Paid Companion by Amanda Quick Page B

quizzical smile.
    “‘What are you doing here, sir?” she asked in a low voice meant for his ears alone. “I thought you had other plans for the evening.”
    She was acting as though he was the last person she had wanted to see tonight, he mused. Conscious of the disgruntled gentlemen loitering about in the vicinity, he smiled the way a man smiled at a lady who belonged to him.
    “What plans could possibly be more important than dancing with my lovely fiancée?” he asked, bending over her hand. He took her arm and steered her firmly toward the dance floor. “Where are Bennett and Margaret?” he growled.
    “They disappeared into the card room an hour or so ago.” She studied him with mild concern. “What is the matter, sir? You appear to be somewhat perturbed.”
    “I’m not perturbed, I’m annoyed.”
    “I see. Well, you really cannot blame me for not being able to distinguish between the two states of being. In your case they appear remarkably alike.”
    He refused to be teased out of his bad temper. “Bennett and Margaret were supposed to keep an eye on you.”
    “Ah, so that is the problem. You were concerned about me. Well, there is absolutely no need, sir. I assure you, I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself”
    He thought about the cluster of gentlemen that had surrounded her earlier. “I do not like the idea of you being left alone in the middle of a ballroom with a crowd of strangers.”
    “I was hardly alone, sir; and I am making friends at a great rate.”
    “That is not the point. You are a very competent woman, Elenora, but there is no getting around the fact that you have not had a great deal of experience swimming in Society.” Bennett’s admonition came back to him. “These waters can be extremely treacherous.”
    “I assure you, there is no need to worry about me. That is one of the reasons you went to an agency to hire a paid companion, if you will recall. Among other requirements, you wished to employ a female who had been out in the world; one who possessed a degree of common sense.”
    ‘And that is another thing.“ He tightened his grip on her. ”What were you thinking when you told Hathersage that I had found you at an agency?“
    “Bennett warned me that I would have to say something to Hathersage that would cause him to sit up and take notice, as it were. I had heard about your infamous vow a year ago, the one about seeking your next bride at an agency. I decided that if I referred to your little jest, Hathersage would be amused. That is precisely what happened.”
    “Huh.” He did not like it, but he had to admit she was right. Hathersage had found Elenora very entertaining. “Who told you about those remarks I made a year ago?”
    “Evidently everyone has heard about them. Indeed, they appear to have become a part of your personal legend.”
    He winced. “At the time I intended them as a bit of wit, one of those things one says to deflect sympathy or unwanted inquiries.”
    “I understand. But later, when you realized you needed a lady who could pose as your fiancée, it occurred to you that the idea was actually a very good one, is that it?”
    “It was either that or employ a professional actress,” he agreed. “I was reluctant to do that for fear that she might be recognized by, uh,” he hesitated, searching for a diplomatic turn of phrase. “Someone who had seen her perform onstage.”
    She caught his slight pause and raised her brows. “Or by some gentlemen who had enjoyed her favors offstage?”
    “No offense to your grandmother,” he said dryly.
    “None taken. She would have been the first to acknowledge that actresses and opera dancers have always enjoyed a certain reputation among the gentlemen of the ton.”
    He was relieved that she did not appear to be the least bit touchy or outraged by the subject. ‘What a relief it was to be able to talk openly to a woman, he thought, his mood lifting for the first time that evening. With Elenora he