His eyes finally landed on Lord Silverstone on the other side of the ballroom. He was deep in conversation with three other men. One of the men stood over the others, commanding attention with his broad smile.

Blast.

Lord Yolten. When had he arrived? And how had he ended up with an invitation? Mrs. Cuthbert must have sent him an invitation. She should know better. And if he was here . . .

Certainly enough, Lady Yolten, with her broad mouth and presence that, despite her small stature, seemed to encompass those around her, stood in a small group of women. His weeks with her had been good ones. One of the ladies next to her said something in Lady Yolten’s ear. Lady Yolten put a hand to the other lady’s elbow and threw her head back with a laugh. Despite the distance and the rumblings of the crowd, he could hear the way she took pleasure in a laugh. The chime of it rang through his mind if not his ears.

Everton blinked and brought his attention back to the lady at his side. Not all women could be as full of life as Lady Yolten. That didn’t mean they didn’t deserve to gain what they wanted out of life. He smiled at Lady Emily.

He couldn’t hand her to Lord Silverstone now, not with Lord Yolten standing right next to him. He would have to acknowledge Lord Yolten, and for all he knew, Lord Yolten would treat him like some kind of friend. There was nothing more awkward than publicly facing a man whose wife he had dallied about with. Even if it was before they were married.

“Why don’t we dance again and drive Lord Silverstone off in a huff?”

Lady Emily chewed on her lip and sighed. “I should like to dance with him. Just once.”

Everton waited for her to elaborate on her reasonings, but she never seemed to offer up more than what was asked. “Why?” he prodded.

“I don’t know what my parents have told him about me, but I’m certain it wasn’t accurate. If he is disappointed in me, we can end this whole fiasco tonight.”

It wasn’t the best of plans. In many ways, Lady Emily was probably exactly the type of wife that kind of man was looking for. She was quiet and unassuming. Silverstone would probably see her as someone easy to control and manipulate to do his bidding.

Lady Emily would slowly lose herself with a man like that when she hadn’t been given a chance to find herself in the first place.

But if she desired a dance with Lord Silverstone, Everton wasn’t going to stop her. She had enough people telling her what to do. He wasn’t about to ignore the first thing she had admitted to wanting. “I’ll escort you to your mother. I refuse to hand you off to him.” Not only because Lord Yolten was in his circle of friends. He couldn’t watch Lady Emily put her butterfly touch on a man who bartered for a young wife at that age.