The Earl of Ice

by Helen A. Grant

  “There is Miss Colpert,” Straw said, nervous to approach her but wanting so much to speak to this young lady with whom he had been so enamoured last season. His heart skipped a beat as he realized his feelings for her had not diminished.

  “Come, let us see if we can secure a dance or two with her this evening,” encouraged Woody. “When I was here earlier, Miss Wells did not care to dance and it would seem that is still the case,” he muttered, having noticed her refusal of another gentleman who had approached her. “She said she had a bad ankle, but I noticed she walked well enough. She probably does not like dancing.”

  Rollo recalled that she had very much enjoyed dancing last year. “I am sure that is not the case. You must, of course, offer to partner Miss Wells, and you must not snub her if you are approaching her cousin.”

  He stood back as he watched the three young men approach the two young ladies. Miss Colpert smiled in greeting when she recognized Woody and then blushed becomingly when Straw stepped forward. In contrast, Miss Wells looked startled and even frightened. Rollo saw that where Miss Colpert produced her dance card and looked to be accepting the requests for reserving sets, Miss Wells did not even appear to have a dance card. He waited for the three young men to return.

  Straw was grinning. “Miss Colpert has reserved me the dance before supper,” he joyously informed Rollo. “Perhaps she is ready to forgive me.”

  “What about Miss Wells?” Rollo casually asked. “Who is to escort her to supper?”

  “She would not to be persuaded to dance,” Oliver said. “In fact, she barely even managed to answer our requests politely.”

  “After what she went through at your hands last year, I am hardly surprised,” Rollo said harshly, but in truth, he could not understand why she wasn’t dancing. Maybe she was unwell; she had certainly lost weight.

  In order to find out why Miss Wells was not dancing, when Oliver went to escort Miss Colpert onto the dance floor, Rollo accompanied him and bowed before Lady Westbury. “I trust you are in good health, my lady. I hope I may have the opportunity of securing a dance with your daughter.”

  “You may ask her by all means, my lord, but she has been reluctant to take to the dance floor this season,” Lady Westbury replied tersely but not unkindly.

  Given this permission, Rollo took the seat that Miss Colpert had vacated next to Diana. He was encouraged when she rewarded him with a faint smile.

  Diana had often thought about seeing Rollo again and how she would feel. Now her pulse quickened at his close proximity and she caught her breath. Rollo, however, held no fear for Diana; she trusted him and he had given her Demon. “I am pleased to be able to thank you in person now for your generous gift,” she said. “Demon is settled now at Caulder Hall and I ride him every day when I am at home. He gives me great pleasure.”

  “I am pleased to hear that, but tell me, is he behaving with grooms and stable hands?” inquired Rollo, sending up a silent prayer of thanks that the horse gave them an easy topic to begin conversation. His heart was beating somewhat erratically and he couldn’t seem to take his gaze away from her face. Her soft brown eyes and rosebud lips were captivating and sent a flare of heat through him.

  Diana’s eyes met his and the piercing blue sent a frisson of excitement through her. How had she forgotten how mesmerizing his cold blue eyes were? But now, they did not seem cold, but heated. She tried to keep her voice steady as she replied, “Yes, he now has a groom who likes him and understands how to deal with him. So, on the whole he is now quite well-mannered although, as you are aware, he does have a mind of his own.”

  Rollo’s scent was just as she remembered it, all male and so enticing she wanted to lean closer to him. Except for that time a year ago when they played hide-and-seek, she had no experience with the surge of emotions suddenly filling her. She was very much afraid he would be able to read her thoughts from her face.

  “I am well aware of that,” Rollo replied, nodding. His gaze took in her smooth shoulders, her translucent skin. He remembered how soft she had been against him, how warm. His body tightened.

  “I would ask you to reserve a set for me, but I have been told that you are not taking to the dance floor this season. Is this right?” Rollo questioned, still unable to remove his gaze from her.

