Sally relaxed her face into a contented smile for Ellicott in order to further her intentions. The past did not matter, only the future did, and hers was with a good man.
She took a pace forward just as Felix Hastings stepped into the room. She came to a halt in the shadows, breath catching at the sight of the handsome devil. He was late arriving, prowling beside her grandfather who was always somewhat slower when walking with his canes than everyone else. Felix towered over Rutherford, a picture of rude health and vitality, a stark contrast to the frailer man he walked beside. Sally could not stand men who toadied up to titled gentlemen that way; seeking favor by keeping older men company was damn shoddy in her opinion.
Sally bit her lip as further foul language filled her head. Years of living with family who went to sea had broadened her knowledge and vocabulary, but not always in a good direction. She had been working hard to suppress one curse after another since meeting Felix again tonight, and apparently the danger had not passed. Her inner monologue had grown as coarse as a fishwife’s diction at the end of a long day without a single customer.
Felix had once fallen into a fit of laughter when she had spoken her mind. He had claimed at the time to have enjoyed her insults immensely and had even committed some of her more elaborate curses to paper.
Felix scanned the room and immediately found her in the shadows of the doorway, sending her emotions tumbling again in another direction as his pale blue eyes studied her. When they had argued in the garden, she had been spared the full effect of his presence, but she felt it now, all the way to the soles of her feet. The corner of his mouth lifted in a half smile, and then he shook his head, moving his attention elsewhere in the room.
He stood back as the duke found a place to sit and then accepted a drink from a servant with a polite word of thanks before downing the glass and requesting another. He only drank when he was nervous, and a brief thought that a kind word might set him at ease teased her conscience.
Dicked in the nob, Sally girl!
She was not over the shock of seeing him if her first thought ran to helping him feel at home among her family.
Not by a long shot.
“Let’s do our best to ignore the captain tonight,” Arianna whispered in her ear. “Tomorrow is soon enough to make him regret that he lost you.”
Would he even be here tomorrow, and why did the idea that he would be gone affect her so badly? Blast him to hell and back with his own cannon. It was not fair. How could he still disturb her so much after so long apart?
Chapter Nine
Lord Ellicott boasted of his lands over breakfast and his plans for the future i
mprovements Sally’s dowry would afford him until Felix wished to run him through with his gleaming silverware.
Several times would not be enough.
“I have already begun plans to tear up the southeast gardens to build new stables twice the size of what I currently have,” Ellicott enthused between bites of poached salmon. “It will be magnificent.”
The earl clearly could not wait for the ceremony that would see him wedded to Sally’s fortune, and his remarks were the last of a long list of expensive improvements intended for his estate. The man openly laughed about his good luck in finding Sally eager for a union with him to anyone who cared to listen.
Those nearest lapped up his enthusiasm while they sipped from the finest porcelain cups and dined with the most elegant silver in their hands, making plans to visit them at the distant estate.
Felix turned his face away in disgust. That Sally could be happy to promise her hand in marriage to such an obvious fortune hunter was beyond his understanding and made no sense. And so much for the private agreement to marry that Lady Templeton had claimed it to be. Everyone at breakfast knew about it. And talked of nothing else but how well suited the pair was.
All the while, Felix’s stomach churned with loathing for the man who had a claim on Sally’s affections.
He pushed his chair back a little from the table and took in the view while he sipped what remained of his coffee. The duke’s wealth was apparent in every nook and cranny of every room. The doors to the pretty morning room were open, and he had a full view of what looked to be a ladies’ sanctuary. The feminine room was currently unoccupied, but scattered pillows made from blue and red Indian silk rested on the long chaise for the ladies’ comfort, and rugs made of the finest quality were scattered beneath.
He tore his gaze away when he imagined Sally in the space.
Sally herself sat as far away as it was possible to be at the breakfast table, looking lovelier in lemon muslin than his mind could accept was still possible. But her posture was rigid with barely concealed tension. He dropped his eyes, and his attention caught on a dark feline moving into the room. The dark-as-soot cat stopped and sniffed around the polished floorboards near the table, obviously looking for tidbits to scavenge for its breakfast. It hissed at those gathered with ill-concealed contempt and especially whenever a servant’s foot came its way. Had the duke mentioned Sally keeping cats yesterday?
Sally lifted her gaze along the table, and their eyes met again. His heartbeat quickened as he remembered her fiery outburst last night, but she soon looked away and gave her attention to Ellicott. Demure, polite, and so different from the woman he had fallen in love with that he had trouble reconciling that the two could be the same female. She hardly ever smiled.
At least last night she had been passionate, even if the emotion was anger. In fact, he had almost leaned down to kiss her. He had always enjoyed her private outbursts of temper and did not know where he had found the strength to hold back his attraction.
“Does something amuse you, Captain?”
He met the curious stare of Louisa Ford and tipped his head. “Yes. The cat.”
“That is Sally’s wild one, Horace. He cannot stand to be held and will scratch if you try to pet him.”
“I will make sure to avoid the surly fellow.” He set aside his empty cup.
“Oh, he is not surly, he just likes to do as he pleases.” She laughed and glanced down. “Do you like cats, Captain?”