Page 33

“Sebastian and I have been friendly rivals for years,” Gabriel explained. “The only reason he wishes to go after Lady Eleanor is that I am watching over her. It’s a challenge to him.”

Richard didn’t say anything further after that. The two men sat in silence for some time, and Gabriel watched the fire burn down.

* * *

Gabriel paced back and forth in the hallway as Eleanor sat in the drawing room to entertain guests and accept gifts. Margaret insisted on letting in anyone and everyone who called on her, and Gabriel allowed it, but he stayed close by to observe interactions. As did Atlas.

Flowers, books, and other small gifts were carried from the front door to the drawing room by maids and presented to Eleanor, and Gabriel noted how overwhelmed she was by the attention.

It didn’t matter what was brought to Eleanor; she reacted in astonishment that another present had been delivered to her. And she reacted in the same way whether the bouquet of flowers was filled with the best flowers or cobbled together, or the book had been gifted with her in mind or merely picked up to have something to give.

“It is refreshing,” Gabriel told Atlas. “She looks so joyful every time there is a knock at the door, whether it is a person or a package. We could all do with being more like her and accepting the good things in life.”

Atlas made no response to that, but he piped up when Lord Hammersmith walked down the hallway and into the room, a low growl emanating from him, just loud enough that Gabriel could hear it, but no one else could.

“Exactly,” Gabriel agreed with him. “I do not know the man personally, but from what I’ve heard, he is plain. Not the sort of man for Lady Eleanor.” He scratched behind Atlas’s ear.

Then, he moved closer to the room, which contained Eleanor, Charlotte, Margaret, and the visiting gentleman. He listened as Lord Hammersmith tried to make small talk with Eleanor, and he didn’t need to see Eleanor’s face to know that she was bored.

Gabriel knew a little about Eleanor and supplemented what Nathaniel had told him and the list he had provided; he knew Eleanor needed some excitement in her life. She was a woman who apparently liked to climb trees, and who needed to prove herself.

Lord Hammersmith wasn’t a good match for Eleanor. He would do far better with a submissive wife who did as she was told and was happy with what he provided, rather than a woman with a mind of her own.

Gabriel smiled wryly. Her mind was one of the best things about her, but when she vocalized her thoughts, they often butted heads. The thing that he admired was also what frustrated him.

The thought was cut short when Lord Hammersmith bade Eleanor goodbye and left the room. He held his head high, but Gabriel saw the look in his eyes. He would not win her hand, and he knew it.

Gabriel found many of the visitors lacking, whether it was the gentlemen themselves or family members who came to plead on their behalf.

That was until Sebastian arrived.

When Sebastian had made the threat at White’s, Gabriel had not really expected him to follow through. Now that Sebastian was in Eleanor’s home, the threat was real, and it left Gabriel wondering why he saw it as a threat. There was something about his old friend that made him a poor match, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

He waited for Atlas to growl at the man as he approached the drawing room, but the dog was docile.

Sebastian flashed a charming smile at the duke, and then entered the room to converse with Eleanor.

Soon after Sebastian entered the room, the sound of laughter came trickling out. It came not only from Charlotte, but from Eleanor too.

Gabriel couldn’t take it any longer, and he entered the room this time, instead of waiting outside while the suitor pleaded his case.

“Ah, so glad you could join us, Your Grace,” Sebastian said immediately.

And again, for some reason, the simple, polite words irked Gabriel.

“I would not miss it,” he replied.

Gabriel looked toward Eleanor. There was a smile on her lips, but as soon as he looked her way, her mouth straightened into a line. She looked down at her lap.

There was something between them now. Before, she had been able to hold his gaze, and she was up to his challenge, no matter how much fire was in his eyes. When he looked at her in the drawing room, she was just like most other women who were sure they knew their place.

Gabriel didn’t like it. He would rather see the fight in her than submission. He should not have kissed her.

“Lord Fairfax was telling us the most amusing story,” Margaret announced, cutting through the silence. “Oh, you must tell it again.”

“We laughed very hard when he told us,” Charlotte said.

Everyone was more on edge now that Gabriel had entered the room. Suitors had come and gone, and he had remained on the outskirts, but now he was a part of the proceedings.