Mr. Malcolm's List (4 page)

Mr. Malcolm requested the next dance but before Selina could
collect her scattered wits to make a reply, Julia had stepped between them and
addressed Mr. Malcolm.

“Unfortunately, sir, you have arrived too late.
 
Miss Dalton has been besieged by admirers
since she arrived and has promised all of her dances.
 
Regrettably, I have not enjoyed such success and
have this dance free.”

Mr. Malcolm hid his disappointment remarkably well.
 
“Then perhaps I could have the honor of this
dance?” he asked Julia.

Julia accepted with a commanding glare at her cousin Cassie,
who offered his arm to Selina.
 
Apparently he was to dance with Selina once again to give credence to
Julia’s lie.
 
Selina wondered where the
rest of her partners were to come from, but when she exited the dance floor she
was besieged by eager gentleman and danced every dance for what was left of the
evening.
 
Unfortunately, every gentleman
she met paled in comparison to Mr. Malcolm, who left the ball shortly after his
dance with Julia.

Three

Julia and Selina sat with Mrs. Thistlewaite in the drawing
room awaiting the morning’s callers.
 
Julia told Selina that there would probably not be many callers as the
London
season had officially ended a few weeks ago.
 
She had a great many other things to say as well but Selina, although
pretending to listen, was instead wondering how to act should Mr. Malcolm call.

“Selina, are you listening to me?” she heard Julia ask in a
sharp tone of voice.

“Why, of course, Julia.
 
You were lectur—that is, you were advising me.”

“So you agree with what I said?”

“Of course I do.
 
You
have the greater experience in these matters,” Selina said absently, thinking
that perhaps she should have worn a more demure gown.
 
Her salmon colored gown was very stylish, but
she thought it might be a little too flashy in combination with her hair.
 
But Julia, who was a pattern-card of
elegance, had assured her it was “just the thing,” so she comforted herself
with that knowledge.

The butler announced the first caller, a Lord Sylvester
Mountjoy, and Selina shook off her abstraction to entertain Lord Sylvester, one
of her dance partners from the previous evening.
 
Fairly soon the Thistlewaite’s drawing room
was filled with eager young gentlemen, and Selina found herself enjoying her
social success and forgetting Mr. Malcolm.
 
So she was quite startled when Reeves, the Thistlewaite’s butler,
announced his name.

He strode into the room, greeting Mrs. Thistlewaite and
Julia before approaching Selina.

“Good day, Miss Dalton.
 
I trust I find you in good health?”

“Yes, indeed, sir,” Selina stammered, feeling suddenly
gauche and unsophisticated.
 
“And you?”

“I am quite well, thank you.”

There was an uncomfortable pause as Mr. Malcolm stood in
front of Selina and Selina’s admirers eyed him jealously.
 
All the seats near Selina were taken, and it
was obvious none of the young gentlemen would willingly surrender his seat to
Mr. Malcolm.

“I hate to remove you from such pleasant company, Miss
Dalton, but I am forced to remind you of our appointment.”

“Our appointment?” Selina repeated, at a loss.
 
She was further bewildered when one of Mr.
Malcolm’s eyes quickly closed and reopened in a wink.

“Surely you cannot have forgotten?
 
You promised me the previous evening that you
would drive with me today, when I was not fortunate enough to enjoy a dance
with you.”

Selina could not help but be flattered at Mr. Malcolm’s
obvious ploy to remove her from the midst of her admirers.
 
She shared a secret smile with him but,
before she could reply, Julia once again intervened.

“Selina, do not forget that you agreed to drive with Cassie
this afternoon.
 
He will be arriving at
any moment.”

“I am sure Cassie will not mind if Miss Dalton drives out
with me.
 
He had the privilege of dancing
with her last night, whereas I was not similarly honored,” Mr. Malcolm said.

“But when I asked Selina this morning if she was looking
forward to her drive with Cassie she
agreed
that it was a good idea,”
Julia said, her voice filled with meaning.
 

