The Trouble with Honor

by Julia London

  He twirled her around in a tight circle and smiled down at her. “I know.”

  As they started through the paces again, she said, “What do you possibly hope to gain, Mr. Easton?”

  “I think you know the answer to that.” He allowed his gaze to drop to her lips as he stepped back.

  “And how do you propose to lure me?” she asked skeptically as they clasped hands overhead and turned. “You’ve no connections, and rumor has it that your fortune has been lost.”

  George smiled. “Rumor has been unkind to my fortune, but I’ve not lost it. And I happen to think I am very well connected. I am the nephew of the king.” He let go of her hands and stepped back.

  So did Miss Hargrove. “You can scarcely expect me to believe it,” she said laughingly.

  “Then perhaps you will believe this,” he said, stepping forward again. “I am captivated by you.”

  She didn’t respond to that but with a smile, and continued to study him. George danced as well as he was able, meeting her gaze at every turn.

  When the music drew to a close, he bowed low and reached for her hand. He gave it a tender squeeze before placing it on his arm, covering it with his hand. “I beg your pardon if I’ve offended, Miss Hargrove,” he said as he led her back to Sommerfield, who shifted from one leg to the other, anxious to have his prize back at his side. And beside him, standing innocently with her hands at her back, was Honor. She didn’t look at George, and in fact, she made a point of looking away so as not to suggest any sort of familiarity between them.

  “I am not offended, Mr. Easton,” Miss Hargrove said, smiling up at him. “But I am taken.”

  “I will concede that you are...for the time being.”

  Her smile seemed to go a little deeper, the color in her cheeks high.

  That was it, the unmistakable sign of being smitten. No doubt he could invite her into the garden now to take full advantage of her. But as they had reached Sommerfield and Honor, George took her hand from his arm, stepped back and bowed low over it. “Thank you for the dance, Miss Hargrove,” he said. “A finer partner I’ve not experienced.”

  Miss Hargrove laughed as if she found that quite impossible, but Sommerfield was quick to agree. “She is indeed a fine dancer. I confess, I could learn a thing or two from you, Mr. Easton.” He laughed as he nervously rubbed the side of his nose. “I should employ you to teach me the steps to our wedding dances.”

  “I am not a very good dancer, my lord. I’m more of a horseman.”

  “Nothing like a good horse race to get the blood flowing, eh?” Sommerfield agreed. “We are very proud of our horses at Longmeadow,” Sommerfield continued. “Some of the finest horseflesh in the country—”

  Honor suddenly gasped. “Augustine, you must invite him to Longmeadow!”

  Sommerfield and Miss Hargrove looked as stunned as George felt—he could not find his tongue immediately. “Pardon?”

  “Oh, dear,” Honor said with a pretty smile and a curtsy. “I do beg your pardon, sir. Please, forgive my outburst, but it occurs to me that there will be quite a lot of horse racing at Longmeadow this spring.”

  “Well, yes,” Sommerfield said uncertainly. “But I didn’t... That is to say...” Terribly flustered, the poor man smiled nervously at those around him, looking for help.

  Honor’s face fell. “Well, now you’ve made me seem perfectly foolish, my lord.”

  “No, I—I don’t mean that,” Sommerfield blustered. “I mean to say of course you are very welcome at Longmeadow, Mr. Easton. But the racing is all in fun.”

  “Dearest—” Miss Hargrove said, and laid a finger on her fiancé’s arm.

  “And it’s rather a lot of fun,” Honor quickly interjected before Miss Hargrove could persuade her fiancé differently. “A lot of friendly wagering. You must come, Mr. Easton. There’s always need for a gentleman to serve as dance partner, and I am certain we will all appreciate an experienced card player.”

  Sommerfield’s eyes widened, but Honor was on a mission and would not allow anyone to speak.

  “Are you familiar with Longmeadow?” she eagerly continued.

  George stared at Honor. He knew precisely what she was doing, arranging another “invitation.” It grated on him, but at the same time, Miss Hargrove was watching him expectantly.

  “It’s my stepfather’s seat, just one hour to the northwest from here,” Honor continued.

