Invitation by Burke, Darcy (book club reads txt) 📗

Bentley, probably.

Lifting his head, Tobias clasped her waist and held her apart from him. Then he listened intently, but the room was silent.

“Did they leave?” she murmured.

Tobias waited a few moments. Upon hearing nothing, save the rapid beat of his heart, he pivoted, careful not to move the drape, and peered around the edge. The room was empty.

He exhaled as he let her go and quickly left the shield of the draperies. “That was a near thing.”

“That would have been a scandal for certain.” She giggled. “Gretna Green would not have been necessary then, just a special license.” She sucked in a breath, drawing Tobias to turn to her in fear. She did not look afraid. She appeared…titillated. “Perhaps Bentley would have called you out! Is there anything more romantic than having two men fight a duel over your hand?”

Only that wasn’t what Tobias would be doing. He’d be defending his—and her—honor. That she was intensely thrilled by this prospect filled him with dread. “A duel is the furthest thing from romantic.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh! Well, yes, I suppose so. I only meant that I would feel honored that you both care so much. It is rather wonderful to be so highly desired.” She smiled prettily, her gaze raking over him with unabashed appreciation. “But surely you know that.”

Tobias felt queasy. Society had been right to laugh at him. He’d been an utter fool. He’d fallen in love with this young woman who apparently liked him well enough, but who was perhaps in love with being wanted and not with any gentleman in particular. She’d made him feel special—the way she’d just looked at him and flattered him. Had she treated Bentley the same way? Tobias assumed she had.

The words contest, win, and lose came back to him. Perhaps this was all just a game, even to the young woman before him.

“Lady Priscilla, I fear my scheme to spirit you away to Gretna Green is a foolhardy one. We would most certainly be caught, and it would cause a terrible scandal. Indeed, I never should have brought you in here. The risk to your reputation is too great. Please accept my deepest apologies.”

Her mouth drooped as she took a step toward him. He quickly moved back.

“You’ve changed your mind?” she asked, sounding so disappointed that he nearly reversed his decision. Again.

“I’ve come to my senses,” he said definitively. “You are already betrothed. The marriage contract has probably been signed.” Hell, why hadn’t he thought of that before? Because he’d been an utter dunderhead. “You should return to the retiring room. Your mother may have missed you by now.”

As it was, they were already supposed to have been on their way. The arrival of the amorous couple had ruined the timing of his plan, even if Tobias hadn’t suffered a change of heart.

Had he? Was his heart free of Lady Priscilla?

She stepped forward and hastily stood on her toes to press a kiss to his cheek. “I did like you better, for whatever that’s worth. I’m sorry…things beyond our control got in the way.”

As she departed, Tobias thought about the things he couldn’t control. Then he acknowledged that women were able to control far less. However he’d felt about Lady Priscilla, or however she’d felt about him, it ultimately hadn’t mattered.

Closing his eyes, he counted to twenty. Then fifty. When he reached one hundred, he went to the door and looked to make sure there was no one about before leaving the room.

Thirty minutes later, instead of racing north to Scotland, he walked into Brooks’s and went directly to the Duke of Evesham’s private chamber. The door stood slightly ajar, so he let himself in.

Once inside, he promptly poured himself a glass of the duke’s secret Scotch whisky that had been smuggled south. The irony that Tobias had been about to smuggle a bride in the opposite direction nearly made him smile. Except he was still shaken by why he’d nearly done. Instead, he downed the contents and poured another.

“Bad night?” Lucien asked from the chair set closest to the hearth.

Tobias had registered his friend’s presence but hadn’t stopped to greet him. Lucien had, after all, invited him. “It did not go as planned. However, that is for the best.”

Clutching his whisky, Tobias went to slump into a chair near Lucien, sprawling his legs out before him. He recounted his ill-conceived scheme and his thankful recollection of good sense.

Lucien winced before sipping his brandy. “I’ll agree that it’s best you abandoned your plan, but I am sorry for the way things worked out with Lady Priscilla.”

“Unrequited love is unpleasant to say the least.” Tobias frowned into his glass.

“My day has not been without news. My brother is marrying Lady Sabrina Kidd. Unlike you, I don’t think this is a love situation at all. Con is simply doing his duty as demanded by our father. As usual.” Lucien’s lip curled before he took another drink.

“I was going to say congratulations to him, but perhaps I’ll refrain. I’m not sure I can summon enthusiasm for anyone’s marriage today.” Tobias exhaled. “I suppose that makes me a selfish, maudlin ass.”

Lucien’s brow arched sharply. “Who am I to judge? The other news is that my father is giving up this room. I think this may be our last night here.” He looked around the familiar, comfortable place until his gaze settled on a portrait of the duke that hung on the wall opposite the door. In it, Lucien’s father was a young man. The duke stood with a horse, his expression painted with a mix of confidence and arrogance. While Tobias didn’t always get along with his father, he was relieved not to be one of the duke’s sons.

“That’s bloody disappointing.” Tobias sipped his whisky and stared at the bronze liquid for a moment. “I might miss this the most.”

Lucien laughed. “I can get some.”

“Brilliant. Actually, I’ll miss the privacy and the ability to gather with my close