by Amelia Grey
With each word he spoke, her breaths grew shorter and deeper. She believed that too, but couldn’t hint to him it was true. She couldn’t let this rogue upset her well-planned life. It had taken her too long to settle the past and put it behind her.
She looked him boldly in the eyes and stated, “I am not looking for adventure or passion.”
The blue of his eyes seemed to darken. He gave her a quiet look of disbelief. “Our kiss was brief but passionate. You would have loved it if I had taken you with me that night in Paris. I started to offer.”
Had he?
“I was tempted to grab your hand and sweep you along with me. But I had to move fast. Unfortunately, your skirts would have slowed me down as I raced through the streets. I held you so tightly, you must have felt my hesitation after our kiss.”
Yes. How had he known she’d thought about insisting she go if she freed him?
But unlike him, Brina knew when she made a mistake. Attending the masquerade was one. She wasn’t about to make another. Her life was settled now. She had found happiness at last. She wouldn’t be drawn into this man’s unacceptable lifestyle and certainly for no other reason than he needed her to make him a better person for his family.
“I am not interested in your wagers or your adventurous games, my lord,” she said firmly and walked over and opened the door for him. “My advice is that you leave now and go take back your wager.”
“No gambler ever withdraws his bet, Mrs. Feld.”
“Perhaps not a gambler then, but a gentleman realizes when he’s overstepped propriety and rectifies it. And if that were not enough to tempt you to do the right thing, you’re an earl now. Surely that should give you the clout you need to call back your ill-conceived wager.”
He slowly shook his head and moved to stand before her once again. Closer than would be considered proper, but not in a threatening manner. A solicitous way. His lids lowered halfway over his eyes as his face came very close to hers. “I want you, Mrs. Feld. I’d much rather win your hand after a hard-fought battle than as an easy coup. I am a gambling man. The bet holds and I plan to win.”
A chill rippled down her spine. Her composure seemed shaken as she digested his words. The way he looked at her, for a moment she thought he might catch her up in his arms and kiss her as he had in Paris. All the things she’d felt when his lips touched hers washed over her again. The moment had been divine. His arms had been strong. They wrapped completely around her and caught her up so close to his hard, warm chest. She thought she’d never feel those things again, but now he was so close to her that she only had to—
“Are we interrupting anything?”
At the sound of her friend’s voice, Brina stepped away from the earl and looked toward the open doorway. Julia and Adeline stood there looking quite perplexed, glancing from Brina to Blacknight. They had never seen her alone with a man. Especially one standing so inappropriately close to her.
“No, not at all,” Brina said, hoping she didn’t sound as nervous and as breathless as she was. “Nothing. We weren’t doing anything—but talking. I’m glad you’re here. So glad. The earl was just saying goodbye.” She took in a deep breath and steadied herself. Being caught with the Town rake practically had her stumbling over her words. She picked up the earl’s coat and hat from the chair.
Blacknight bowed and said, “Lady Lyon. Mrs. Stockton.”
Julia and Adeline curtseyed and returned the greeting.
“It’s a pleasure to see you both again,” the earl continued, “but as Mrs. Feld said, I was just leaving.”
He took the things Brina held out for him and leaned in close to her ear. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had to pursue a lady, Mrs. Feld. I’m looking forward to it, but don’t be mistaken. I intend to go after you rigorously and win your hand. I’ll see you at the grand ball Saturday evening.”
Chapter 4
“Oh, he is an infuriating person!” Brina exclaimed as she shut the door and spun toward her friends. “He was the first time I met him, and still is. It would serve him right if I called his bluff and—” Brina caught herself and stopped mid-sentence.
She didn’t miss the look that passed between Adeline and Julia, so she quickly fell silent.
“What bluff would that be?” Adeline asked, regarding her with more than casual interest while untying her bonnet and lifting if off her golden-brown hair. “And why specifically is Lord Blacknight infuriating?”
“Yes,” Julia agreed, removing her gloves, but not taking her gaze off Brina’s either. “As one of your dearest friends, there’s much I’d like to know right now. Starting with when did you meet him the first time? Why was he here now?”
“I’ve heard about Zane Browning’s exploits—I mean the earl’s,” Adeline corrected herself. “Most of them from family members grumbling about something he has or hasn’t done to upset them all. And, it’s odd, but I don’t remember ever meeting him. Since he acted as if we had met, I went along.”
“I do recall being introduced to him some time ago,” Julia offered. “He’s such a dashing scoundrel and so aloof concerning the ton and everyone else from what I’ve heard. Who could forget him?”
Who indeed! Brina thought.
Adeline unfastened her cape. “You need to toss all your flowers onto the table and let us know exactly what’s going on between you two.”
While they were talking, Brina’s gaze kept sweeping from one friend to the other. She needed to buy herself some time to digest her discussion with Blacknight before she tried to explain it to anyone, including herself.
“Wait,” Brina said. “First things first. Where are your sons? You know I want you to always bring Chatwyn and Paston with you?”