  “Yes, you must come, Easton,” Sommerfield said now, nodding his head firmly. “That’s that, my good man. We must have you at Longmeadow!”

  He turned his happy smile to Miss Hargrove, who said, with much less enthusiasm, “Yes, we must have you, Mr. Easton.”

  “That’s very kind,” he said. “Thank you.” George was glad that the music had begun again, giving him an escape from what was to him his own personal nightmare. “Miss Cabot, will you do me the honor?”

  “Have a turn, Honor. He’s a grand dancer,” Sommerfield said, as if he had stood up with George himself.

  “Well, then, I’d be delighted,” she said and held out her hand.

  George took it and gripped it hard. Her expression did not change. “Will you excuse us?” he asked Sommerfield.

  * * *

  NEITHER HE NOR Honor noticed Monica’s thin smile fade behind them.

  “You are a splendid dancer, my love,” Augustine said to her. “I do wish I was a better companion for you.”

  “You are the perfect companion for me, Augustine.”

  “Are you certain?” he asked, taking her hand and squeezing it much too hard. “For I would be lost without you, my darling.”

  “I am certain.” She meant that with all her heart. Augustine was a kind soul, a gentle soul. She was happy with him. So why, then, would Honor wish to draw them asunder? That was precisely what she was doing—Monica was certain of it. “Let go of my hand before you break a bone, dearest.”

  “Oh!” Alarmed, Augustine quickly relinquished it.

  Monica glanced once more in Easton and Honor’s direction. They were standing on the dance floor, waiting for the musicians. Honor had turned away from him, was speaking to Miss Amelia Burnes while Easton watched the orchestra.

  She saw nothing that should make her the least bit suspicious, but Monica knew that somehow, Honor had put Easton up to this. She was very astute when it came to these things, and she had not been the least bit swayed by Easton’s pretty words to her. It made no sense; there was no reason that a man like George Easton should suddenly discover an interest in her, particularly as everyone in town knew she was to marry Augustine.

  She’d understood that Honor was involved the moment she’d invited Easton to Longmeadow. Honor, who never gave men another thought, so determined to have Easton, of all gentlemen, at Longmeadow. Oh, yes, Monica had known Honor Cabot far too long, and she knew when that one was up to mischief.

  “I’m positively parched,” Augustine said, as if he’d danced the last three sets. “Shall we fetch some champagne and perhaps sit a bit, my love?”

  “Yes,” she said, and moved along with her fiancé, her mind whirling.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  EASTON LOOKED PERTURBED when the orchestra began to play. Honor stepped forward, curtsied as she ought. “You have me at a disadvantage,” he said. “I am not familiar with this music.”

  “It’s a waltz. You’ve not seen it danced?”

  He frowned at her as she took his hand and placed hers in it, then held it out. “You know very well that I do not inhabit ballrooms or assembly rooms.”

  “Then perhaps you should engage a dance instructor. I understand Monsieur Fornier is excellent. He counts the French nobility among his students.”

  “I don’t need a dance instructor,” he huffed. “I don’t intend to dance. I am only here because of you, for which I am questioning my sanity.”

  “And I am forever thankful,” she said graciously. “Your other hand should rest in the middle of my back,” she said, and put her other hand on hi
s shoulder.

  He put his hand on the small of her back, just above her hip, and arched a brow. “This seems rather scandalous for a group of blathering debutantes.”

  Honor arched a brow, as well. “And it is quite diverting for them, too. Your hand should be higher on my back.”

  He smiled wolfishly. “I like it here.”

  So did she, very much so. She liked standing next to him—he was so much larger, so much stronger—but she could well imagine Lady Chatham and Lady Prescott’s fit of apoplexy if they were to see it. Unfortunately, the song’s introduction was over, the dancing had begun and Honor had no time to argue the placement of Easton’s hand. “All right, follow me—one, two, three, one, two, three,” she muttered, moving him first one way, then the other.

  After a few stumbling tries, he found the rhythm of the dance.

  “There!” she said as they moved forward, “I think you have it! You’re a natural.”

  “Then perhaps you will allow me to lead,” he said, and suddenly twirled her, very nearly colliding with another couple.

