Page 44 of The Courtship Dance

“Who better?” he challenged. “There are none who can surpass your talents as a hostess.”

“That is most gratifying to hear, of course, but there is no reason…I mean, it would be considered odd, surely. I have no connection to you.”

“Do you not?” he asked, and for a moment his gaze, undeniably warm, rested on her face. Then he moved, and the look in his eyes was gone. “In the past my grandmother arranged such things, and in recent years, of course, Callie has acted as my hostess. But neither of them is here now. I can hardly ask my grandmother, at her age, to come rushing to London to put on a ball for me.”

“No, of course not. But I am sure that your butler would be more than capable of arranging it.”

“Cranston is quite capable, of course,” Rochford agreed amiably. “But he is a man accustomed to implementing plans, not making them. Nor does he have the skill that you do. The task requires a lady of taste, such as yourself.”

“You think flattery will bring me around?” Francesca asked, doing her best to look severe.

“I certainly hope so.”

She could not help but laugh. “You are shameless.”

“So I have been told.”

“You know it would not be seemly. People would gossip.”

“There is no reason for them to know.” He shrugged. “I will not ask you to receive guests with me.” His dark gaze was penetrating as he asked, “Would you be willing, then…if we hid it from the world?”

Francesca’s heart picked up its beat, and she wondered suddenly, crazily, if his words somehow meant more than the obvious.

“Perhaps,” she replied quietly. “Though it would seem to me that there must be someone else who would better serve.”

“No.” He continued to look steadily into her face. “It must be you.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

FRANCESCA STARED AT him, his words reverberating through her, and for a moment the very air seemed to shimmer between them. She abruptly broke their gaze, fearing suddenly that he must see how her breath had quickened, that the pulse roaring in her ears might become as audible to him.

“Very well,” she told him quietly, “if that is what you wish.”

“It is.” There was the faintest undertone of triumph in his voice as he stood up and came over to her. He reached down to her, and automatically, Francesca took his hand and rose to her feet. He smiled. “What should we do? I suppose Lilles House would be the place to start, would it not?”

“You intend a large ball?” she asked.

“I think so. Something that will give your skills adequate range.”

Francesca cast him a mischievous look. “You might regret doing that.”

He grinned. “Never—although I have no doubt you will do your utmost to put that resolve to the test. However, you have carte blanche to do whatever you wish—and I mean that in the most respectable way, of course.”

His last words highlighted the double entendre of the phrase, a term often used to describe the relationship a man made with his mistress, and Francesca felt her cheeks grow warm. Whatever was the matter with her? she wondered. You would think she was a naive girl instead of a sophisticated woman a decade and a half removed from her come-out.

“Ah, I see I have made you blush. Pardon me.” Rochford’s voice sounded more pleased than sorry, despite his words.

Francesca glanced up at him and found his dark eyes twinkling.

“You are not sorry in the slightest, you detestable man. But I can assure you that ’tis the heat of the summer, not your words. No doubt I look like a kitchen maid.” She touched her cheek self-consciously.

“Whatever the cause, you look lovely.” For a moment his face turned serious, but then he smiled and went on lightly, “As you very well know.” He took a step back. “Come. Ring for the servants to fetch your hat. We shall go to Lilles House.”

“Now?”

“Yes, why not? No reason not to get started, is there? Bring your maid, if you are worried about propriety. You must look the place over, see the ballroom. How else are you to plan?”

“How, indeed?” He was right about that, Francesca knew. Still, there was something illicit-seeming in going to a gentleman’s house with him when there was no female relative residing there.