“Not at all,” Nigel said and quickly explained the situation. “We were just about to leave for Cavendish House.”
Felicity raised a brow. “Is your exile over then? I thought it was longer.”
“I have declared it over,” Nigel said firmly.
“Then we must all go together.” Lady Fernwood smiled at Felicity. “We have the town carriage tonight, and there’s more than enough room. It’s really far too big for the two of us, but Lord Fernwood insists.”
“Like my comfort,” the old man said under his breath. “Don’t want to be stuffed in some little pony cart.”
“No one will stuff you anywhere, dear.” Her gaze caught Felicity’s, and a twinkle sparked in her eyes. “Although the idea does have merits.”
Lord Fernwood cackled. “She’s still got spirit.” He winked at Nigel. “It’s why I keep her.” He nodded toward Felicity. “This one got spirit, boy?”
“Without a doubt,” Nigel said wryly.
“Not surprised.” Lord Fernwood shook his head. “Expect as much from Dunbury’s girl.”
“Perhaps on the way to Cavendish House you can tell me your remembrances of my father.” She couldn’t recall her father, or her mother for that matter, ever discussing their youth. She had assumed it was uneventful. Now it seemed their past might be far more interesting than their present. “I suspect you have some entertaining stories.”
Lord Fernwood chuckled. “Indeed I do. Why, I could tell you—”
Lady Fernwood cleared her throat.
“Wouldn’t do, of course.” The elderly man sighed with regret. “Proper thing like yourself, wouldn’t do at all.”
They moved toward the front door. Felicity collected her wrap and Nigel offered his arm to Lady Fernwood. “Shall we?”
The older lady beamed up at him. Apparently no woman, regardless of age, was immune to Nigel’s charm. “We shall indeed.”
Lord Fernwood placed Felicity’s hand in the crook of his elbow and grinned at her. The old man didn’t seem quite as feeble now as he had a few moments ago. “Always did like a woman with spirit.”
“I do hope I won’t disappoint you,” Felicity said with all the spirit she could muster and wondered if she should sit as far away from the old man in the carriage as possible.
“He thinks he’s still the rake he used to be but he’s harmless,” Lady Fernwood said over her shoulder as she passed through the open door.
“Harmless?” Lord Fernwood scoffed and leaned toward Felicity. “She doesn’t think so.”
Lady Fernwood laughed.
“Think there’ll be cards to night, Cavendish?” Lord Fernwood asked. He and Felicity followed Nigel and Lady Fernwood down the front steps to the waiting carriage.
“My sister has arranged for a card room, no doubt, specifically with you in mind, sir,” Nigel said.
“Damn fine girl, your sister. Lady Fernwood and I love a rousing game.” Lord Fernwood cast Felicity a speculative look. “I’d wager a small fortune you play cards.”
Felicity stared in surprise. “Why yes, I do.”
The old man’s bushy brow rose. “Dunbury teach you?”
Felicity nodded. In fact, she and her father had played at least three times a week since she’d been old enough to hold the cards. Her father had played monthly with a group of friends who had played together for as long as she could remember, but that was the limit of his card playing. He’d not only taught her how to play, and play well, but he’d taught her that one should never wager more than one was willing to lose. As she grew older, she realized it was a lesson for life even more than for cards.
“Thought as much.” Lord Fernwood nodded. “We’ll play then, the four of us. You’ll play too, Cavendish.”
Nigel paused, then sighed slightly in resignation. “Of course, sir.”
She choked back a laugh. So much for Nigel’s vow to avoid her from now on. Bless Lord Fernwood’s demanding little soul.
“Won Lady Fernwood in a card game, you know,” Lord Fernwood said to Felicity.
Lady Fernwood paused on the top step of the carriage and looked back at her husband. “You most certainly did not.” She cast Felicity a wicked smile. “I won him.”
Felicity laughed and stepped back to allow Nigel to assist the older man into the carriage. She glanced up at the sky. It was only dusk but the sky was clear. It would be a perfect night to star gaze.
“Are you looking for something in particular?” Nigel said.
“Indeed, I am.” She looked in the direction of the star she had wished on the night they had met and smiled her thanks, then met Nigel’s gaze directly. “And I do believe I have found it.”
Seven
What a woman really wants is a man with a wicked look in his eye for her and her alone, from the first moment he sees her to the last. No matter low long that may be.
Lady Fernwood
Bloody hell, what had he gotten himself into?
Nigel smiled and nodded and even managed to make passable conversation, although his mind was anywhere but on those who were confident they had his complete attention.
She wanted to marry him? Him? How had this happened? He’d always been so very careful, but then he’d never encountered anyone like Lady Felicity Melville before. She was outspoken and candid and far more clever than any woman had a right to be.
Nigel had encouraged her, he knew that. Even as he was warning himself to stay away from her, he couldn’t help migrating toward her. Like a goose heading toward warmer climes in autumn. He had sought her out at Lady Denton’s ball, simple curiosity really, and at Burnfield-White’s, curiosity again, nothing more than that, and to night…To night! What had he been thinking? All that nonsense, romantic nonsense at that, about her keeping him company and then paying the musicians so that they could dance. He groaned to himself. No wonder the woman wanted him.
