the tune. Except now, she looks like she’s turning into an enchantress.” He clucked his tongue. “I must admit, I’m impressed. A head tilt here, a laugh there… I nearly believed Phillips said something clever.”
“He couldnae possibly,” Alasdair grunted, his stare fixed, unblinking.
Seth chuckled and took a slow sip of his drink. “You’re sulking, Redmoor. Admit it. If she bats her lashes any harder, you’ll be swept away in the draft.” Then, as if remembering something, Seth’s eyes lit with mischief. “Speaking of dread and doom, the Dowager Countess of Rawley is in attendance tonight. And I dobelieve she’s been prowling the perimeter for a Highland duke to savage.”
“We can let her prowl.”
“You’ve turned down most of everyone,” Seth reminded him. “Rawley has lands and, er, a fine pair of?—”
“Not plannin’ on entertainin’ the ladies tonight,” Alasdair murmured, as his eyes looked for the same lady he had been staring at throughout the event.
“Not even wealthy ladies with grand estates and influence who also have an appreciation for the arts?”
The Duke of Redmoor merely let out a small grumble in response.
“Understood. Only Lady Elizabeth, then.”
“Keep yer voice down, ye lace-cuffed devil. She shouldnae ever be linked with me,” Alasdair stressed, giving his friend a sharp look.
Seth rolled his eyes at that, seemingly undeterred by Alasdair’s seriousness. “That ship has already sailed, and that’s not because of me, old sport. You’ve been watching her in a way that everyone would notice. Have you thought of that?”
Alasdair’s jaw tensed. “Nae.”
“If you don’t want anyone to know, then you should not be glowering at her like an avenging god every time some other man glances her way or breathes near her.”
It was good advice, but it seemed Alasdair had not been following most of Seth’s words as of late.
He looked back to the gathering of lords with the Grisham ladies. Elizabeth was still smiling. The younger lord, Huntington, was leaning toward her, and even some of the more sophisticated men were glancing at her with new approval.
Was she really enjoying the exchange?
Lady Elizabeth was dangerous when she was doing the right thing.
Yes, his student was doing well. Far too well.
And was learning far quicker than he’d expected.
Chapter Twelve
“Did you really believe Lord Huntington had nuance in the way he listened to Mozart and Beethoven?” Wilhelmina wanted to know.
While Elizabeth’s younger sister seemed to have taken everything in stride, she didn’t forget about how suddenly her sister had become the belle of the ball, even for a brief moment.