  Honor laughed. “You can’t do that—you must turn in the direction of the other dancers.”

  “I beg your pardon? I may do as I please, just as you seem to do. Longmeadow, Honor? You’ve made too much of this scheme now.”

  He was cross with her. The truth was that Honor had blurted it without thinking, which, upon reflection, she’d been doing quite a lot of lately.

  Easton’s foot collided with hers, and they faltered for a step or two before he quickly righted them. “Pardon,” he said apologetically, and twirled her in the wrong direction again, heedless of the other dancers.

  “The wrong way, Mr. Easton!”

  “Say you,” he said irritably. “And by the by, did it occur to you that perhaps I am not at liberty to leave London just now? That perhaps I might have more pressing issues than you?”

  She wanted to know what those pressing issues were, if they involved women. “Impossible,” she teased him.

  “Oh? Well, here’s a novel thought for you, madam—I don’t want to go to Longmeadow. And if I did, I wouldn’t need you to so bloody blatantly wrangle an invitation for me!”

  So there it was—he was embarrassed. Honor was slightly chagrined by that—she never meant that. “I didn’t wrangle an invitation for you, Easton. The thought occurred to me, and I said it. And why ever would you not want to go to Longmeadow? It’s beautiful! The house is truly magnificent. And frankly, sir, I had to do it, for I never once considered that you’d not do as you’ve promised. I am merely providing you the opportunity.”

  That remark caused him to stop midstep.

  “Move on!” she frantically urged him.

  He grudgingly did so, but his expression was full of vexation. “Honor Cabot, I have done as I said,” he snapped, and moved off step, so that she had to hop on one leg to catch up to him. “I have come to this wretched ball, I have danced with her,” he insisted, bumping into the couple behind them and tossing a curt “pardon” over his shoulder. “I have engaged her, seduced her—I’ve done all but ask for her fragile little hand in marriage!”

  Honor was not the least bit chastised; she rolled her eyes at his declaration.

  He looked surprised, but then his eyes narrowed. “By God, someone should have turned you over a knee long ago. I would take great delight in doing it myself.”

  It surprised Honor that those words should send a delightful little shiver down her spine. “Don’t be so cross with me, George. I will concede that you’ve managed to make some headway, but you haven’t done it.”

  “How do you know?” he demanded. “Your path has scarcely crossed Miss Hargrove’s this evening!”

  “I know,” Honor said with confidence. “She’s not watching you now, is she?” She did not expect him to suddenly twirl her about as he did. He squinted in the general direction of where they’d left Augustine and Monica.

  “Well, then?” Honor asked. “Are the eyes of a doe fixed upon you now?”

  “For the love of God, she is with her fiancé.”

  Honor shrugged. “That hardly keeps others from it, does it? Lady Seifert has openly admired you, and she is married.”

  That news seemed to interest him in a way that Honor did not care for. “Has she?” he asked, and smiled as if that pleased him. “Where is she?”

  “I don’t know!” What a rooster! Now Honor was cross. “Seems rather vulgar to me, to be ogling a man who is not your husband.”

  “Spoken like a true innocent,” Easton said with a patient smile as he searched the crowd, presumably for Lady Seifert. But then his blue eyes flicked to her; he studied her a moment and suddenly smiled so charmingly that Honor felt a little unsteady. “Oh, my,” he said as they woodenly maneuvered the corner of the dance floor. “I sense you would like to convince me you are not an innocent, but couldn’t possibly say so for the sake of propriety.”

  That was precisely the thing that had flitted through her mind, and Honor could feel her cheeks heating. She was very practiced in the art of courting, but she was an innocent in the purest sense of the word. In spite of all outward appearances, Honor guarded her virtue very carefully. In fact, Easton was the first man who had ever kissed her so thoroughly, and the memory of that kiss, of his mouth and hands on her skin, made her feel too warm all of a sudden. She should have guarded herself with him—he was a potent and very virile man. “That is not at all what I was thinking. You needn’t tease me—I merely wondered after your association with Lady Seifert.”

  “That,” he said, clearly still amused, “is not for an innocent such as yourself to wonder. I fear it would bruise your maidenly sensibilities.”

