The Husband Hunt by Lynsay Sands Page A

right. This is your dance.” She forced a smile for him that withered as she faced Robert and silently slapped her empty glass into his hand. Without another word, she turned back to Lord Tibald and offered her hand.
    Smiling, he took it and laid it over his arm to lead her away from Robert and onto the dance floor.
    “Are you all right?”
    Lisa stopped glaring at Robert, who had moved to the refreshment table to find a napkin to dry himself off with and glanced to Lord Tibald in question. “What?”
    “You appear a bit upset,” he offered quietly. “Would you prefer to step out for some air rather than dance?”
    “Oh, no,” she said on a sigh, and then lips quirking, added wryly, “Langley would just drag me back inside anyway.”
    “Ah.” Lord Tibald was briefly silent, and then asked tentatively. “Has Lord Langley a prior claim on your attentions? Should I be—”
    “No,” Lisa assured him grimly. “He has no claim at all. Robert is . . . Well, he is an old friend of the family, like an annoying older brother. And tonight he’s being particularly annoying,” she added with displeasure.
    “Ahh,” Lord Tibald repeated and something of the sound made her glance to him. This time she really looked at him, noting that he was as handsome as Lord Findlay, though in a dark, dashing way rather than the icy beauty of the other man. He also had deep dark eyes and a charming smile.
    “I apologize, my lord,” she said, forcing herself to relax and allowing a smile to claim her lips. “It’s not well done of me to take out my annoyance with Robert on you.”
    “Oh, you weren’t taking it out on me,” he assured her gallantly. “You just seemed distracted and distressed.
    She smiled slightly and shrugged. “Well, if I was, I am no more. You have managed to distract me from my distraction.”
    He chuckled at the claim. “You’re really quite lovely when you smile, Miss Madison.”
    “And you’re very handsome, Lord Tibald, so we are a match,” she said with a grin.
    Lord Tibald chuckled at her boldness and drew her a little closer.
    “I see she’s well and hasn’t been snatched away,” Richard commented, drawing Robert’s scowling attention as he and Daniel approached. Raising one eyebrow, he added, “You, on the other hand, appear a bit vexed . . . and damp.”
    “She is—” Robert cut himself off and turned to glower at Lisa as her gay laughter sounded. She and Lord Tibald were apparently having a grand time . . . and were dancing entirely too closely. Finally, he muttered, “She is going to be difficult.”
    “Lisa?” Richard asked with surprise, his gaze going to the couple. “No. She is never difficult. She matches Christiana for sweetness.”
    “Lisa may even surpass Christiana in sweetness,” Daniel suggested, and then added, “Suzette is the difficult one.”
    Robert noted the man’s grin. It seemed to suggest he liked that “difficulty” in his wife. Shaking his head, he glanced back to the woman under discussion and grimaced. “Well, Lisa is being difficult tonight. I found her on the terrace with Findlay. The man was moving in for a kiss as I arrived. And she was letting him,” he added with disbelief.
    “Well, that is hardly being difficult. Perhaps she likes him,” Daniel said.
    Robert frowned at the suggestion, not at all pleased by it for some reason. Shifting uncomfortably, he muttered, “Yes, well when I dragged her away and explained that she had to be more careful until we found out who the suitor was, she threw her drink in my face.”
    There was silence for a moment, and then Daniel cleared his throat and said, “You are sure it was your explanation that had her tossing her drink in your face?”
    “Well, it was after that really,” he admitted unhappily. “I may have said something that she didn’t appreciate.”
    “Ah,” Richard murmured. “And what would that be, pray tell?”
    Robert shifted again, and then grimaced and admitted, “She was