“Hunter,” Lennox growled.
“I think we have seen enough,” Selwick remarked.
He was yanked back and spun to face Lennox.
The man’s chest heaved with fury. “How dare you?”
Cameron faced Alison again. He grasped her hand and helped her into Lennox’s carriage. She settled on the seat and he said, “I will see you tomorrow, my dear.”
She didn’t speak, but only gave him a hard stare.
He stepped back and faced the two men. “Davis and Coleman will accompany you to Lady Alison’s carriage.” He faced the two servants. “When you reach Lady Alison’s carriage, please accompany her home. You may take a cab back here.” They bowed and Cameron said to Lennox and Selwick, “Goodnight gentleman,” then he turned and strode back to the house.
The kiss would leave little doubt in Lennox’s mind about the state of Cameron and Alison’s relationship.
***
Alison repressed the impulse to touch her mouth. What had just happened? Cameron’s lips had been soft but firm…and demanding. Robert had never kissed her like that. Her heart raced. God help her. Had she truly gone from being engaged to the man of her dreams to being shackled to a man who melted clothes from a woman’s body with a single kiss? This simply wasn’t possible. Why had Lord Weston proposed marriage? He had no desire to marry anyone, much less her.
The carriage shifted under her uncle’s weight as he entered. He sat across from her as Lord Selwick followed, then lowered himself onto the seat beside Uncle Harrison. The driver closed the door and, even in the dim carriage light, she easily discerned their condemning stares. The carriage listed right as the driver climbed into his seat and Lord Weston’s two servants joined him in the driver’s seat.
“What happened?” her uncle demanded when the carriage jolted into motion. “I know you too well to believe this drivel about performing on the stage. Why did you go to Hunter’s tonight?”
Could she tell him the truth, that she had wanted to stop a scandal…not become one?
“Then you do not know me very well,” she said. “The viscount told the truth. I wanted to know if he could introduce me to some of the women he knows from the stage. I know Robert won’t approve, but it is something I wanted to try. Once we are married, I will be a wife and, soon after, a mother.”
“That kiss tells a different story,” Lord Selwick said.
“What do I tell Erin?” her uncle snapped. “How do I explain to her that her closest friend, her cousin, whom she thinks of as a sister, has betrayed her? Only a whore slips out in the middle of the night to bed a man while betrothed to another.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I am no whore.”
“Liar!” he roared.
“Lennox—”
“Stay out of this, Selwick. I needed your support tonight.”
Selwick frowned. “My support? I am here to make sure Hunter does right by the young woman we found in his chambers. I thought you would be grateful that lady was not your daughter.”
Lennox cleared his throat. “Of course, I am. But my Erin—“
“Will be grateful.”
“For goodness sake, I was not in his bed,” she said. “Pray, do not discuss me as if I am not here.”
Her uncle’s gaze bore into her. “What do you know of Cameron Hunter?”
“Nothing besides what I hear,” she replied. And what she’d learned tonight. What had she learned tonight?
“Do not play the fool, Niece.”
The carriage slowed. Selwick peered out the window. “I believe that is your coach up ahead, my lady.” He looked back at her. “You are hardly the first young lady to rush to the alter. Once married, no one will care.”
“I have no intention of marrying Lord Weston. I am engaged to another man.”
Selwick edged toward the door. “I am afraid no gentleman will understand your shenanigans this evening.”
“When is Robert to arrive home?” her uncle asked.
“In a little less than six months,” she replied with a frown.
“You are fortunate he is at sea and will not hear of your actions.” He gave a slow nod. “The scandal will have died down by the time he arrives home.”
“Have you lost your mind?” Mister Selwick demanded. “Hunter must marry her.”
“Silence,” her uncle hissed. “She made a mistake. I would not see her suffer a lifetime for a youthful indiscretion.”
Mister Selwick frowned, but remained silent.
Alison turned her attention toward the door. Why had Lord Weston declared his intention to marry her? Why hadn’t he continued with the lie that she had approached him to ask about his connections to the stage. And why, oh why, had he kissed her?
Chapter Four
“My lady? My lady?”
A vaguely familiar, handsome face evaporated from Alison’s dream as her maid’s voice dispelled the image. Alison blinked and Lily’s face came into focus.
“It is too early, Lily,” she muttered, and rolled over.
“What have you done?” Lily said in a fretful voice.
An instant later, sunlight pierced Alison’s closed eyelids. She groaned and yanked a pillow over her face.
“My lady, you must get up,” she said. “Your uncle is downstairs with your cousin. Oh, I knew no good could come from your mischief last night.”
Last night? Alison’s mind cleared. Good Lord. She bolted upright. The pillow over her head flipped onto the floor.
“How long have I been asleep?” she demanded.
“Long enough for everyone to know that you were caught in Lord Weston’s bedchambers last night.” Lily stood beside her bed, wringing her hands. “I never should have helped you. You said there was no chance of discovery.”
