“Basil!” Victoria said warmly when he reached her side. “How nice to see you again this evening.”
Robert gave up all pretense of normal, sane behavior and crossed to her side in two steps.
“Robert!” she said, and he rather thought her voice was twice as warm as it had been with Basil. He grinned stupidly.
“I was just enjoying your wife's company,” Basil said.
“Contrive not to enjoy it so much,” Robert barked.
Victoria's mouth fell open. “Why, Robert, are you jealous?”
“Not at all,” he lied.
“Don't you trust me?”
“Of course I do,” he snapped. “I don't trust him.”
“Me?” Basil said with an amazingly straight face.
“I don't trust any of them,” Robert growled.
Harriet, who had been standing silently by Victoria's side, nudged her and said, “See, I told you he loves you.”
“Enough already!” Robert said. “She knows. Trust me.”
“We all love her,” Basil said, grinning.
Robert groaned. “I am plagued with relations.”
Victoria touched his arm and smiled. “And I am plagued with fatigue. Would you mind if I darted off to the retiring room for a moment?”
His eyes immediately clouded with concern. “Are you ill? If you are, I'll call for—”
“I'm not ill,” Victoria said under her breath. “I just need to go to the retiring room. I was trying to be polite.”
“Oh,” Robert replied. “I'll escort you.”
“No, don't be silly. It's just down the hall. I'll be back before you notice I'm gone.”
“I always notice when you're gone.”
Victoria reached out to touch his cheek. “You say the sweetest things.”
“Stop touching him!” Mrs. Brightbill gasped. “People will say you're in love!”
“What the devil would be wrong with that?” Robert demanded, turning on her.
“In principle, nothing. But love is not at all fashionable.”
Basil chuckled. “I fear you're trapped in a very bad farce, Cuz.”
“With no escape in sight,” Harriet quipped.
Victoria took advantage of this exchange to slip away. “If you'll all excuse me,” she murmured. She scooted along the perimeter of the ballroom until she reached the double doors leading to the hall. Mrs. Brightbill had pointed out the washroom to her earlier that evening, and Victoria found it again with ease.
The ladies' retiring room was actually in two parts. Victoria slipped through the mirrored antechamber and entered the actual washroom, locking the door behind her. She heard someone else enter the antechamber as she did her business, and hurried up, assuming that the other lady would need to relieve herself as well. Victoria quickly smoothed down her skirts and unlocked the door, a society smile pasted on her face.
Her smile lasted less than a second.
“Good evening, Lady Macclesfield.”
“Lord Eversleigh!” she gasped. The man who had attacked her at the Hollingwoods' house party. Victoria suddenly found herself fighting the urge to retch. Then she redirected her efforts, deciding that if she was going to empty her stomach, she might as well aim for his feet.
“You remember my name,” he murmured. “I'm honored.”
“What are you doing here? This room is for ladies.”
He shrugged. “Any lady who attempts to enter will find only a locked door. Lucky for them that the Lindworthys set up another retiring room on the other side of the house.”
Victoria rushed past him and tried the door. It didn't budge.
“I invite you to look for the key,” he said insolently. “It's on my person.”
“You're mad!”
“No,” he said, pinning her against the wall. “Just furious. No one makes a fool out of me.”
“My husband will kill you,” she said in a low voice. “He knows where I am. If he finds you here—”
“He will assume you are cuckolding him,” Eversleigh finished for her, stroking her bare shoulder with a revolting brand of tenderness.
Victoria knew that Robert would never believe the worst of her, especially in light of Eversleigh's past behavior. “He will kill you,” she repeated.
Eversleigh's hand slipped down to the crook of her waist. “How did you manage to trap him into marriage, I wonder. What a devious little governess you turned out to be.”
“Get your hands off me,” she hissed.