How to Train Your Earl

by Amelia Grey

  Finally, deciding she must save herself, she conveniently moved the subject to horses. Something all gentlemen liked to discuss. Within a few seconds, they were robustly discussing a recent midnight horse race down Rotten Row and seemed happy to leave her out of the current conversation.

  It was the perfect time to excuse herself, which she happily did and made a straight line to Adeline and Julia, who were standing near the entryway into the sitting room.

  “What’s wrong with you two?” Brina complained, walking up to her friends. “Couldn’t you see I wanted you to politely untangle me from my new admirers?”

  “You needed no such thing,” Adeline answered with confidence. “You can more than handle all three gentlemen at the same time.”

  “But we did keep check on you from time to time, in case you required us,” Julia added. “We were actually watching the door more and hoping Lord Blacknight would get here in time to see all the beaus crowded around you.”

  Brina coughed out a light laugh. “What do you mean? I’m not trying to make him jealous. I have no need for him to see me at a party. Have you forgotten? I need him to be at White’s tonight playing cards and drinking brandy until dawn. Were that the case, I would know this bargain we’ve struck is over, and I could return to the peaceful, normal life I expected to have when I returned to London.”

  “Where is he?” Julia asked.

  “I have no idea,” Brina answered, not wanting to admit that she had looked at the door more than a time or two, wondering if she might see him. “I haven’t heard from him since our ride in the park. We didn’t talk about which, if any, parties we’d be attending in the coming days.”

  After their kiss, Brina hadn’t been able to think about anything, so she’d suggested they pack up the basket, get back on the horses for a ride through the park. Which they’d done. Thankfully, he’d decided to be a gentleman and hadn’t mentioned the kiss when they’d dismounted in front of her house. She had hoped he wouldn’t. But there was no way he hadn’t noticed how utterly eager she’d responded to his ardent embrace.

  “He has no inkling you are here tonight?”

  “I don’t know how he could. I chose this dinner because my parents would never forgive me if I hadn’t shown up at their neighbors’ party.” She looked at Adeline and smiled. “Thank you again for letting me come with you and Lyon. It would be tiresome if I were forced to have a constant companion. It’s much easier to come with you or Julia.”

  “One of us will always pick you up and be with you at every party you attend.”

  “Thank you,” Brina said gratefully.

  “Which,” Julia said, “leads me to ask what you and Lord Blacknight talked about yesterday afternoon?”

  Brina didn’t know. All she remembered was the glorious kiss that had made her breathless and warmed her all the way down to her toes. Most troubling of all was the way his touch had made her want much more than kisses and caresses from him.

  Those feelings she would keep to herself and not share with her friends.

  “Many things” was all Brina answered, as she glanced toward the entrance. How could it be that she was watching for the earl, hoping to see him standing there looking for her among the crowd in the room? A week ago, it would have been inconceivable that she would be watching for him or any man. Oh, why did he have to come into her life? She was settled. Happy. Now, she was—eager.

  “Was he a gentleman toward you?” Adeline asked.

  “Of course not,” Brina said without thinking. “Far from it.”

  Adeline moved closer again and whispered, “What did he do?”

  “Did he kiss you?” Julia asked, her eyes growing wide with curiosity.

  Brina ignored her probing question and replied, “When he came to my house, he brought horses for us to ride to the park instead of a well-tooled carriage.”

  Adeline’s jaw dropped. “You can’t be serious.”

  Julia grinned with surprise. “You are serious.”

  “Of course I am,” she exclaimed softly, and then glanced around to see if anyone was watching them. “I can’t make this up. He did have a proper refreshment basket with him, and I gave him a book of poetry. Blacknight is different. I don’t know what to make of him. He’s unsettled my life, me. It’s no wonder he’s had such problems with his family. I’m sure it’s because they’ve never known what to expect from him.”

  “But he intrigues you,” Julia offered as if to finish her thought.

