Bluestocking Bride by Elizabeth Thornton Page B

mistaken, my lord," she returned sweetly. "I have the greatest respect for you. Only a fool underestimates an enemy."
    Their eyes held, and Catherine could not look away. She thought she had angered him.
    "You are wrong, Catherine." His voice was gentle, caressing, coaxing. "I would be your friend, if you will let me, and much more to you than a friend."
    Catherine, for once, was speechless.
     
    At the end of the dance, he requested that she introduce him to Lady Margaret and she had no option but to obey. Her aunt was highly gratified, and when Rutherston asked permission to lead Catherine in to supper, Lady Henderly could refuse him nothing.
    Catherine was affronted at his confidence that she would so easily fall in with his wishes. Her wishes were never to be consulted!
    As she danced away the evening waiting till he should claim her, she observed that he danced every dance, and she never once caught him looking in her direction. She set herself resolutely to forget him and to give her full attention to her partners, but although they were all pleasant young men, she found their conversation flat and predictable.
    Then he was standing before her, resplendent in dark coat and beige breeches, the restraint in his dress proclaiming, in Catherine's eyes, the man of good taste.
    As he held out his arm to escort her in to supper, Catherine was uncomfortably aware of the intensity of his scrutiny, and she could not bring herself to look into his eyes. She recalled the circumstances in the grounds of Ardo House when she had summarily refused the offer of his arm, and she was deeply embarrassed. She could feel the warmth of his arm under the fabric of his coat, and her hand trembled.
    "Do you think I shall take advantage of you in the middle of a crowded ballroom?" he intoned sotto voce in her ear.
    "But you have, my lord. You have taken advantage of me at every turn. You and my aunt have, between you, contrived this situation. It was not to me that you applied for this privilege. My wishes are never consulted." She smiled at him archly to sweeten the astringent words.
    "And do you mind, Catherine?" His lips were smiling, but Catherine was conscious that the mockery had left his eyes.
    "Why should I mind?" she asked playfully. "No doubt my being with one of your consequence has added to my own consequence."
    She knew that her answer had not pleased him, for his manner became aloof, and when she tried to retrieve herself by remarking on various inconsequential subjects, he would not be drawn. Catherine wondered how such a mild piece of frivolity as she had uttered should give him so much offense, when her earlier blatant reproofs had formerly afforded him amusement.
    His manner and conversation during supper could not be faulted, but she knew that he had set her at a distance, and she was disappointed.

Chapte r Ten
     
    In the following weeks, Norton became a frequent visitor at Mount Street, and on occasion, he was accompanied by his cousin, Lord Rutherston . Lady Margaret observed them all guardedly, but "closely, since she suspected that Norton was developing a tendre for Catherine. When she saw that his manner with Catherine was always easy, however, and that in Lucy's company he became more grave , sometimes falling into a silence altogether, she put that notion out of her head and formed an accurate conclusion.
    Nor did it take Lady Margaret long to take the measure of Rutherston . Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw that in company his eye might linger on any lady in the room, excepting her niece, when he felt himself to be observed. She inferred that his lordship was conducting himself with the greatest caution until he should determine Catherine's heart.
    Catherine was relieved to find that Rutherston's distant manner with her was of short duration. She knew that he had forgiven her for whatever offense she had given, and she was once again admitted to his confidence and conversations, which she could not help but