Lessons of Desire
Page 32
The carriage turned off the road. She realized that the journey was ending. She valiantly tried to swallow her tears.
He called to the coachman to slow down so she would have more time. And so he would, too.
Her composure returned before they reached the house. The embrace did not become awkward, however, and she made no attempt to break it. He held her until they rolled to a stop.
He climbed from the carriage and offered his hand.
She looked up at the house. The vertical forms of classical columns and long blocks on either side of the central temple facade could be seen.
“It is the middle of the night. The whole household will be abed,” she said.
“There will be a servant by the door. Come now.”
She placed her hand in his. He felt a subtle roughness that surprised him, but the touch was mostly soft and warm. She stepped down. One pause, one deep inhale, and she walked with him to the door. She left her hand in his like a frightened child.
A servant eventually responded to the knock.
“This is Miss Longworth, Lady Alexia’s cousin,” Kyle explained. “Please ask Lord Hayden to receive us if he is in residence.”
The servant ushered them to the library. Kyle took in the room’s perfect proportions. His practiced eye noted that even the wooden Doric pilasters decorating the mahogany bookcases were true to the ancient system of measurements. Lord Hayden favored a pure classicism based on Greek rather than Roman models.
Miss Longworth refused to sit. She returned his frock coat, then paced the edges of the chamber, twisting his handkerchief in her hands.
“Will you stay while I explain, Mr. Bradwell? Please. Lord Hayden is a good man, but…I do not fear him, but after all the rest…he is not so stern as he appears, I think, but this story would strain the patience of a saint, and his love for my cousin may not spare me his worst reaction.”
He had met Lord Hayden only once, and agreed the man appeared stern. However, he also knew what she meant by “all the rest,” and how it indicated the man was not as hard as he looked. Or, as she suggested, Lord Hayden was so in love that he had put sternness aside in the case of his new wife’s relatives.
Presumably “all the rest” would now include support of the relative in question today. Miss Longworth faced utter ruin, but Kyle assumed that Lord Hayden would make sure that she did not starve in her exile from family and decent society.
“I will remain until you have explained, if you wish.”
Lord Hayden did not come down alone. His wife accompanied him. They arrived in dishabille, he in a dark blue brocade morning coat and she in a pale yellow undressing gown. A lace-edged cap covered most of her dark hair. Kyle had never met Lady Alexia but she appeared a kind woman of about Miss Longworth’s age. Mid-twenties, he guessed. Right now her violet-gray eyes held noticeable worry for her cousin.
Lord Hayden appeared resigned, as if he expected nothing good if he was roused from his bed by a Longworth. His sharp gaze took in his visitors and did not miss the way Miss Longworth’s attempted escape had soiled the skirt of her dress. His attention lingered on Kyle’s face, no doubt assessing the scratches so obviously made by a woman.
The ladies embraced and Miss Longworth made introductions. Lord Hayden nodded a silent acknowledgment that the introductions had been unnecessary since he and Kyle had met before.
“Mr. Bradwell helped me to escape from a house party of Lord Norbury’s,” Miss Longworth announced.
Lord Hayden caught his wife’s eye in a meaningful glance. It was the look of a man who knew about that love affair and had predicted the worst from the start.
“I fear,” Miss Longworth added after an awkward pause, “I fear that something very scandalous happened at that house party that will be known to the world in a few days. Mr. Bradwell brought me here because there was nowhere else to go tonight, but come the morning I ask for transportation back to Oxfordshire.”
“Exactly what happened?” Lord Hayden asked.
She told them. Bluntly. She spared herself not at all. She took full blame for her situation, which Kyle thought a bit hard. Her inclusion in a party of whores, her sale at the auction, her stupidity in misunderstanding Norbury’s affection—it was all clear, specific, and honest. Ruthlessly so.
“So, I will return to Oxfordshire tomorrow,” Miss Longworth concluded. “If I disappear completely and we cease any social connection, perhaps you will not be affected too much by the consequences of my behavior.”
“Do not be so rash,” Lady Alexia cried. “Surely it is not as bad as you say. Hayden, tell her she does not have to break with us completely. If we—”
“No, Alexia,” Miss Longworth said. “I know how it must be, and so do you. Do not force your husband to command it.”
Lady Alexia looked close to tears. Miss Longworth held her poise. Kyle bowed to them both and eased away, to make his escape from this most private of family crises.
Miss Longworth looked in his eyes. “I am sorry that I did not trust you. I am very sorry for those scratches. Thank you for your kindness.”
There was nothing to say in response, so he walked out of the library. He found Lord Hayden in his wake.
“Tell me, Bradwell—Was it as sordid as she says? Or is there some hope that perhaps…” He shrugged, unable to think of what “perhaps” might be.
“Do you really want the truth, Lord Hayden?”
The man hesitated. “Yes, I suppose that I do.”
“He publicly declared her a common whore, and treated her like one, in front of a dozen men whom you see daily at your clubs. I am sincerely sorry for her, but this is one Longworth who your money and protection cannot save.”
Lord Hayden’s dark eyes flashed anger at the allusion, but his ire passed quickly. Weary acceptance took its place.
“You have my gratitude that you stepped forward to take care of her and give her protection, Bradwell. In a dining room full of gentlemen, only you acted liked one.”
“Since I was the only man there who was not a gentleman, that should be the real scandal, don’t you think?”
He walked out of the house and away from the sad notes being played inside it. The melody would turn into a dirge of mourning soon.
He strode through the cold night to the carriage. Miss Longworth’s scent lingered on his frock coat, filling his head.
Also by Madeline Hunter
BY ARRANGEMENT
BY POSSESSION
BY DESIGN
THE PROTECTOR
LORD OF A THOUSAND NIGHTS
STEALING HEAVEN
THE SEDUCER
THE SAINT
THE CHARMER
THE SINNER
THE ROMANTIC
LORD OF SIN
LADY OF SIN
THE RULES OF SEDUCTION
LESSONS OF DESIRE
A Bantam Book / October 2007
PUBLISHED BY
Bantam Dell
A Division of Random House, Inc.
New York, New York
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved
Copyright © 2007 by Madeline Hunter
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Bantam Books and the rooster colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
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www.bantamdell.com
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