  “Yes, he does,” Brina said without any hesitancy. “Immensely so. I’ve admitted that and it distresses me that he does. I simply must stop thinking about him. Or talking about him. So, enough about the earl. I must keep my mind on other things. As I’ve told you, I want to give the girls art lessons once a week and teach them to paint.”

  “When did you mention this?” Adeline questioned as her gaze darted over to Julia for confirmation.

  Julia’s eyebrows rose and she lifted her hands as if to say I have no idea what she’s talking about.

  “Last week when you came over without your sons and Blacknight was there. Maybe I never actually got around to telling you exactly what I had in mind. The earl seemed to take up most of our conversation, but I did say I wanted to do something more with the girls, and both of you said whatever it was, you’d agree.”

  “I vaguely recollect that,” Julia said with a hint of uncertainty in her tone. “But, Brina, it takes time to learn how to paint. Unless one has a natural talent like you, it can be a very frustrating pursuit.”

  “I know,” Brina answered, a bit disappointed Julia wasn’t as excited about the prospect as she was. “I think some of them might be gifted. It will be easy enough to tell as time goes on.”

  “You’ll need paints, brushes, aprons, easels for them all. Not to mention that Mrs. Tallon will object strongly to this.”

  A server holding a tray of champagne offered them a glass, but all three declined. While shaking her head at the man, Brina noticed one of the young bachelors she’d been talking to was watching her. He smiled when she saw him. She returned the greeting and turned away.

  With the server gone, Brina continued. “I’ve thought about all of your concerns, including the headmistress. She won’t be happy about it. I’ll be gentle with her but make her see things my way. I realize I can’t go over and set up an easel and palette for everyone. At first, I’ll use my own and my mother’s since she is out of town and hasn’t painted in years. Anyway, I was hoping the two of you would share your supplies. That will give us four. If I buy another, we’ll have one to share between every two girls.”

  Brina stopped and waited for one of them to say something.

  “Of course, we’ll be happy to send over our painting materials,” Adeline said with a determined smile. “We’re in the school together and always will be. Whatever needs to be done we will do.”

  “Thank you. I’ve received so many flowers recently, I took some of them to the girls. With Mrs. Tallon and her helpers, we gave them a lesson in flowers. We let the girls gently take the petals off some of the blooms and draw the parts of the flowers on their chalkboards. Doing things like that will help them when they start making flowers to add to dresses, gowns, and capes.”

  “What an excellent idea,” Adeline praised. “I’ll see to it my easel and palette are delivered to the school tomorrow.”

  “I’ll do the same,” Julia agreed.

  “No, not yet. There’s no hurry.” Brina held up her hands. “I must speak to Mrs. Tallon first.”

  “You’ll be a good teacher, Brina,” Adeline said softly. “You let us know what to do and when.”

  Brina felt compelled to add, “I know it might seem I’m overstepping my boundaries, but I do believe this will be helpful to them in how they choose and blend colors and where to place flowers, beads, and bows. You both have your sons to help keep you busy and content. I need something more to do too.”

  “Brina, we want you to find happi—”

/>   “No, don’t,” she said softly, cutting off Julia’s words. She then lifted her chin and saw the tall, handsome young bachelor was still looking at her and smiling. The gaiety everyone was feeling showed on their faces and in their noisy chatter. She had long come to terms with the fact that life had to go on after her husband died, but she had to do more with her life than dress for parties and afternoon strolls in the park. Her life had to have more meaning than attending happy social gatherings like this one, and she was determined it would.

  Suddenly feeling stronger, she gave her attention back to her friends. “Don’t even hint that you are feeling sorry for me, Julia.”

  “No, I don’t,” she answered earnestly. “You know that wasn’t my intention.”

  “That’s how it sounded. I need no one’s sympathy because I’m not unhappy anymore. I have a full life.” Brina gave her a faint, indulging smile. “I know you don’t understand my need to be of assistance to others. Even the untrainable earl—who I’m determined to make into a better gentleman if it tatters my own reputation.”

  Julia reached over and touched Brina’s hand affectionately. “I will help you give them the lessons.”

