“No,” Mellie said. She had yet to learn that his mother appeared to be deaf to that particular word.
“Don’t worry, my dear. I’ll make sure you understand everything you need to know about society—”
“No, regarding your dogs.”
Trevor had learned early to just let his mother ramble on and then mitigate the disaster afterward. It was the best he could manage. Except with one word—a word his mother was an expert at ignoring—Mellie had managed to completely thwart his mother’s conversation.
“No dogs?”
“No feathers. With dogs. The two make a vile and rather explosive combination.”
His mother blinked, but she’d been in society a long time. She wasn’t one to be thrown off track easily. “That’s exactly what I was saying,” she said.
“And you are most correct. I wouldn’t risk harming your dogs. But I promise to be there at the party, assuming Trevor sends me an invitation.” She smiled sweetly up at him.
“I have terrible penmanship,” he said solemnly. “My mother tells me so frequently.”
“So no invitation?” she asked.
“Not from me.”
“Ah.” She turned back to his mother whose mouth was hanging open in shock. “I’m so sorry, Lady Hurst. The tea party was such a fun idea.”
And then finally—like a miracle from heaven—the next set was forming. He didn’t care which blackguard had scrawled his name on her card. Trevor was going to take the excuse to leave the conversation.
He grabbed her hand and set it firmly on his arm. “Our dance, my dear.”
“Really? I thought—”
“It is,” he interrupted. Then he took her hand and walked as fast as he could manage. His mother took a step after them, but she knew better than to appear like she was chasing them. Which she would be. And then…escape! A miracle, and all due to Mellie. “I could kiss you right now,” he murmured into her ear.
“Even I know that would be improper.”
“I’ve never seen anyone get the better of my mother like that. Never! And I’ve been trying for years.”
“That’s because you are too honorable to circumvent her,” she said. And for a moment, he wondered if she meant it as a compliment.
“Well, not in public,” he finally admitted.
“Exactly.”
They took their positions in the country dance, side by side with their hands linked. “It won’t last, you know. Right now, she is plotting how to get her tea party.”
She shrugged, and his attention was pulled to the shift and pull of the features across her bosom. Damn, but it was the most distracting gown. “I know. In truth Eleanor heard about the tea days ago, so we have already planned for it.”
“You did?”
“Of course. But I had no wish to become your mother’s secretary and no time either. Eleanor has me scheduled from dawn until …well, dawn.”
“But…did Eleanor warn you about my mother?”
“Goodness,everyonehas warned me about your mother. She is famous as a managing woman.”
Very true. “Then you don’t mind?”
“The tea? Not at all. Though it was rather bad of you not to introduce us earlier. She’s right about that.”
He frowned. “I was trying to save you from her.”