“Sorry, but I couldn’t bring Chatwyn to Adeline’s this time,” Julia said, brushing a strand of her chestnut-colored hair behind her ear. “It’s Lyon’s card club day and Garrett was coming over to play with them. A five-year-old wouldn’t mix well with men intent on their pastime. I promise to bring him soon.”
It was always a disappointment not to see their boys, but Brina only said, “All right. Next time. I asked you both over to discuss something I want to do for the girls. Come into the drawing room. Mrs. Lawton will bring in tea.”
“We can resolve this issue quickly,” Julia said. “Whatever you want to do for the girls, we’re fine with it. So, that’s settled. We’re not going anywhere until we know what’s going on with you and the most talked about man in London right now.”
Brina rolled her shoulders absently. “I really don’t want to talk about Lord Blacknight. He doesn’t deserve a moment of our time. We have more important things to discuss.”
“No, Brina. There is nothing more important than the black sheep of the Blacknight family being at your house with his nose not much more than an inch from yours.”
“Right,” Adeline added firmly. “Tell us now.”
“He wasn’t that close.” Was he? Brina let out a deep breath of resignation, and as calmly as possible considering her emotional state, she said, “He wants me to marry him.”
Julia went still.
Adeline gasped.
Their wide, non-blinking eyes and parted lips told Brina that perhaps she should have broken the news a little more gently. They were her dearest friends after all. They had met when struggling to make new lives for themselves. The three of them had been through much together. Society had made them acquaintances. Tragedy made them widows. Friendship made them strong. Even though Adeline and Julia now had adoring husbands and sons, the three had remained as close as sisters.
Brina supposed she needed to be the one to tell them what Lord Blacknight had done, though it still hardly seemed real. They would hear about the wager from their husbands soon enough anyway, and probably everyone else in Town. Even now the news could be spreading through Lyon’s card club at Adeline’s house next door.
“I know. You can’t believe it either, can you?” Brina offered what she hoped to be a li
ttle laugh to make light of her announcement, but it was more an exasperated sigh.
“When did he ask you?” Adeline questioned in disbelief. “Just now?”
“Yes. Naturally, being the rake that he is, he couldn’t ask for my hand in the proper way a gentleman would. He had to do it in the most incorrigible way possible.”
“What do you mean?” Julia asked, still looking aghast.
“He placed a wager in the betting book at White’s that I would agree to marry him by the last ball of the Season.”
“That scoundrel!” Adeline whispered.
Julia gave her a surprised grin. “My heavens! What a stupendous way to get your attention.”
“It was. But, of course, I won’t marry him,” Brina reassured them, feeling as confident as she sounded.
“I should hope not,” Adeline agreed.
“What has been going on between you two that we don’t know about?” Julia asked, cutting her eyes around to Adeline as if soliciting her help to get to the bottom of this.
“Nothing,” Brina insisted honestly. “I hardly know him. We’d only met once before. I didn’t know who he was at the time, and he didn’t know me.”
Julia pursed her lips before saying, “Yet, he came over today and asked you to marry him?”
“Yes. After all his wayward years, and because the title fell to him, he’s looking for a sense of respectability. He thinks I can help him and that courting and marrying me will alleviate his family’s misgivings about him and the kind of earl he will be.”
“Wait, wait,” Julia said, holding up both her hands. “I think it’s time we go into the drawing room. I’d like to hear the beginning of this story.”
Brina had been caught and supposed there was now nothing to do but tell them everything. And really, she wanted to. Earl Blacknight wasn’t like any man she’d ever met. She’d been with him twice now, and he didn’t do anything the gentlemanly way. He’d made it clear he was going to pursue her. She needed a plan, and all the guidance her friends could give her if she was going to handle this rake.
After they were all comfortably seated with Julia and Adeline on one settee and Brina on the other, she realized her heart was still racing from Blacknight’s visit. Just thinking about all the earl had said, how he’d looked at her with such intensity had her quaking inside with trepidation and, of all things, anticipation at the thought of seeing him again. And that enveloped her with delicious shivers of desire.
“Well?” Julia stated, her dark blue-violet gaze holding fast on Brina’s.
Brina shook off the unexpected feelings about Blacknight and said, “It all started in Paris.”
“Paris!” Adeline exclaimed. “You’ve known him that long?”
“And you never breathed a word to either of us about seeing him there when you returned,” Julia admonished.
“I couldn’t,” Brina persisted. “I didn’t know who he was until today. He was wearing a mask.”
Adeline and Julia gave each other that look again.
“A mask?” Julia asked succinctly and folded her arms across her chest as pointedly. “You definitely need to start at the beginning.”
“And don’t leave out one tiny thing,” Adeline ordered. “We need to know it all.”
“Shortly after arriving in Paris, I confessed to Aunt Josette I had considered joining the Sisters of Pilwillow Crossings and the reasons I eventually decided against it. She was understanding and glad I chose to get away from London for a while. A week or so later, she suggested since I had considered a life of servitude and found it wasn’t for me, it would be good to shed my widow’s clothing and go out for an evening of lighthearted, free-living entertainment. She said the best way to decide what kind of life I truly wanted was to experience them all. You know Aunt Josette has always been quite liberated in her thinking and actions. And I’d—well, you know what I’d been through.”
