Or fear?
Vise-like, his fingers clamped down over hers.Mine. He might as well have spoken the word aloud. Flattering, in a way. She knew many a young lady would beg or bribe for the chance to catch his notice.
She had not been one of them. And yet, as he led her toward the now-forming lines, two startling words burst as a question into her mind.
Until now?
*
Neville froze, certainevery pair of eyes in the room was oscillating between his awkward halt and the handsome couple’s progress. Theton’scollective interest became a swarm of invisible beetles burrowing beneath his buttons, scuttling over his skin.
Willard cast a brief, pointed smirk over his shoulder, and Neville’s peripheral vision turned red. His eyelid twitched. His mouth quirked. A volatile mix of fury, embarrassment, and rage sent that battery of beetles rushing up his neck.
He could no longer dismiss the possibility Willard had chosen Millicent as a direct, intentional dig. But was the insult simply another subtle public taunt of the kind they’d been trading ever since their school days, when Neville had taught Asquith to stand up to Willard’s bullying?
Or had Willard just sent a more pointed warning?
In either case, Neville had just taken a vow to protect Millicent Wainwright and had, instead, pushed her into the enemy’s arms.
For six months, Neville had been searching for proof Willard was the blackguard behind a plot against his brother John. Now that Neville had found a witness that linked Willard to thewoman who’d made accusations against John—accusations the witness suggested were false—he was one step closer to clearing his brother’s name.
Had Willard sensed a threat? Was Willard using Millicent to warn Neville to stand down?
Neville couldn’t possibly know.
He only knew his heart thundered so loudly, he couldn’t hear the dance’s opening bars. Slowly, he lifted his chin, adjusted his waistcoat, and then headed toward the relative safety of his friends.
Mad, perhaps, to have taken part of Blackwell’s bet given all he had on his mind, but Blackwell had been right, Millicentmustbe shielded from her worst inclinations. Her lavender silk frock, merely her most recent flirtation with infamy, had every man present drooling. And Asquith, her formal guardian, had proven himself unable to comprehend the extent of her charms. But the danger she faced with Willard was far worse than the kind courted by a scandalously tight bodice.
Across the room, Asquith held his gaze. Neville read questions in his friend’s eyes—questions he could not answer.
Why, when Neville was ordinarily prudent and strategic, had he not foreseen that his sudden stride across the hall would make his intentions as obvious as his execution had been ill-mannered? And why had he chosen to begin his campaign to keep Millicent safe immediately and in such a crowded forum? His actions made little sense.
Oh, but they did, didn’t they?
Because the mere sight of Millicent Wainwright deranged his mind enough to bungle every interaction they’d had from the start.
“Back so soon?” Blackwell didn’t even try to suppress his smirk.
“Leave off, Blackwell,” Asquith admonished. He turned to Neville. “You realize she couldn’t refuse Willard, don’t you? Not after he approached her so blatantly.”
NevilleheardAsquith’s soothing explanation, though his friend’s unspoken accusation echoed far louder.Your approach was blatant as well.
Neville agreed.
He’dbrought Millicent to Willard’s notice, and now he couldn’t rip her away without shaming them all. He might have interceded despite the shame, if he believed Millicent would have chosen him. But he knew that wouldn’t have been the case.
He’d prior proof she would disregard any warning he’d give.
Once, he’d warned her sister Eliza to take care with the gentleman that was now her husband, while making clear he had spoken up for Millicent’s sake. At the next dinner he’d attended at Asquith House, Millicent’s demure mask had dropped, and she’d given him a thorough dressing-down, saying she neither wished, nor wanted, to be any man’s concern.
Especially not his.
Ever since, she’d made her disdain for him plain. And yet, his initial feeling toward her, that deep, resonant hum, had not completely faded. And instead of avoiding her, as any rational man would do toward a woman who clearly held him in contempt, he kept seeking opportunities to cross swords, going so far as to leave his brother John alone and vulnerable to bad influence just to take that disastrous trip to Ravenswood last summer.
Clearly, he’d failed both Millicent and his brother.
He would not repeat his errors. He had to be stronger. Watchful.Engaged. Only then could he keep Miss Millicentandhis extended family from harm.