Winterly (Dark Creatures Book 1), стр. 23
The servant paused, blinking stupidly at his lordship. But he shrugged after a moment, presumably used to his master’s eccentricity, and continued filling the water glasses. Thus Victoria established herself at the head of the table and Gabriel availed himself of the other end. For her part, Emma wasn’t sure which was more intolerable: glancing up from her plate at Lord Winterly or, as in Victoria’s case, at that Gabriel fellow.
And why was Lord Winterly smirking at her? He had more than ample reason to snub her, seeing as he’d made no secret about overhearing her ungracious remark. Emma took a deep breath and resigned herself to a very stimulating night. A little more of Mr. Black’s fine wine was certainly in order if she was to weather Lord Winterly’s attention.
Milli was seated happily between Mr. Valko and Lord Winterly, practically preening herself with the good fortune of finding a place between two of the handsomest men in London. In truth the entire party was a handsome one, though she was obliged to exclude herself and the Haywoods; her uncle had allowed himself to go to fat and Aunt Sophie had ever been a drab, quiet thing.
As it turned out, there were to be only three courses, Victoria informed them, this being only an informal dinner party. The first course consisted of beautiful porcelain tureens of pea soup, a selection of entrées, and several silver platters of turbot and eel. The second course followed shortly thereafter and subsisted of a wide variety of meat dishes (including le rosbif and a roasted swan in currant sauce), vegetables, various other sauces, savories, and pastries.
By the time the dessert was served, she had taken no more than a few bites of fish and sipped sparingly at the water that filled her crystal goblet. She had been too absorbed by the effort of partaking in and following the conversation between Dr. Wheatstone and Mr. Morris. More to the point, she’d been wholly employed with avoiding Lord Winterly’s gaze.
The doctor was doing most of the talking and had proven himself to be even more of an abstemious diner than she, despite the succulent fare; even his water glass was untouched. Not Mr. Morris, though, who ate with gusto. The plates of the other guests were hidden by the table decorations, had she cared to measure the appetites of those around her. But her eyes had not strayed much from her plate to look, lest they collided with Lord Winterly’s. And Milli, from what Emma had overheard, had been too busy waffling nonsense into Valko’s ear to eat very much. Now here, at last, was the pyramid of fruits and cheeses, and soon Victoria would be leading the ladies back to the drawing room for coffee and tea whilst the men smoked their cigars.
“Miss Rose,” said his lordship suddenly, prompting a hush to fall over the table. Lord Winterly waited till she met his gaze before he continued. “You are much distracted by your plate tonight.”
It was most ungentlemanlike of him to notice, worse still to comment on it. Why, Aunt Sophie had scarce put two words together, which was not surprising, being as she was the unlucky neighbor to Mr. Gabriel Grimm (Emma had managed to glean his surname from the dinner discourse); how uncanny that he should possess a name befitting that majestic scowl of his. Mr. Black, who was seated opposite Aunt Sophie, had not moved his lips except to snarl at a carrot on his fork. So their end of the table had produced no conversation at all. Why should Emma’s reticence be commented upon?
“I take it,” Lord Winterly continued, gesturing to her two dinner companions, “the conversation is not as diverting as The Castle Of Wolfenbach?”
“Nothing is more diverting than Eliza Parsons,” said she, determined not to let him intimidate her. “Though, I admit, the society of Dr. Wheatstone and Mr. Morris comes a very close second.”
Lord Winterly shifted a languorous glance towards Mr. Morris. “I imagine you have not read the famous works of Eliza Parsons, have you, Armi?”
Mr. Morris peered thoughtfully at Emma. “I regret that I have not.”
“Well, I myself took the trouble to do so,” Lord Winterly said, “for I was possessed of a keen desire to impress Miss Rose; I have discovered that she is most difficult to impress.”
“It is only wicked viscounts that do not impress me, my lord.”
Most of the dinner guests were glancing between them with knowing grins. Her uncle, however, had fixed her with a quelling glare. “Really, Emma, what is his lordship to make of such impertinence?”
Aunt Sophie was wide-eyed, and Mr. Black, and Mr. Gabriel watched on with wooden countenances.
“That I must try harder to impress your niece, Mr. Haywood.”
“Not a bit, sir!”
“You might try curing her of somnambulism,” said Milli. “I daresay that would be impressive!”
At that, their uncle groaned, poor man—to be saddled with two such unnatural nieces.
“Milli, I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Emma was too busy shooting her sister a tight smile to feel sympathy for her poor uncle. That Milli should think it appropriate to discuss such a private matter with perfect strangers… She promised herself she would ring Milli’s neck as soon as they were alone.
“But, Em—”
“How did you find the novel, Lord Winterly?”
It was evident, from the way his eyes flickered between Emma and her sister, that his lordship had found Milli’s comment intriguing. Fortunately, however, he seemed inclined to allow Emma to steer the conversation back on track. “I found that it has all my favorite motifs,” he said. “A virtuous heroine, a gloomy old castle, a lecherous old count, and a final glorious struggle between the forces of light and darkness.”
Here Victoria interjected. “Do not forget the part where the girl finds out all the dastardly family secrets.”
“I never forget that part, my dear.” And because his