He forced himself to return his attention to Isabella. A brief flash of supreme annoyance crossed the widow’s face. If Garrett hadn’t been looking, he might have missed it.

“What’s so amusing?” Isabella leaned toward Miss Lowndes and cupped a hand behind her ear.

Miss Lowndes looked a bit startled to have been addressed by Isabella. “Lord Owen was just telling me the most charming story about a mutual acquaintance of ours in London.”

“Monroe is the soul of charm,” Garrett grumbled under his breath, glaring at Monroe.

Monroe seemed to finally remember his promise. He leaned toward Isabella and flashed her a rakish grin. “Do tell us, Mrs. Langford. Do you know Sir Roderick Montague?”

A small pout formed on Isabella’s lips. “I’m afraid I do not, my lord. I know only a few people in Society. Mr. Upton here is one of my dearest friends. I am quite thankful for his friendship.”

Miss Lowndes’s eyebrows rose, but otherwise she looked as if she were ready to turn back and continue her discussion with Monroe. Isabella cleared her throat. “In fact, I was just telling Mr. Upton how greatly I’ve been looking forward to this party. It’s such a pleasure to see him again.”

Miss Lowndes mumbled something that sounded suspiciously like “I find that difficult to believe.” Then she pasted a smile on her bluestocking face and said more loudly, “How exactly are the two of you acquainted, Mrs. Langford?”

Garrett froze. The tone in Miss Lowndes’s voice, the way she’d said “acquainted,” implied something he didn’t want to contemplate.

Isabella brought her napkin to her red lips and blotted their fullness before directing her gaze to Miss Lowndes. “Mr. Upton knew my late husband during the war.”

Miss Lowndes turned her bespectacled gaze on him. “You served together, you and Mr. Langford? In Spain?”

Garrett plucked at his cravat. It was stifling in here tonight. He nodded and reached for his wine glass again. That footman had better stay alert. “Yes. I had the pleasure of serving with Captain Langford. A better soldier I’ve never known.”

Miss Lowndes narrowed her gaze on him. That was another thing about her. She had a way of looking at people, a way of studying them that made it seem as if she knew all their secrets, as if she could see through them and pick them apart one by one.

“Do you have children, Mrs. Langford?” Miss Lowndes continued, smiling a bit too sweetly at Isabella.

Isabella nodded. “I do, a boy and a girl. They are in London with their tutor and governess.”

Miss Lowndes cocked her head to the side. “Ah, one of each. How efficient.”

“I suppose so.” Isabella’s smile remained tight. “How exactly do you two know each other?” she countered, staring at Miss Lowndes and then glancing at Garrett.

A wry smile tugged at Miss Lowndes’s lips and Garrett found himself looking forward to what was certain to be a highly sarcastic answer. “Unfortunately for both of us, Upton and I have a mutual friend in the Duchess of Claringdon.”