Child focused on her face, a hint of wariness sliding behind his eyes. “More or less.”
“What drew you there?” She kept her tone light, couching her questions as if they were merely the usual social exchange. “Given you remained for so long, presumably you found much to hold your interest.”
He paused for a second, then smiled, overtly charming once again. “As to what drew me there, that’s easily answered—adventure and the promise of a sort of excitement quite different to what one finds here. As to what I found of interest, in a country blazing so many new frontiers, there was always some new venture afoot, and I discovered I thrived on a diet of fresh challenges.”
The last words were said with an undercurrent of meaning that Therese pretended not to hear.
But before she could respond and tease out more information, Child glibly inquired, “Speaking of challenges, I see you’ve taken on the role of Devlin’s countess.”
Therese wasn’t about to discuss her marriage, not in any fashion, with a gentleman who might still see himself as her husband’s rival. “Indeed,” she replied repressively, then continued in social vein, “The duke and duchess must have been delighted to welcome you home. Did you find them well?”
With her gaze fixed on Child’s face, she caught the momentary flash of chagrin before he hid it behind a faintly bored mask.
“I have to admit,” he said, “that I’ve only just arrived in the country, and although I did travel to Ancaster Park, my parents are away in Scotland, so the fatted calf has yet to be slain.”
“And you returned to town?” Therese widened her eyes. “Given the season and your years overseas, I would have thought you might have indulged in some country pursuits—for instance, some shooting and hunting.”
She all but saw the notion of saying he was, in fact, hunting pass through his mind. She leapt in to suggest, “But perhaps the exhibits at the Crystal Palace lured you back to town?”
A slight widening of his eyes told her that she’d guessed aright even before he inclined his head. “Just so. It seemed foolish to pass up the opportunity to assess what new ideas the world has to offer. Prince Albert is to be commended for backing such an undertaking.”
“Were there any exhibits you found of especial interest?” Therese was fairly certain Devlin would be interested in knowing. James was listening avidly, too.
Looking faintly harassed, Child opened his mouth, then his gaze went past Therese, and he paused. A second later, a smile of genuine delight curved his lips. “Devlin’s just arrived.”
Therese blinked. “He has?” She turned to look.
Child hadn’t been mistaken; Devlin was making his way across the room, stopping here and there to exchange greetings, but not dallying in beating what was clearly a deliberate path to her side.
When, with Cedric Marshall trailing behind in his usual languid fashion, Devlin neared, Therese met his eyes and inclined her head. “My lord.”
He claimed the hand she offered, smoothly raised her gloved fingers, and lightly brushed them with his lips. “My lady.”
Therese had spent half a lifetime observing the behaviors of men like her husband and his friends; she exchanged a very nearly eye-rolling glance with Veronica as Devlin, retaining possession of her hand, wound her arm in his and settled by her side, effectively ousting Child from that position.
With a deceptively mild expression on his face, Devlin regarded his old friend. “Child. I had no idea I might find you here. How delightful.”
The last comment, delivered in Devlin’s most depressive drawl, did nothing to dampen Child’s enthusiasm. He continued to smile in what seemed to be sincere delight. “Devlin, old man. I’ve been getting acquainted with your lovely countess, and I was just thinking what a pity it was that you weren’t here.”
Therese arched a cynical brow and, ignoring Child, asked Devlin, “How went the dinner?”
The question drew Devlin’s gaze from Child’s face to hers. After a second, he replied, “As expected, but out of it, I realized there were some gentlemen I should speak with about one of the issues that have arisen. As I suspect they’ll be here, I thought to look them up.”
Somewhat to her surprise, Therese wasn’t sure any of that was true, but her powerful husband could make it so. She glanced past him at Child. “Lord Child was about to tell us, in light of his lengthy sojourn in America, which of the exhibits at the Great Exhibition he found of most interest.”
Every pair of eyes—Therese’s, Devlin’s, Veronica’s, James’s, Cedric’s, and even two of the other gentlemen’s—locked on Child. The look he bent on Therese was not entirely friendly, but when the silence lengthened, he was forced to concede. “I thought the new machinery for mining was rather intriguing.”
Devlin’s brows rose. “Do you think they can actually deliver the results they claim?”
Child blinked, and his attention shifted to Devlin. “It’s possible, but I’d like to get my hands on the data they say they have. Without that, who can tell? It might be all pie in the sky.”
Devlin nodded. “My thoughts exactly.” He looked at Child with rather less antagonism. “But what brought you back to England?”
Therese judged that a far from idle question, and curiously, Child responded with an airy, “It simply seemed time,” which convinced no one and only served to heighten interest on that point.
Therese noticed Cedric, who had joined the circle on James’s other side, look from Child to Devlin and back again, then Cedric murmured his excuses and quietly slipped away.
Veronica had stepped in to further question Child, but he was determinedly clinging to evasion.
Therese had to wonder what he was so intent on hiding, although even on such short acquaintance, she judged Child to be the sort who might avoid answering simply to appear interesting. Interesting to ton ladies such as her and Veronica, who liked to know everything about all who moved in their sphere.
She wasn’t surprised when Devlin, patently losing interest in Child’s prevarications, made their excuses to the group and, stepping away, drew her with him. She was surprised when he made no move to quit her side but, instead, asked her several shrewd questions about some of the other guests, both male and female, and capped her replies with observations of his own while he steered her toward a group of older gentlemen, who had congregated in the far corner of the room.
The five men were very pleased to welcome her, along with Devlin. She quickly discovered that two of their number were the gentlemen Devlin had wished to contact regarding one of the railway ventures in which he was involved. While Devlin and the pair discussed something to do with loads and margins, Therese set herself to engage and entertain the other three gentlemen.
Once they’d satisfied themselves as to their mutual business, Devlin and the other two joined the discussion Therese had instigated regarding the current crop of plays. When that subject was exhausted, Devlin excused them and, once again, remained by her side as he guided her on a random course that had them idly mingling with many of their peers.
After one encounter, as they moved on, Devlin softly snorted. “I suspect we’ll soon be hearing a tale of how Lord Charley’s eldest son has contracted a marriage with a mill owner’s daughter.”