  “I find that I am no longer able to dance,” she explained hesitantly. “Ever since the…unfortunate event last year, I get so anxious, in case anything awful should happen again, that I miss steps, stumble and cannot converse coherently with any partner. I am best, and happier, just watching.”

  How unhappy she must be! thought Rollo. She was too young to give up such pleasures. “Come now, the next set is the one before supper. It is a quadrille. Let me partner you. I remember how you enjoyed dancing before.”

  “I would happily partner you,” Diana admitted, her heart beating a little faster in anticipation. “But should I do so, other gentlemen may approach me and how could I then refuse them without appearing rude?”

  “You will not refuse them. You will dance and enjoy yourself knowing that I am watching and that I will not allow any harm to befall you,” Rollo declared, his promise surprising even himself.

  Diana was sorely tempted. If she refused she risked losing his support and respect, and that would be very sad, for she valued his friendship. And he had been her saviour last year by removing her from London, but could she keep expecting him to rescue her? Was this the price he felt he had to pay because of her knowledge of his fits? She hoped that was not the only reason and that he did genuinely care for her welfare.

  “Really, it is most kind of you to offer,” she said, “but I am quite content to sit and watch the dancing.” She was giving him an escape, but he did not take it.

  “I will return for you at the beginning of the next set, and I do not expect you to humiliate me by not accepting me as your partner,” he warned, his eyes flashing threateningly, though the corners of his mouth twitched in amusement.

  Diana, realizing he would brook no refusal, smiled at him.

  Ah, he thought, there is the beauty I remember.

  True to his word, Rollo collected Diana for the next set. As he firmly took hold of her small gloved hand, she was pleased to find that she did not tremble and feel nauseous, as she had when approached by other gentlemen. This gave her the confidence to believe that she would actually be able to get through the set safely.

  All eyes were on them as they walked out and took their place on the dance floor. Rollo had not requested any other lady to partner him, and by singling Diana out, it would give her, he knew, some standing and so might go some way in counteracting any rumours about her. Rollo was not being vain; he was merely aware of his influence. Unfortunately for him, having danced with Miss Wells, he would then be obliged to partner some of the other ladies of his acquaintance.

  At the start of the set Diana trembled a little when she had to leave Rollo’s protection and dance with any of the other three gentlemen in their square. But gradually she relaxed as she realized with humour that the other three ladies appeared even more nervous when they had to exchange steps with the earl!

  “Have you just arrived in Bath?” Diana asked him. “I saw you brother at the Pump Room earlier this week.” The dance parted them and he replied when they came back together. “We’ve been here a little more than a week. I find I do not have as much need of society as my brother and his friends.”

  Diana picked up on the dryness of his comment and smiled her understanding. “Given the choice, I would have stayed at home in the country,” she confided.

  “Given the choice, so would I,” Rollo replied. “But after last season I felt it incumbent on me to keep a closer watch on my errant brother and his friends.”

  Diana was fully aware that he was referring to her situation with Cotson last season. “Well, I am thankful for your presence.”

  They made small talk when the dancing allowed. Onlookers were taken aback that the previously shy little mous
e, Miss Wells, was able to converse confidently and apparently cheerfully with the intimidating Earl of Ice.

  When the quadrille came to an end, Rollo escorted Diana to the tea room for refreshments. Despite the crush, they managed to find two chairs at the end of a trestle table tucked away under the orchestra gallery. A waiter promptly appeared.

  “A lemonade, please.” Diana was too warm to consider tea or coffee, and she had learnt her lesson with regards to alcoholic beverages.

  “I will have tea, please,” Rollo ordered. “And a selection of cakes.”

  They sat in silence for a short time, but it was not uncomfortable. When the refreshments arrived, Rollo served Diana. “Try these,” he said, and to tempt her, placed two exquisite miniature cakes onto her plate.

  Diana smiled and bit daintily into the tiny confection. Rollo was mesmerized, watching as her small white teeth bit gently into the cake; when her tongue then darted across her lips to remove a crumb, he drew in a breath sharply. The urge to cross the small distance that separated them and taste her lips with his own tongue nearly overwhelmed him.

