Lady Charlton gave him a surprised look. Lucy sat down. James sat as well.
“I wondered if you’d like to go to the theater,” he said. “It’s Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream—quite an entertaining production, I’m told.”
Lucy’s face lit up. “The theater? I’ve never been to the theater.” She turned to her godmother. “What do you say Ali—I mean, Godmama?”
Lady Charlton visibly hesitated. So cautious, even about a simple visit to the theater. Was she like that with everyone? Or every man? Why? Still grieving for her husband, perhaps.
James had plans for Alice, Lady Charlton, but he meant it about being friends with her. He definitely wanted to get to know her better. A lot better. “I’m putting a small party together for tomorrow night. I have the use of a box and—”
Alice said, “It’s very short notice,” at the same instant that Lucy said eagerly, “We’re not doing anything tomorrow, are we?”
James pretended not to notice Alice’s chagrin. “It has to be tomorrow night,” he explained. “I’m leaving London the next morning.”
“Leaving London?” Lucy echoed. She glanced at Alice. James didn’t miss the exchange. Interesting.
“Yes, I’m collecting my daughters from their grandparents’ home in Bedfordshire.” To Lucy he explained, “My wife died four years ago, not long after she gave birth to my youngest. I’ve never seen her—my youngest, that is.”
“Why not?” Lucy asked, her voice sharp with disapproval.
James wasn’t offended. “I was overseas, away at war when she was born—in England. Then there was Waterloo. Later I was caught up in the mess that results in the aftermath of war. The army is a demanding master, Miss Bamber, and we officers have little say in where we are sent. But I found I missed my girls too much, and so I decided to sell out and come home.”
“Why didn’t you go straight to Bedfordshire?” Lucy demanded. “If you missed them so much.”
“Lucy, it’s not our business—” Alice began.
“No, Lady Charlton, it’s quite all right,” James said. He turned to Lucy. “That was my original plan, Miss Bamber. But I stopped to break my journey overnight in my London house and discovered chimneys blocked with birds’ nests, a leaking roof, peeling wallpaper and more. So for the last week or so I’ve been setting the house in order to make it fit for my girls.”
He gave a rueful smile. “They might have started their lives in tents and peasant cottages, but for the last four years they’ve become accustomed to something much finer. But it’s almost all done now, and the final touches will be completed while I’m in Bedfordshire. I hope to have them with me in London by Friday week. So, will you join my small party at the theater tomorrow night, Lady Charlton, Miss Bamber?”
Alice hesitated, but Lucy was gazing at her with such a naked plea in her eyes that James wasn’t surprised when she sighed and said, “Thank you, Lord Tarrant. We’d be delighted.”
“Excellent. I’ll send a carriage to collect you.” James rose and took his leave.
He stepped out into the street feeling mildly triumphant. Now, who did he know who had a box at Drury Lane Theatre?
* * *
* * *
The moment Lord Tarrant left, Alice heaved a sigh of relief. His presence made her feel so strange: prickly and hot, and oddly tense. And yet, apart from overstaying his visit, his behavior had been perfectly proper.
It was kind of him to invite them to the theater.
Still . . . how was it that he could dominate a room simply by sitting quietly on a sofa? Was it those polished-pewter eyes? No matter who was talking, no matter whom she was looking at, she’d been aware of him the whole time. Each time he’d crossed his legs, she’d noticed.
His buckskin breeches weren’t that tight, and yet she was very aware of the hard muscularity of his legs. She’d never really looked at a man’s legs before. She hoped he hadn’t noticed her staring but she feared he had. For almost the entire length of his visit, she’d felt the warm touch of his gaze resting on her.
Friends, she reminded herself. He just wanted friendship from her, because she was a woman and he had three small daughters. And because he didn’t know many people in London. It sounded quite appealing—as long as she could get past these unsettling feelings.
It wouldn’t be for long, she was sure. He’d be looking for a wife soon, once he was settled and knew more people. With a title and three daughters, he’d want someone young who could bear him a son. Not a barren woman past her prime. Not that Alice wanted to marry again.
She’d never had a male friend before. She didn’t have many friends at all. Between them, Thaddeus and Almeria had managed to alienate any friends Alice had made.
A male friend might be interesting. She felt a small frisson of excitement.
“Thank you for accepting Lord Tarrant’s invitation.” Lucy broke into Alice’s chain of thought. “I can’t wait to see inside a real theater. Frau Steiner talked about theaters all the time. She was an opera singer—retired, of course. But, oh, she had so many interesting stories. Lord Tarrant definitely likes you.”
Alice blinked at the abrupt change of subject. “Oh no, I think he’s just being polite. He’s been out of society so long, he doubtless doesn’t know many people.”
“It sounds as though his daughters have had a very strange upbringing.”
Alice began to place the tea things onto a tray. “Yes, I wondered about the tents and peasant cottages, too.”
Lucy moved to help her. “Well, I like him. In fact, I think he’s charming. I can’t understand why you were uncivil to him the other night.”
“I wasn’t uncivil, just . . .”
“Worried about how I was behaving?” Lucy suggested.
“Perhaps a little,” Alice admitted. “But now that I know why you did what you did, I think everything went quite well. You already have several admirers.” She gestured toward the bouquets that had arrived the morning after the party. They were still fresh.
Lucy wrinkled her nose, apparently unimpressed by the senders of the bouquets. Admittedly they were rather old. “The main problem was your nephew almost recognizing me.”
“Yes, well, I doubt we’ll see much of Gerald. Young bachelors don’t generally frequent the kind of events we’ll be attending, and you gave him no encouragement.” Alice picked up the tea tray. “And if we do run into him, we’ll just have to hope he doesn’t remember.”