Nigel moved through the crowded salon, responding absently to a greeting here, a comment there, and steadfastly refused to glance in Felicity’s direction. Although he did, of course, constantly. And every time he looked at her, she would glance at him and meet his gaze. If was as if she could feel his gaze upon her. And she would smile a rather secret sort of smile that might well warm his heart under other circumstances but right now struck terror into his very soul. Damnation. Thank God dinner would be served soon and he would have companions to distract him, although he doubted the ability of even the most fascinating of Maddy’s guests to do so.
Nigel had to admit he wanted Felicity as well, a great deal, actually. That was the crux of the problem. How could a man who did not wish to marry have anything at all to do with an unmarried young woman? He couldn’t. It was as simple as that. He knew the rules, his own as well as society’s. Society said honorable men did not take advantage of innocents. And if they did—through passion or love and what ever other irresistible forces ruled the male of the species on such occasions—the right thing to do, the proper thing to do, the honorable thing to do was to marry the innocent in question. Or the no longer innocent, as it were. That was precisely why he had always avoided innocents. Marriageable women of good families. Virgins.
In spite of his many relationships with members of the fairer sex, he did consider himself an honorable man. Why, he had never once had an affair with a woman who wasn’t already a woman of the world. Women who had their own resources and wanted nothing more from him than he did from them. Oh, certainly, there had been the occasional young widows who had become overenthusiastic and brought up the subject of marriage. Nigel had always managed to convince them that they were happier without a husband than they had been with one. In truth, married women were easier in every respect. They typically had an arrangement with their husbands and had no desire beyond a pleasant interlude. The only problem there was that, now and again, he would become involved with a woman who was not entirely honest about her husband’s view of her infidelities. Those nearly always resulted in incidents like that at Lady Pomfrey’s. Indeed,
he counted himself lucky that he had never actually been injured in such an occurrence, although admittedly he had lost numerous pieces of clothing through the years. He still had not yet retrieved his shoe.
Blast it all, regardless of how much he wanted her, he wasn’t ready for marriage. Besides, he still had a good three weeks before his birthday marked his complete immersion into the family’s business affairs, and he intended to enjoy each and every minute of it. He was not about to be smitten by a virgin with seductive brown eyes who kissed like it was a natural gift and molded her body to his in a way that was at once innocent and enticing and—
“Might I borrow my brother for a moment?” Maddy’s overly bright tone broke into his thoughts and yanked him back to the here and now.
“Yes, of course,” the lady he’d been talking with said. “We were just having the most wonderful conversation.” She placed a hand on his arm and fluttered her lashes at him. “We must continue it later.”
“It would be my plea sure,” he said smoothly although he hadn’t the least idea either what he’d said or who she was.
Maddy laughed lightly, hooked her arm through his, and steered him toward the nearest exit. “She’s married, Nigel,” she said under her breath. “Not that that has ever deterred you in the past.”
“I don’t even recall speaking to her,” Nigel murmured. “Good God, I might have said anything.”
“And you probably did.” The pleasant smile on her face belied the sharp tone of her voice. She briskly led him behind a row of potted palms to a concealed servants’ door, opened it, and practically shoved him into a back corridor, then closed the door firmly behind her. “What in the name of all that’s holy is the matter with you?”
“The matter with me?” he said cautiously. “I don’t know what you mean.”
She glared at him. “Something has happened. You haven’t been your usual self from the moment you arrived here to night. I’ve been watching you. Oh, you’ve acted politely enough but there’s a vague air of preoccupation about you.” She shook her finger at him. “I count on you to be charming and gracious and amusing. Your usual roguish self, as it were.”
“And I’m not?”
“You most certainly are not,” she said sharply. “It’s as if you’re here but your mind is somewhere else entirely. I want to know where and I want to know now.”
“Why?” He shrugged. “If indeed I am preoccupied but if I have been polite as well, why does it matter what is on my mind?”
“For one thing, we are about to go into dinner and if you are going to be less than engaging, I shall have to rearrange the seating and place you between people who won’t notice or care. For another”—her tone softened—“I am worried about you. You are not behaving like yourself at all. I’ve never seen you this way and it’s most distressing.”
“Yes, well, I’ve never been this way.” He ran his hand through his hair. “It is indeed most distressing.”
She stared at him with concern. “What on earth has happened?”
“There is a lady—”
She snorted. “There always is.”
“—who wishes to marry me.”
“That’s what has you all tied in knots?” She stared in obvious disbelief. “I daresay there are any number of women who have wanted to marry you.”
“Not at all,” he said loftily. “I have gone to great efforts to make certain of that. I have made my attitude toward marriage clear from the start of any involvement and I have never been involved with a woman who had a serious wish to marry.”
“And this one does?”
He heaved a frustrated sigh. “This one definitely does.”
“I hate to sound unsympathetic but I’m afraid I don’t see why this is such a problem. It’s not as if she can marry you without your consent.”
“No, of course not,” he muttered. Maddy was right. Marriage was a consensual sort of thing. Felicity couldn’t bash him over the head and drag him unconscious in front of a minister. “She did say she would never force me into marriage.”