  Brina squeezed her fingertips and smiled. “Never. You are terrible at painting.”

  The three friends laughed.

  “Wait,” Adeline suddenly whispered. “Don’t either of you glance toward the doorway right now, but I think the Earl of Blacknight just walked into the room.”

  Brina’s pulse raced with anticipation. She turned immediately to look at the doorway.

  So did Julia.

  “I told you not to look,” Adeline grumbled. “Now he will see the three of us staring at him.”

  Brina’s hopes plummeted. “No, it’s not him. It’s his younger cousin, Robert. They do favor, but then, all the Browning men are tall, have that thick black hair, and are handsome.”

  “Yes,” Julia agreed. “It’s not the earl, but he might as well be. Every young lady in the room is gaping at him. I suppose they are thinking if they can’t have Blacknight, they’ll take his cousin.”

  “I really felt strange for a moment when you said his name,” Brina offered, watching how at ease Robert seemed while saying hello to someone. “I wondered how Blacknight could know I was here with so many other parties being held.”

  “That’s easy enough,” Julia suggested with a sheepish smile. “He could have followed you. It wouldn’t be the first time a gentleman behaved in such an ungentlemanly manner in order to know where a certain young lady might be on a given night.”

  “Or,” Adeline countered, “we could have assumed it was a lucky guess. Lyon says he’s considered lucky with cards.”

  “Garrett told me that as well,” Julia injected. “He tells me the earl’s skill is unmatched when playing. Maybe he’s fortunate in everything else too.”

  Adeline nodded. “Gentlemen consider it an honor to play with him and against him. In fact, Lyon invited him to join his weekly card game but now that he can’t gamb—” She stopped and her golden-brown eyes zeroed in on Brina’s.

  An odd feeling washed over Brina. “Lyon asked him to join his club?”

  “Yes. But he won’t be joining. He sent Lyon a note saying it wasn’t a convenient time for him to participate.”

  “Adeline,” Brina asked, suddenly a little suspicious of her friends’ motives, wondering if they felt the need to watch over her concerning the earl. “Did you ask Lyon to invite Lord Blacknight to be a member of his club so Lyon could keep an eye on him?”

  “Absolutely not,” Adeline admonished. “I would never do that. First and foremost, I’d never try to interfere with Lyon’s card club in any way. Second, if I were going to do anything of the kind, I would tell you. Lyon invited Lord Blacknight because his skill at cards is legendary and most gentlemen would pay for the chance to play with him.”

  “Oh, I should have known you wouldn’t do anything like that.” Brina shook her head in bafflement. “I don’t know why I’m so prickly concerning him. The earl keeps me bristling with emotions I’ve not wanted to deal with for years. I don’t even want to think about the man, but I do.”

  “We understand,” Julia insisted softly. “It must be hard for someone as self-possessed as you are, but why don’t you face the fact that he appeals to you, and delight in it rather than fighting it?”

  Brina glanced over to the young and handsome Mr. Inwood. There were no butterflies in her stomach, nor tightness in her chest or throat at the sight of him. But always with the earl, she found it difficult to catch her breath.

  “I never thought to look at another man with interest. It’s perplexing.”

  “And I have no doubt you have confounded him,” Adeline offered with a smile. “What gentleman wants to give up his cards or his wine?”

  “Or his women?” Julia added with a satisfied smile. “I thought that was brilliant.”

  “Indeed! It was superb,” Adeline agreed with a laugh.

  “Four weeks is a long time for a man to be so saintly. I couldn’t believe you were being so bold.”

  “I surprised myself,” Brina said honestly. “But once we started talking, the words came tumbling out and the demands got more personal. I truly expected he was going to say no, but he kept saying yes.”

  “Once you got started, you didn’t stop, and it was so satisfying for us to see you getting the upper hand,” Julia told her. “You are usually too worried about being good to ever do anything so bad.”

