Page 143 of A Foolish Flirtation

“Oh, bravo.” He gave her a little round of applause.

“You are quite disgraceful, Lord Atherton,” she scolded without heat. “Just as bad as you always were.”

“Oh, I shall never change,” he said smugly. “I’m a thoroughly bad lot and very comfortable in my wicked ways. By the way, why is your head footman glaring at me?”

“I have no idea. Have you greeted Pinky yet?”

“Effusively.”

“That would be why, then,” she answered. “He’s very protective over her these days.”

“Hmmm. Are you sure his designs in that direction are entirely respectable? He was quite the lad back in the day, was Colfax.”

“Back in the day when he was preventing Jeremy from getting dunned on his doorstep and killed in duels every other week?” Emmie asked with an arched brow. “Yes, I have heard all about it. Jeremy has laid bare both his soul and his jaded past to me.”

“Ugh,” said Atherton. “You have my profound sympathies.”

“And yes, I am quite sure about Pinky and Colfax. They’re walking out together. Courting,” she added in case he was unfamiliar with the term.

His stride checked slightly. “Really? Strapping Colfax and demure Miss Pinson?”

“Yes.”

“Good lord.”

“Jeremy means to make him butler here when Garraway retires so his prospects are quite good.”

Atherton looked amused. “Well, Jeremy certainly could not get rid of Colfax. He knows where all the skeletons are buried.”

“Yes. Probably because he helped bury them,” Emmie agreed.

Atherton smirked. “I am surprised to see your husband’s collection of Venuses has not increased since last I visited.” Emmie thought fleetingly of her new bedroom decor but said nothing. “But perhaps, having secured the source of his fascination, his compulsion to amass such imitations has abated.”

Her ears pricked up at this. “Do you mean to suggest his fondness for Venuses originated with me?” she asked with surprise.

“Didn’t you know?”

“No!”

“He purchased his first in Italy, on his honeymoon. The one in your drawing room, where she emerges from the sea to wring out her wet hair.”

Emmie was speechless. After a moment she rallied. “They do not look so very much like me, you know.”

“My dear Lady Faris, I have two eyes in my head,” he countered.

“Well, in any case…” She trailed off feebly as they came to a halt next to the portrait of Jeremy’s mother.

Atherton looked over the portrait in silence. “I’m glad he did not fall for a similar type as his mother at any rate.”

Emmie glanced up at the portrait. “She was very pretty.”

“Always thought she looked a bit of a simperer myself,” Atherton admitted, taking a swig of champagne.

They both contemplated the canvas. “Everyone agrees Jeremy is nothing like her in character. Mina, his sister, maintains that if their mother had been present during his childhood, she would likely have made Jeremy’s character even worse by spoiling and fawning on him.”

Atherton laughed. “For my part, I imagine Jeremy would have been very like Teddy as a child. You will have to keep a close eye on that boy,” he said darkly.

“Nonsense! Teddy is a delightful and well-adjusted child. As soon as he heard of our history together, he knew exactly where to apportion blame, showing an unerring sense of right and wrong.” She gave him a sidelong look. “Besides, as godparent, the responsibility of keeping a watchful eye on him falls also to you.”