Selina realized that she must have unwittingly agreed to
pretend to be otherwise occupied if Mr. Malcolm invited her out.
 
She understood Julia’s strategy in wanting
her to appear to be unattainable to Malcolm, but she felt that Julia was in
danger of going too far.

“I am sorry, Julia.
 
I’d forgotten I’d agreed to drive with Mr. Malcolm already,” Selina
said.

“Miss Dalton appears to be a very
agreeable
young
lady,” Lord Sylvester said in his girlish voice.
 
A few of the gentlemen dutifully laughed at
his little quip.

“That is certainly one way to describe her,” Julia said,
glaring at Selina from across the room.

“Miss Thistlewaite,” Malcolm said, with an impatient glance
in Julia’s direction, “while I appreciate your loyalty to your cousin, I am
sure Cassie will not mind if I take Miss Dalton for a drive.
 
He is not here to claim the lady, and you
know what they say about those that hesitate.”

“I will collect my things,” Selina said, jumping up from her
seat before Julia could come up with some other stratagem to keep her and Mr.
Malcolm apart.

Selina ran up the stairs to her chamber and quickly put on
her hat and spencer.
 
It was a warm
afternoon in July and she would probably be hot, but she thought perhaps there
would be a breeze when riding in the carriage.
 
What’s more, her spencer had a standing lace collar and looked quite
dashing in combination with her dress. She wanted to look her best for Mr.
Malcolm, for reasons that had nothing whatsoever to do with Julia’s little
scheme.

Descending the stairs, she saw Mr. Malcolm waiting for her,
silhouetted by the light streaming in from the fanlight above the door, and she
thought once again how unfair it was for a man to be so gorgeous.

“I am ready,” she said, stopping in front of him.

“Not quite,” he said, and moved forward until there was not
even six inches between them.
 
Selina
held her breath as his hands came toward her face and grasped her hat, tilting
it a little to one side.
 
“Now you are
ready,” he said.
 

“Thank you,” she whispered.

“My pleasure,” he said, and smiled.
 
Selina thought he was entirely too close, his
nearness was having an unusual effect on her and when a moment later Reeves
cleared his throat she jumped at the sound.
 
However, Malcolm seemed unperturbed, merely giving Selina his arm and
leading her down the steps of the town house and towards his curricle.

Selina had still not accustomed herself to riding in such a
dainty, high-perched vehicle. The only time she had ever ridden in a curricle
was with Cassie and, although he was a good driver, he became distracted too
easily to inspire confidence.
 
But Mr.
Malcolm appeared to be very much in control, and soon Selina relaxed and began
to enjoy herself.

“Miss Thistlewaite appears determined to keep us from
enjoying one another’s company,” Malcolm said to Selina, having safely
negotiated them through some
London
traffic.

“I beg your pardon?” Selina said, turning to look at
him.
 
But his expression gave nothing
away.
 

“Your friend Miss Thistlewaite.
 
She appears to be manufacturing excuses to
keep us apart.”

“Really?
 
I had not
noticed,” Selina said, fidgeting nervously with her glove to avoid meeting
Malcolm’s sideways glance.

“You had to have noticed.
 
It was obvious to the meanest intelligence.
 
Miss Thistlewaite was not exactly subtle.”

Selina realized she could no longer evade the topic by
pretending to be ignorant of Julia’s behavior.
 
“Perhaps Julia was merely looking out for my best interests,” she said.

“How so?”

“Well, you have a certain reputation as a—” Selina
hesitated, searching for the correct, least offensive word.

“Trifler?” Mr. Malcolm suggested.

“Well, yes.”

“A Breaker of Hearts?”

“I suppose one could say that.”

“A Destroyer of Young Women’s Dreams?” Malcolm recited.

“That may be an exaggeration, but you have the general
idea.”

“And you believe this description of me?” Malcolm asked
Selina.

Selina hesitated, looking over at Mr. Malcolm.
 
He looked as handsome and urbane as ever but
his expression was severe, as if he was strictly controlling his
countenance.
 
