Anna quickly gave it to him. “Mr. Lockhart, I was not aware you had called on us.”
One brow arched high across the other and his thumb caressed the bare knuckles of her hand. “Indeed? Your butler did not inform you I had come to pay my respects to the prettiest pair of sisters in all of London?”
“Why, no,” she said, twisting her hand in his so that their palms were touching. “He did not say you had called on anyone but Lucy.”
Lockhart smiled, glanced surreptitiously into the foyer, then stepped closer to Anna, so that she had to tip her head back to see his face. “I shall have a cross word with him then, for depriving me of your company,” he said, his fingers skating up her wrist, and inclined his head toward her, so that his lips were on her temple. “How lovely you smell, Anna.”
His compliment sent a delicious shiver through her, and she boldly lifted her face so that her lips were only inches from his. “Indeed?”
“Indeed,” he said softly, and she knew, she could feel, that he was just a fraction of a moment away from kissing her… but with an enigmatic smile, Lockhart stepped away from her.
“Regretfully, I’ve a previous engagement and must take my leave,” he said, and with a polite nod, walked on, into the foyer.
Her heart pounding, Anna heard him walk across the marble entry and darted across the corridor. Now she could hear him speak to the footman, and with her body pressed against the wall, she leaned to her left to have a peek around the corner.
“Is he gone, then?”
The sound of the Scot’s whispered voice caused her to shriek softly and clamp a hand over her heart as she whirled about. “Lord Ardencaple!” she cried. “You frightened me!”
Ardencaple laughed, his teeth snowy white. “I certainly did no’ mean to frighten ye so, Miss Addison. I rather thought ye heard me… but I suppose yer attention was elsewhere, eh?” he asked with a sly wink.
Anna’s face flamed—had he seen her with Drake? This was exactly the sort of thing that sent her mother into fits. She self-consciously smoothed her damp palms against her sides before folding her arms defensively beneath her bosom and glaring at the Scot… handsome Scot, actually, what with his dark wavy hair and lovely green eyes. And his lips… dear God, those lips had her heart pounding all over again.
Her hand drifted up to her throat. “I see that you have found your way around London’s sitting rooms well enough.”
Ardencaple lifted an amused brow. “I suppose I have.”
She was unable to take her gaze from his lips. “I should think, in fact, that likely you’ve found your way to the sitting rooms of all the debutantes.”
His eyes filled with something akin to mirth. “No’ as many as ye might think, Miss Addison. I’ve left one or two of the lassies for the good English gentlemen.”
“How very kind of you. I’m certain they shall all be indebted to your largesse.”
He chuckled as his gaze lazily drifted the length of her, leaving a peculiar trail of warmth in her. Unnerved by it, Anna blurted, “How ever shall you choose, my lord? There are so many debutantes to swoon over you.”
His smiled deepened. “All but one, apparently.”
There was something very intent about his green eyes, and Anna abruptly pushed away from the wall, saying indifferently, “Oh, my lord, you should not concern yourself with me…” She strolled into the middle of the foyer, and over her shoulder added, “I assure you I am quite content to let the young ladies brawl for your attentions.”
Ardencaple laughed at that and followed her into the foyer. “How very considerate of ye, Miss Addison. Yet I confess I’d no’ mind another fair lass in the thick of the brawl. The more the merrier, as they say, and I should think it would be quite… entertaining to see ye brawl.”
She gave him a pert toss of her head, looked up at a painting of her grandfather, sighing as if she heard that sort of thing all the time. “I am hardly affected by your attempts to charm me, my lord—there’s enough gentlemanly charm in Mayfair to suffocate us all. I confine my interests to academics.”
“Do ye now?” he asked, startling her with his nearness. He was standing at her back, so close that she could feel his body behind her. “And under which course of study would ye classify Mr. Lockhart?”
Of all the nerve! Anna shot him a frown over her shoulder. “Mr. Lockhart is a gentleman,” she said coolly.
“Of course he is,” Ardencaple amicably agreed. “And what is it ye study besides the gentleman Mr. Lockhart?”
“As a matter of fact,” she said, turning round to face him. “You might be surprised to know that I am a student of Scotland.”
“Are ye indeed?” he asked, his brows lifted in surprise.
“I am. It seems a rather charming place.”
“Oh aye, she is that.”
“And where would the seat of your earldom be, Lord Ardencaple?”