Page 23 of The Lady Loves A Scandal

“I can only speak to what I see, my lady.” Charles gestured to the pair as he spoke. “I see a dour, slightly distracted lord, having a pleasant meal with a beautiful, articulate woman while chaperoned by a dashing young man of little consequence. Though I’ve been away for some years, I do think this meal will hold up to even the highest scrutiny.”

“No one shall know about this meal.” Gideon pushed back his chair, a footman jumping in to assist him as Charles followed suit. “Lady Sybil, will you be so kind as to join me in the study for a private conversation?”

Charles tsked. “That, I’m afraid, will not hold up to any—“

“Charles.” The warning in Gideon’s voice halted his friend. “Lady Sybil?”

A footman pulled her chair back, and she smiled at both men. “Of course, my lord.”

Could it be that she was enjoying this? Gideon was rather irked, and Charles was doing his utmost to prod him.

Sybil was familiar with the many sides of Gideon: reserved and pensive, light and jesting, confident and chivalrous.

But this demanding, domineering, stalwart man before her was different.

“If I have angered you, Gideon, I am sor—“

“My study, Sybil. Now.” He didn’t wait for her, but pivoted and stalked from the room.

When she turned to Charles with a weak smile, he only shrugged, but his following wink settled a bit of her unease at Gideon’s turn in demeanor.

“It has been a pleasure meeting you…far overdue, if you do not mind my bluntness,” he said with a stiff bow.

She didn’t mind his candor at all. “May I offer a bit of frankness?”

“Certainly.”

“Why have we never met?” Her tentative question brought a shadow to the man’s face. “What I mean to say is, Gideon and I have known one another for quite some time, and he has never so much as mentioned your existence.”

Sybil expected hurt or at least confusion to cloud Charles’ face; however, his expression turned dark, and he pivoted to the footman for his cane, not looking back at her when next he spoke. “I think that is something you must speak with Gideon about. I bid you good evening, Lady Sybil.”

He hobbled from the room, his cane hitting the polished floor the only sound as she was left in his wake.

Bloody hell. She didn’t know where Gideon’s study was located.

As if sensing her flustered temperament, the butler stepped into the room. “My lord is awaiting you. This way, please.”

When he gestured for her to follow, Sybil moved around the table, quickening her pace to keep up with the servant.

Sybil was uncertain why she was annoyed. A private moment with Gideon was the reason she’d flouted convention and dared come to his townhouse.

Perhaps it was that her arrival had only added more questions to the surmounting concern surrounding Gideon’s return, not even to touch on his disappearance. If she were to convince her brother that dragging her back to France and away from the man she loved was a bad idea, Sybil needed answers, not more questions.

The door to the study stood open, and Sybil spied Gideon pacing before the hearth, his strides long and heavy on the carpeted floor. There were not many occasions when she had the opportunity to gaze upon him unnoticed. His sun-kissed light locks hung over his collar in a very pleasing manner. How had she not noted that his hair had lightened significantly over the last year, as if he’d spent months in the sun? His cream-colored skin was several shades darker, making it contrast considerably with his hair. His skin tone did nothing to hide the dark circles under his eyes, however. Had he not slept recently? He’d appeared unburdened when she spotted him at the ball several nights past, but a weight had obviously settled upon him since she first laid eyes on him again.

She was desperate to know what troubled him, and how she could help.

But he’d need to open up to her first, trust her with whatever he kept secret, and have faith that she would do her best to assist him.

His shoulders tensed, and he halted, staring into the open flames. It tore her heart from her chest to see his frame snag as he exhaled.

“I told you not to come here.” His tone held little conviction. “It is dangerous.”

“Mr. Smythe does not seem at all perilous,” she whispered as she stepped into the room. She paused for only a moment before turning to close the door behind her. “And we both know what I think of society and its need for scandalous on dits.”

Gideon turned to face her as the latch clicked into place.

They were utterly alone, and the way his gaze traveled the length of her before settling on her lips told Sybil he was all too aware of it, as well.