Page 33 of Echo in the Wind

She took Richard’s arm and they descended the steps behind the rest of their party.

At the Danvers’ mansion in Mayfair, the party was well underway when Joanna and her siblings arrived. In the elegant parlor, a cacophony of voices rose in boisterous conversation. Beyond them in the large hall, where Cornelia had told her there would be dancing, Joanna heard music.

Footmen circulated among the guests with trays of champagne and small hors d’oeuvres.

Hungry after so many hours, Joanna happily accepted both a glass of the sparkling wine and a small bit of food. She had just taken her first swallow when Richard approached with Lord Hugh Seymour, each holding a glass of whiskey.

“Look who I found mingling about!” said Richard.

Seymour inclined his head. “Lady Joanna, how lovely you look. Torrington tells me you were at the concert. I am sorry to have missed you, but the crowd was daunting.”

“It was,” she said, sure this meeting had been arranged by her brother. “A splendid display of Handel’s music, though.”

Muttering an excuse, Richard left them, winking at her behind Seymour’s back. Silently, she vowed to have her revenge upon him later.

Seymour’s hazel eyes glistened. He was, as Richard had described him, handsome of face, well mannered and of good height. In her mind, she saw him in his captain’s uniform with martial bearing.

“Will you be in London for a while?” he asked with avid interest. “I would love to call upon you.”

“Only for two more days. Then I must return to Sussex.”

“Might I talk you into a ride in Hyde Park tomorrow?”

She laughed, drawing her hand to her throat. “You overwhelm me, good sir. But it cannot be tomorrow. I have promised to go with Lady Danvers on some adventure.”

“Very well, but you must grant me a ride before you go. The day after then? If the weather holds, it should be quite pleasant.”

He was trying hard. “You persuade me, good sir. The day after tomorrow it is. But might it be morning? I will need to pack in the afternoon and spend the evening with Torrington and my sister.”

“Of course. I shall call upon you at ten of the morning. You do have a horse here in London?”

“Oh yes. Torrington keeps a good stable even here.”

Lord Hugh bid her a good evening and, taking his leave, was soon lost in the crowd.

Joanna cast her gaze about the room, wondering to whom she should speak next. Tillie was talking to Claire Powell and her husband, and Cornelia appeared engrossed in conversation with several gentlemen. In truth, the concert had run long, till midnight, and Joanna was beginning to feel the fatigue of the long day. Perhaps she might retire—

Monsieur Donet stepped in front of her, interrupting her thoughts. “I see you are in want of champagne.”

Joanna looked down at the empty glass in her hand.

“Should I call for another, my lady?” the comte asked.

“No, thank you. One was enough.”

“That being the case, will you grant me the honor of a dance? In the room beyond, the couples gather for a contredanse.”

“I would rather watch, I think.”

She expected him to hie off and seek another partner but, leaning closer than was proper, he whispered in her ear in his sensual French-accented voice, “Dance with me, Lady Joanna, or I will seek out your sister. You and I both know she will not turn me away.”

He stepped back, his face bearing an enigmatic smile.

“You rogue!”

“I do not deny it. In my experience, some of the best times are to be found in the company of scoundrels, rogues and, dare I add, smugglers.” His mouth twitched up in a grin.

She blanched at his words. “You say that to shock me.”