Quill watched the happy pair from under heavy-lidded eyes. Perhaps he’d go out and get blind drunk tonight. It was a luxury he rarely, if ever, indulged in. But now the oblivion of too much brandy sounded enviable.

“Will you join us, Quill?”

Quill shook his head. In his present mood, it was only irritating to find Peter acting his generous self. It couldn’t be easy for the pink of the ton to have a brother who was both lame and antisocial. But Peter never failed to urge Quill to accompany him to various events.

“Perhaps I will stop in later,” Quill said, quite to his own surprise.

Gabby gave him one of her huge smiles. “That would be delightful, Quill! I shall look for you.”

Peter ushered Gabby into the carriage, noting with approval the velvet pelisse that Madame had designed to accompany this particular gown. “You look quite well this evening,” he pronounced in the semidarkness of the carriage.

“She’s a beauty,” Lady Sylvia agreed. “You’re in luck, Peter. It’s risky, getting a bride from abroad. One of my second cousins contracted a gel from Scotland who turned out to be a tallow-faced chit. He ran away to the Americas before the wedding.”

Gabby sighed with relief. She’d done it. Peter approved of her.

Peter had an alarmed thought. “Do you know how to dance?”

“Yes,” Gabby said. “Although I have never danced with a man,” she admitted. “My father hired an Englishwoman to teach me.”

Peter quite liked that idea. If Gabby misplaced a step, he could gently drop the fact that his betrothed had never been held in a man’s arms before. There weren’t many men in London who could say such a thing.

“Don’t worry,” he said comfortingly. “I will explain everything.”

Gabby’s heart expanded with happiness. Peter was acting precisely like the sweet gentleman of her daydreams: protective, thoughtful, admiring. “Oh, Peter,” she exclaimed, “I’m so happy we’re to be married!”

Peter was taken aback. What the devil was he supposed to say to that? And why would she say something so intimate before Lady Sylvia? “Quite appropriate,” he finally managed.

Gabby was only a little disappointed. It was too early for Peter to express the same anticipation that she felt. But perhaps this evening they would kiss, the way she and Quill had kissed. She had sensed anticipation in Quill’s hard body, in his darkened eyes. She meant to see that same emotion in Peter by the end of the evening.