  “I know,” Brina said with a laugh, shaking her head again. “I kept thinking he was going to say, ‘Enough of this! Forget the whole idea!’ and give up on courting me. I wasn’t making it easy on him, but he agreed to everything. Once I made the demands, I couldn’t back down.”

  “And you shouldn’t have.”

  “Right,” Adeline agreed. “If a man wants to marry you, there’s nothing wrong with making him work to win your hand.”

  Marry him.

  “You know I don’t want to marry,” she said honestly. She probably should have added that she was definitely conflicted about him too. But how much did she want to share with her friends? Especially when she wasn’t sure what exactly she was feeling and certainly not why she was feeling it.

  “But you wouldn’t mind having him as a lover,” Julia stated as if it were already a settled fact between them.

  Brina opened her mouth to agree, but stopped when she saw Harper enter the room. If she hadn’t been so busy thinking about the earl, she would have wondered if he had come when she saw Blacknight’s cousin. “Excuse me, I saw Harper come in, and I’d like to speak to him before he gets caught up with all the beautiful young ladies here.”

  “Are you really going to brush us off just when the conversation was getting so interesting?” Julia asked.

  “I fear I am, but only for now. Not forever. We will speak of this again later in the evening.”

  With those parting words, Brina headed toward the entryway. Harper saw her, gave her a big smile, and started walking to meet her.

  Harper Tabor was the kind of young man who walked into the room with a light step and friendly expression. Wherever he went, he always had the look about him as if he expected something wonderful to happen and he was going to be a part of it. His step was lively and sure, and his eyes were always full of warmth. He was of average height for a man, clean-shaven, and thin. Light sandy-brown hair was combed away from his face and fell above his collar in an attractive wave. He’d inherited the family trait of big blue eyes.

  “Harper,” Brina said with a beam of happiness she didn’t try to contain. “It’s so good to see you. I’m sorry I was out when you called on me yesterday. How have you been?”

  “I’m well,” he answered, and gave her a cousinly kiss on each cheek. “You get lovelier every time I see you. How do you do it?”

  Brina smiled at his flattering comment and couldn’t help but give his lip and chin a good once over. All signs of bruising were gone. �
�And I think you are more charming every time I see you.”

  “No,” he said with a twinkle in his eyes. “I’m only hoping for an invitation to dinner one night this week.”

  Brina laughed. “Consider yourself invited. I should have done so already, and I had plans to, but—” But she’d had the unexpected nuisance of the earl to think about and require her attention. “Why don’t you come late tomorrow evening and we’ll have supper together.”

  After a brief hesitation, he responded, “Tomorrow’s probably not good, cousin, but I will make it soon. I promised your parents I’d check on you while they are out of Town, and I will.”

  “Did you?” she asked with a feeling of delight. “Papa asked me to keep in touch with you. I don’t know how you feel, but I need no one checking on me, Harper. A pleasant visit will do.”

  He nodded. “Same for me and we’ll do that soon.”

  “Why didn’t you go with my parents to see your mother? It would have been the perfect opportunity. I’m sure she misses you.”

  “And I miss her, but I don’t want to leave London right now.” His gaze drifted from hers and scanned the room before he thoughtfully added, “I’ve left the nest, as they say. I’ll go, but not until summer comes around or perhaps I’ll even wait until autumn. It will do the sisters good to have some time together, don’t you think? If I were there, Mum would want to divide her attention between the two of us. Besides, I didn’t want to miss the Season. So many new people are in Town.”

  “And I see two beautiful belles huddled together looking at you right now and wishing you were speaking to them and not me.”

  He looked over at them, smiled, and nodded a couple of times. “They are lovely, aren’t they? I know the Season is for making a match, but I’m not wanting to do that this year. Best I stay away from the ladies. But what of you? The reason I stopped by yesterday was to see how you are bearing the scandal Lord Blacknight brought to your door. You certainly don’t seem as if it’s gotten you down. You look splendid.”

  She saw sincerity in his expression and it warmed her. “I’m managing well. Thank you for asking, Harper.”