  Oblivious to this, Diana, her hand ungloved, innocently offered him the rest of the cake to taste. “This is delicious. Here, try it.”

  As Rollo opened his mouth to refuse the offer, Diana, mistaking the gesture, popped the tiny morsel into his mouth. She quickly snatched her hand away when Rollo, surprised, closed his mouth around her thumb and forefinger before she had time to remove them. His warm lips around her fingers sent a bolt of heat straight to her abdomen. Diana blushed and her heart began racing. She did not know how to handle these strange yet exciting feelings.

  The encounter left both Diana and Rollo a little shaken. Rollo was the first to recover.

  “I must apologize for biting your fingers. You took me by surprise.”

  Diana, now realizing his misunderstanding and seeing the funny side of the incident, smiled and gave a shaky laugh. She could not reveal to Rollo the effect it had had on her. “For a moment I thought you were having a taste for sponge-fingers, my lord!” she joked, referring to the finger-shaped sponge cake treats.

  Rollo chuckled, too, relieved she did not feel as disconcerted as he had by the incident. “Well, when next I do, I now know where to find the most delicious ones!” he said teasingly.

  After their refreshments, Rollo escorted Diana back to the ballroom. Leaving her with her cousin, he moved a safe distance away from this young lady, who had, once again, unsettled his composure.

  After the break, a number of gentlemen came forward and asked Diana to dance. She danced a set with Straw and knowing that his attentions were still clearly focused on Caroline, she did not feel too nervous. She also danced a cotillion with Oliver Stannington, safe in the knowledge that his brother was watching him closely.

  “I am so pleased that you joined the dancing tonight,” said Caroline earnestly as they journeyed home at the end of the evening. “How you find the courage to dance with Lord Brockwood I do not know. He makes me quake just looking at him; I am glad so he did not ask me to dance. I imagine that you dared not refuse him.”

  “I did not want to refuse him,” Diana explained. “He is a very good dancer and he was very kind to me, to both of us, last season.”

  “I know that, but he is so intimidating.” Caroline shivered. Seeing this, Diana smiled. Not to me, he isn’t, she thought. She understood the reason for the Earl of Ice’s cold facade, the knowledge she would never share. She changed the subject to one she knew would distract her friend.

  “You danced twice with Mr. Straw. Does this mean you are ready to forgive him for his involvement in the wager last season?”

  Caroline blushed. “I am not sure that I have completely forgiven him, but he is so contrite it is hard not to. I have said he may call on me. Do you think that was wrong of me?”

  Diana was aware of how strong her cousin’s attachment to Henry Straw had been before the trouble last season and did not want to see her upset again. “I think you were right to give permission for him to call on you. It was not he who took forward the wager, and perhaps by losing your good regard at the time, he has been punished enough.”

  Chapter 13

  The next few weeks passed without incident and quite pleasantly for Diana. Henry Straw was a regular caller at the house much to Caroline’s delight, and he often had Woody or Stannington with him to provide company for Diana as they strolled the parks and streets of Bath. Although Rollo would have liked to join them on these occasions, he did not. He felt he had paid her quite a bit of attention and did not want to raise any expectations in Diana or her mother. At least that was the reason he gave himself.

  Lord Brockwood’s presence at the balls she attended twice a week at the Assembly Rooms gave Diana the security she needed to be able to enjoy herself. Her mother and Caroline were pleased to see that she was now allowing her dance card to be filled. Not all the people in Bath had been witness to Diana’s disgrace in London. Many of those who had, upon seeing that Lord Brockwood had acknowledged her, felt they could do likewise.

  Rollo remained circumspect and danced only once each evening with Miss Wells. He watched as, over the next couple of weeks, she grew in confidence and the sparkle returned to her eyes. He saw that she would periodically seek him out with her eyes to make sure he was still present. In response he would nod, almost imperceptibly, and she would then smile and stay happy in the knowledge he was there. This gave him more pleasure than he liked to admit even to himself. That he was enduring attending the balls at the Assembly Rooms twice weekly in order to make sure Miss Wells was happy was turning out not to be as unpleasant as he feared.