Adeline’s golden-brown eyes widened again and her brow rose high. “What did you do?”
Julia moved to the edge of the settee and leaned forward.
Brina continued, “After much thought, I agreed to join Aunt Josette at a private masquerade ball. It seemed the perfect foil for me because no one would see all my face. I admit, regretfully so now, that I lulled myself into believing there might be some restorative value in participating at least once in the vastly different lifestyle of Paris’s Society, so I dressed in the most glorious shade of pink I’ve ever seen. I’d never worn anything like that gown. It was gathered tight at the waist. The skirt was full and billowed so beautifully. It stood out to here.” She held her arms out to show how wide the skirt was. “I wore a crown of painted leaves. And—”
Brina hesitated. What she was admitting had to be a shock to Adeline and Julia. To anyone who believed she’d never discarded dark clothing since her husband’s death.
“And what?” Adeline asked breathlessly, motioning with her hands for Brina to hurry along.
“She spent the night in the earl’s arms!” Julia whispered.
“No,” Brina answered earnestly. “I didn’t. I swear, I didn’t. He’s a rake of the highest order. How can you think that?”
“But you didn’t know that at the time and you wanted to,” Julia added as if encouraging her to answer truthfully.
Had she?
“No. No. That never entered my mind.” Not that night anyway. The truth was that it might have crossed her mind a time or two since then. Well, maybe more than a time or two, but she’d stopped those thoughts as quickly as possible. Sometimes. But she didn’t need to tell her friends every little detail of what happened and how she felt about it then or since.
She needed to keep a few secrets to herself.
After a few more moments of hesitancy, Brina continued, “There wasn’t time to think about anything like that. When I came upon him in the room, I thought he was a thief. He was only half-dressed and tied to a chair with a lady’s silk scarf.”
Julia and Adeline rose to their feet and stared down at Brina. Neither of them uttered a word. She’d silenced them.
“Sit back down,” Brina said, trying to will away her frustration and anger about the chaos the earl had brought into her life because of his wager. “I’ll tell you everything that happened.”
And in a rush of excited words, she did.
Almost everything.
She started her tale when she entered the chateau and was immediately accosted by a drunken man. During her story, she was interrupted numerous times with ohs and ahs and with questions and comments along the way. Mrs. Lawton brought in tea and piping hot apricot tarts. Brina admitted to the unexpected shock of the brief kiss—but didn’t tell them about the lingering, disturbing, and wondrous feelings that still plagued her. No need for that. She finished her story at the point where Julia and Adeline had appeared in her doorway.
“Now I know why he’s called the scoundrel of the ton!” Adeline exclaimed. “It’s beyond the pale for him to think you’d marry a man with his reputation. And what arrogance. It’s astounding. To think you’d do it only to help him seem more respectable so he can find favor with his family now that he’s the earl.”
“I know. He must do something more than marry me to convince them he’s changed. It would serve him right if I came up with a wager of my own,” Brina grumbled. “How do you think he would like it if I asked all the ladies I know to place a bet that I won’t agree to marry him by the last ball of the Season? I wonder if he’d react favorably to that.”
“He wouldn’t like it at all,” Adeline agreed.
Julia placed her teacup onto the small table that stood between the two settees, leaned back, and said, “I think you might be on to something, Brina.”
“What do you mean?” she asked, a little concerned by Julia’s confident expression.
“Maybe you should consider his proposal.”
“Absolutely not!” Adeline injected.
“Ha! I agree. I never would.”
“Le
t me explain,” Julia argued, holding up her hand as if asking for calm. “There seemed to be something between the two of you when you looked at each other a few minutes ago.”
Adeline whipped her gaze over to Brina for confirmation. “Was there?”
“Well—” Brina hedged.
“Really? He’s the devil of depravity and debauchery, which is why he’s spent so much time in Paris. That you found him tied to a chair—and by a woman, no less—shows he is living up to everything we’ve heard about him. He cares for no one but himself, stays separated from his family for most of the year, and when he is in Town, he never visits to even ask about their welfare. I don’t know what Julia is thinking, but you can’t possibly consider this travesty he’s pressed upon you for one second.”
Brina knew all of what Adeline said wasn’t true, even though it was accepted as fact. And she was upset with him about it. But he obviously cared for some of his family. He’d saved his cousin from a marriage that would have probably been an unfortunate one. For both, considering how quickly the young man went on to find another woman’s affections.
But …
“Of course, I can’t and won’t consider such an idea,” Brina stated again. “He’s a scoundrel for doing this. You both know that.” She turned to Julia and saw her friend wasn’t convinced. “All right, there was, or perhaps I should say there is a spark of something when I look at him. It’s true. I might avoid telling you all the truth, but I won’t lie to you about anything. I suppose my feelings have something to do with the fact he seems dangerous to me, and yet safe at the same time. I can’t explain it. It’s just there, but I certainly don’t intend to act upon those feelings. As his reputation bears out, he seems to have skipped all civility in something as sacred as a marriage proposal and placed a wager on it.”