“Force you into marriage?” Maddy’s eyes narrowed. “Have you done something scandalous, more scandalous than usual, I mean, that might force you to marry this woman?”
“No.” Not yet.
“I still don’t understand…” She paused. “Exactly who are we speaking about?”
“Lady Felicity Melville.”
“Fel—Lady Felicity?” Maddy brightened. “Why, she’s a lovely young woman.” She shook her head. “You could certainly do worse.”
“I could not do at all!” He stared at his sister. “I don’t wish to marry. Not now and not in the foreseeable future.”
“Why not?”
“I believe we’ve had this discussion before.”
“And I daresay we’ll have it again,” she snapped. “Why don’t you wish to marry?
“I’m…I’m not ready.” Even as he said the words he knew he sounded like a petulant child.
“Don’t be absurd.” She waved off the comment. “You’re as ready as anyone ever is. Besides, marriage is never something one is truly ready for. You simply hold your breath and jump in. Like jumping into a vat of cold water. After the initial shock, it’s really quite pleasant. Certainly there are sacrifices.” She pinned him with a firm look. “You will have to give up other women. I realize some men don’t but—”
“When the day comes, I fully intend to be faithful,” he said firmly. “Marriage vows are every bit as much a pledge of honor as any other promise. I am a man of my word.”
“And yet you’ve never hesitated to assist a married woman in breaking that same pledge,” Maddy said mildly.
“It was not my pledge.” Damnation, he did sound like a child.
“So speaks the man of honor.” She considered him for a long moment. “Well, I for one think Lady Felicity is perfect for you.”
“I didn’t realize you knew her until to night.”
She shrugged. “One meets any number of people. I find her quite interesting. She’s something of an amateur astronomer, you know.”
“I am aware of that.” At once the image of Felicity, clad in an ethereal Grecian gown like the ancient astronomer she had mentioned, bathed in the glow of the stars and gazing up at the heavens, popped into his head. His stomach tightened.
“I’m thinking of purchasing a telescope for myself,” Maddy said thoughtfully. “Perhaps Lady Felicity could advise me.”
“No,” he snapped.
“Why not?”
“That would only serve to encourage her.” He shook his head. “You seeking her advice on telescopes or anything else could be inferred as approval of her attempt to trap me into marriage.”
“Is she attempting to trap you into marriage then? I though you said she would never force you to marry?”
“She wouldn’t. And admittedly, it might be inaccurate to say she is attempting to trap me. In truth, she’s done nothing beyond tell me she wishes to marry me. She’s been annoyingly honest.” He blew a long breath. “She thinks I am her fate.”
“Oh, well, that’s something else entirely.” Maddy shrugged. “One can’t fight fate.”
“I can!” He glared. “This has nothing to do with fate. This has to do with…with…”
“With what?”
“I don’t know but I refuse to accept that my future, particularly in regards to marriage, is contingent upon the whims of something I cannot control.”
“Fate is rather unyielding that way. You must admit the idea of marrying Lady Felicity is interesting, though,” she said thoughtfully. “She’s everything you said you wanted, and she would make you an excellent wife.”
“Or rather she would if I were in the market for a wife.” He clenched his teeth. “Which I’m not.”
She ignored him. “You told me you didn’t want a perfect wife, you wanted a woman with flaws. Lady Felicity strikes me as having any number of flaws.”
“I wouldn’t say any number,” he said grudgi
ngly, “but certainly one or two. She is exceptionally stubborn and rather more outspoken than is proper.”
“She is intelligent. Extremely, I think. I believe you said you did want a woman with a mind.”
“Yes, yes.” He gestured dismissively. “She is clever enough. She thinks about a great number of things. She has opinions on nearly everything. Indeed, she has made me realize I scarcely think about anything whatsoever.”
“I see.”
He narrowed his eyes. “What do you see?”
“You’re obviously taken with her.”
“I am not!”
“My mistake. Now that I think about it, she’s not suited for you at all.” Maddy shook her head. “For one thing she is entirely too tall.”
“She is not. She’s quite a good height.”
“And somewhat too slender.”
“She has an extremely nice figure.”
“Her hair is a rather nondescript brown and her eyes…” Maddy scoffed. “Well, they’re brown as well.”
“They’re not merely brown,” he said indignantly. “They’re a sable, deep and rich and endless. Why, a man could lose his soul in those eyes and not regret the loss for a moment.”
Maddy raised a brow.
“Not that I have,” Nigel said quickly. “I’m simply relating my unbiased observations as a man who appreciates the finer qualities of a woman.”
Maddy smirked. “I never for a moment thought otherwise.”
“Hah.” He aimed an accusing finger at her. “I know that look. You think I’m smitten with her. Head over heels. Perhaps even in love.”
“I never said that.”
“You didn’t have to. I can see it on your face. I’m not, so you can put that thought out of your head right now. Felicity means nothing to me whatsoever. I can well live my life without her, and I have every intention of doing so. I do not want a wife, and therefore any further involvement with her is at an end. I intend to avoid her entirely from now on.” He paused. “Well?”
“Well what?”
“Aren’t you going to say anything?”
What a Lady Wants Page 13