  By mid-November Bath was teeming with people, and there was such a crush at the Assembly Rooms on the evening of a formal ball that Caroline and Diana were unable to secure seats. Caroline was soon whisked off to dance a reel with Henry Straw, and Diana was to dance the next set, the first cotillion, with Rollo as had become their custom.

  “Good evening,” Diana greeted him cheerfully, smiling up at him in spite of his severe expression and extending her hand. “I fear we may be trampled this evening, such is the crowd on the dance floor.” She cherished her one nightly dance with this tall austere yet strangely thrilling gentleman.

  Rollo had already noted with some displeasure that the room was even more crowded than usual. He was a good dancer and could steer her clear of others, but he did not know how skilled the other dancers in the set were. “I will do my utmost to ensure we return unscathed,” he said as he led her through the throng to take their place.

  Rollo was only partially concentrating on the dance, which had almost come to an end, when out of the corner of his eye he saw a fair-haired gentleman, something of a dandy, who looked like Lord Cotson. He almost stumbled and had to force himself to continue moving as he looked again. Surely it was not he. The crowd was so dense that he could no longer see the fellow, but he was glad the dance had at last finished and he could escort Diana back to her mother.

  As he moved off to find a quiet corner, he looked round and he not only saw that Lord Cotson was indeed in attendance, but it appeared he was heading directly for Miss Wells. Good God! What was the man thinking? Rollo doubled back quickly to try to intercept him.

  Too late, Rollo saw the moment Diana caught sight of Cotson.

  Diana froze. She could not breathe. He could not be here. But he was and coming ever closer to her. Her blood pounding in her ears, she looked frantically about for an escape route, but could see no way through the dense crowd. Panic assailed her and then, mercifully, for the first time in her life, she fainted.

  Muttering a curse under his breath, Rollo caught her just in time and kept hold of her until her mother, who had been in deep conversation with her sister, was made aware of the situation. Then, Lady Westbury, with the help of some nearby ladies, took her from him and seated her on a chair. Fortunately, one of the ladies had some smelling salts on hand and made them available for Diana. The
salts did their work, and Rollo, thus freed, marched straight over to Cotson.

  “What the hell do you think you are doing here?” he demanded, his voice tight with rage. His towering presence was enough to intimidate a much stronger man than Cotson would ever be. “You will leave here immediately and you will explain yourself to me.” He grasped Cotson’s narrow shoulder firmly, giving him no option but to move to the door and continue to exit the building.

  Rollo called for his carriage, and when it arrived he roughly pushed Cotson inside and swiftly followed.

  “I…I say …,” Cotson began.

  “Shut up,” Rollo snapped. He would let Cotson have his say, but not until they were in the privacy of the house. It took a great deal of willpower to retain his composure and not allow the anger coursing through him to result in a fist to Cotson’s face.

  When they arrived back at the house on Royal Crescent, he almost threw the young man into the library before following him in and pouring himself a large brandy.

  “I think you had better explain yourself to me,” Rollo thundered. “You were lucky you weren’t tracked down and brought to account when you left the country last year after your disgraceful behaviour toward Miss Wells. Do you have any idea how she has suffered and been made to pay the price for your thoughtless actions?”

  Cotson took a seat before his trembling legs gave way. He doubtless had never before seen Brockwood without his impassive mask. Tonight the mask was gone and it was obvious that Brockwood was furious.

  “I was intending to apologize to Miss Wells and, if need be, offer to wed her,” Cotson explained quickly.

  “Are you not at least a year too late for that action?” asked Rollo with contempt. “And ‘if need be’? What kind of proposal is that? You insult the lady.”

  “I did not mean to, my lord. I have had time to think about what I did and I am desperate to make amends. The wager last year was extremely foolish; my actions were even more so, and I deeply regret them. I wanted Miss Wells to know that.”