He smiled and bowed his head to the eagle-eyed matrons stationed near the refreshments. The hair on the back of his neck stood up at the cold calculation in their gazes. Taking his attention from them, he scanned the dance floor once more. He saw the girls he’d met at Leed’s ancient estate over the winter, at least most of them. Diane Plymouth and Leed’s sisters. They were pretty girls, the sisters especially. A matched set of beauties, blessed with the Talbot blue eyes and thick sable hair. They didn’t draw him for long, though. He regarded them as sisters and always had. It was a shame that the eldest, Catherine, had been ill-used by that bastard Waltham last year. Thrown over for a friend of hers with a larger dowry. He glanced at Diane and was stunned to find her gaze almost predatory as she spied him. If he was wary before, he was definitely on guard now. Since when was that girl on the hunt? She narrowed her gaze, saying something to the Talbot sisters he couldn’t comprehend, then made her determined way over to him.