While Selina was watching
him he glanced over at her, and she was struck by how vulnerable he suddenly
appeared.

“I believe that there are two sides to every question,” she
told him, and was rewarded by his smiling at her.

“I am relieved to hear you say that, Miss Dalton, because I
do not feel as if I deserve the reputation I have acquired.
 
Particularly, in Miss Thistlewaite’s case, do
I feel myself blameless.”

“She told me that you paid her very particular attentions.”

“I escorted her to the opera.”

“You escorted her to the opera,” Selina repeated.

“Once.”

“Was it an amusing opera?” Selina asked, suddenly struck by
the absurdity of the situation.

Mr. Malcolm considered the question.
 
“No, it was not an amusing opera.
 
The soprano missed most of her notes, and
Miss Thistlewaite wore a feather in her hair.”

“A feather?”

“I found myself wanting to sneeze,” Malcolm said,
maintaining a serious countenance.
 
It
was only when he glanced Selina’s way that she saw the glint of humor in his
eyes.

“I see,” Selina said.

“Do you?” Mr. Malcolm asked.

“I do, indeed.
 
You
and Miss Thistlewaite are the victims of a most egregious set of
circumstances.
 
Feathers and screeching
sopranos are not conducive to romance.
 
Even the greatest and most historic pair of lovers would be daunted by
circumstances such as those,” Selina said, with mock gravity.

“So you acquit me of trifling with Miss Thistlewaite’s
affections?”

“I am afraid I cannot.
 
You were too easily put off, you see.
 
A sincere gentleman would have tried again.
 
Invited her to a musical concert, perhaps.”

“But I knew I was not interested in Miss Thistlewaite after
the opera.
 
If I had continued to pursue
her I would have been deserving of my reputation.”

“Perhaps you are right,” Selina said.
 
“Poor Julia, I can understand her
disappointment.
 
It must be quite
humiliating to inspire no stronger inclination in a gentleman than that to
sneeze.”

“Oh, I did not say that.
 
Miss Thistlewaite has inspired other longings in me from time to time.”

“Really?” Selina asked, feeling that the conversation which
had been such fun only moments before had suddenly gone awry.

“Oh, yes.
 
For
instance, just this afternoon I longed quite fervently to stuff my cravat in
her mouth.”

Selina laughed a little harder than the joke perhaps called
for, so relieved was she that Mr. Malcolm’s longings were not of the amorous
sort.
 
“Mr. Malcolm, let us not speak of
Julia anymore.
 
I am feeling traitorous.”

“Miss Dalton, I am more than happy to comply.
 
Let us discuss you instead.”

“Me?” Selina asked, surprised.

“Yes.
 
Please tell me
about yourself.”

“Mr. Malcolm, you must be aware that there is no more
effective way to stifle conversation than to request that someone talk about
oneself.
 
None of us would willingly
discuss our faults, and were we to discuss our strengths we would be termed a
braggart, and rightly so.”

“I suppose you are correct.
 
You must forgive me, but in my limited experience with the gentler sex
they always seem more than willing to discuss themselves,” Malcolm said wryly,
and Selina gathered from his tone that his limited experience with her sex was
not necessarily a pleasant one.
 
She
could not quite bring herself to believe that a gentleman as good-looking as he
could have only a
limited
experience
of her sex.
 
But perhaps his
fastidiousness had kept him insulated from too much interaction with
women.
 
She found herself hoping so.
 
The thought of him involved in numerous
affaires
greatly displeased her.

Before she could reply their conversation was interrupted by
a man’s voice shouting, “Jeremy Malcolm, is that you?”

Mr. Malcolm and Selina had been circling
Hyde
Park
, but as it was not yet the fashionable hour of five
o’clock there were not too many others engaged in a similar pastime.
 
The few inhabitants of the park seemed to
consist mostly of nannies and their charges and a few lone horsemen.
 
One of those horsemen had approached them and
was addressing Mr. Malcolm.