  “How foolish I’ve been. I thought you merely a rooster, but it would seem you’re an imperious rooster. Just as I should not wonder about you, neither should you wonder about me, Mr. Easton.”

  His charming smile broadened with delight. “What is it that raises your hackles, love? One moment I am George, and the next Mr. Easton, depending upon just how cross you are with me, eh? Allow me to enlighten you, Miss Cabot. The difference between us is that it is not necessary for me to wonder about you. I know an innocent when I see one.”

  Honor gasped indignantly, but before she could argue, he whirled her about and her back brushed against another dancer. “Will you have a care!” she whispered hotly.

  “I should have a care? That’s rich—surely even you see the irony in that statement.”

  “At least I’m discreet when I’m careless and don’t bump into this person or that.”

  Easton laughed. “Do you hear yourself, madam? You are quite possibly the most indiscreet woman I have ever met!”

  “Me?”

  “Absolutely you, love,” he said, smiling. “You are a careless, indiscreet, absurdly brazen young woman, who wishes she were not as innocent as she is, and honestly, I have never been more goddamned intrigued.”

  Honor had already opened her mouth to argue, but warmth ballooned through her, puffing her up. She wanted to cover her entire body with it. With him. She really wished George wouldn’t smile at her so charmingly, so warmly, so deeply. It shone inside him, glittered in his eyes. She tried to keep from smiling in return, to show him that she was quite offended, but try as she might, she could not keep the smile from her lips. “Well, you needn’t shout it.”

  He laughed, pulled Honor into his body and twirled again and again to the edge of the dance floor, where he caught her hand and pulled her off.

  “Wait, what are you doing?” she exclaimed, glancing nervously about them. Two gentlemen smiled knowingly. At least she worried that was so.

  “I am giving my poor feet a much needed rest,” he said, and glanced back. “Come, then,” he said, and put his hand to her back, ushering her forward more quickly, to the buffet and footman. “A glass of champagne will quench your thirst, Miss Cabot,” he said, rather loudly.

  “I don’t want—”

  He squeezed her hand s
o tightly that Honor squealed a bit. But Easton ignored her and deftly steered her past the buffet, slipping into the corridor, then practically pushing her up the servants’ stairs.

  “Wait! I should go back.”

  He reached around her and pushed the door open onto a darkened balcony.

  Honor stepped cautiously onto the balcony that overlooked the entrance below. She glanced around; it was dark, but there were couples walking about. Across the space she could see a pair of lovers, their arms entwined around each other. “Oh, no,” she said, but Easton had already grabbed her hand and tugged her to stand behind a big display of chain mail. He slipped in behind her.

  She twisted about in that crowded space and frantically swiped at a cobweb that touched her hair. Easton was standing so close that she could feel the heat of his body. “What in blazes are you doing?” she demanded.

  “Removing some of the innocence from you,” he said, and grabbed her waist with both hands as he kissed her.

  Honor was so taken aback, she slammed her fists against him. He lifted his head. “Bloody hell, I’ve wanted to do that all night.”

  Oh, God, so had she. “Are you mad?” she whispered hotly. “What if we are discovered?”

  “What if?” he said, his mouth on her neck, her shoulders, his hands on her waist, her hips.

  Honor heard the sound of someone approaching and caught her breath, digging her fingers into his arms. Easton stilled. They waited, her breath about to explode from her chest, until the person had walked by. When they did, George looked at her. She felt something very odd, like a whisper of silk across her chest. His eyes were darker, swimming with...with affection. Affection! She knew it was so because she felt it, too, a shock through her heart. She hadn’t felt anything like it in so long, and certainly never as ardently—Rowley suddenly seemed like a puppy compared to this wolf.

  Honor surged forward and up on her toes, her mouth landing on his.

  George lifted her off her feet and twirled around, put her up against the stone wall behind the chain mail, trapping her there with his body. He put his arm around her, anchored her tightly to him and kissed her, his tongue in her mouth, teasing hers, his lips on her cheek, her neck, against her lips. With his free hand, he stroked the skin of her décolletage, his fingers sliding into her gown, brushing against the rigid nipple and sending violent waves of desire through her.