Alison threw the covers back and swung her legs over the side of the bed. “Just remember, you saw nothing, know nothing…and heard nothing.” She grasped the maid’s hand and pulled her into a sitting position on the mattress beside her. “But we both know you hear plenty. Tell me everything.”
Lily faced her. “Your cousin learned from Mister Brown that you were caught with Lord Weston last night.”
“Good Lord,” Alison muttered. The news had circulated to the point that it had actually reached her cousin’s valet? That was very bad. “Who else knows?”
“Everyone, my lady. Henry…err, your cousin flew into a rage. That is when I realized something was amiss. Cook told me what happened. But that isn’t all. A message arrived from the earl himself—”
"The earl?” Alison cut in, then understood. “Not the Earl of Weston—the viscount’s father?”
Lily nodded, eyes wide. “The note was to remind you that you have a luncheon date with him today.”
"Henry opened a note addressed to me?”
Anger whipped through her. Her cousin was becoming far too bold. Her most recent missive from Robert had been opened. Henry claimed that he’d opened it by mistake but hadn’t read it. She hadn’t wanted to believe he’d lied to her. However, when he commented that she might want to keep in mind that navy officers often weren’t able to return home when they promised, she couldn’t escape the feeling that he had read the letter, for Robert had said he would return in six months. When Henry’s wife had died and he’d come to live with her, she had thought nothing of it. After all, she was to marry Robert within the year. Now…
“He broke a sherry decanter and shouted that he was going to wake you,” Lily went on. “Fortunately, Mister Lennox arrived and demanded to see him.”
“What did my uncle have to say?”
“He demanded you not be forced to marry Viscount Weston.”
Alison had lain awake well into the wee hours of the morning contemplating her uncle’s actions. He’d barged into the viscount’s home clearly expecting Erin to be there, just as she had. He brought Mister Selwick with him for ‘moral support.’ He’d accused her of being a whore. Would he have accused Erin of being a whore had he caught her there? She hadn’
t detected any trace of anger toward his daughter when he’d insisted that a relationship existed between her and the viscount. All he was concerned about was that Cameron Hunter owned up to—how had her uncle put it?— his tendré for Erin.
But it wasn’t the viscount who had feelings for Erin. Over the last weeks, Erin’s every conversation with her revolved around Cameron Hunter. Last night, Erin had even implied that she had allowed Lord Weston to take liberties with her. Yet Erin hadn’t spoken of love or even feeling any tenderness for the viscount. Her thoughts had been on how proud her father would be once she became Viscountess Weston. Just how far would Uncle Harrison go to see his daughter married to the future 8th Earl of Weston?
“Lord Weston cannot force you to marry him, can he?” Lily asked.
Alison snorted. “Not unless he intends to tie me up and take me by force.”
Lily’s eyes widened. “Lord, Miss, dinnae talk that way. That is inviting trouble, and you must admit, you have a way of finding trouble lately.”
“Nonsense, I am a perfectly respectable prude with no sense of adventure.”
“And now you’ve managed to make me a party to your shenanigans,” Lily wailed as if not having heard her. “All for a—”
“You can scold me later,” Alison interjected. “Help me dress. I must speak with Henry and Uncle Harrison.”
Lily jumped to her feet when Alison rose.
“Fetch my yellow day dress, Lily.”
Lily hurried to the armoire while Alison dragged her nightgown over her head and dropped it to the floor. Lily pulled the dress from the wardrobe, then hurried back to her.
“What did happen last night?” Lily lifted the linen dress over Alison’s head and fitted her outstretched arms into each sleeve.
Alison turned and allowed Lily to close the row of buttons along her back. “As you can surmise, my plan was flawed.” She had no intention of telling Lily just how flawed.
“Mister Lennox told your cousin that it was all a mistake and that he should refuse to let you marry Lord Weston.” Lily guided Alison over to the chair in front of her vanity and eased her onto the seat. She tamed Alison’s hair with a brush, then began to quickly pin her hair into place. “I left Matthew to listen in my absence.”
Alison smiled at her in the mirror. “What would I do without you?”
Lily smoothed the hairs at the back of her neck. “Hopefully, you won’t have to find out. I never should have helped in your foolish plan. So what is this about marriage? What happened last night? What did you do?”
Alison rose and faced her. “Not what you think.” She tugged on a wisp of hair that had escaped Lily’s cap. “Not even my worst fears had me prepared. It seems Lord Weston and Erin did not have a meeting last night. The note must have been from a previous encounter,” she murmured more to herself than Lily. She remembered the conversation she’d overheard. Could the viscount have planned to woo Erin into prostitution? Perhaps Alison hadn’t just saved Erin from a night of pleasure, but a life of sexual slavery.
“Why not simply return home?” Lily asked.
“I was discovered before I could escape. Come, we must hurry.” Alison rushed from her room and headed down the stairs.
Lily followed close behind.
Alison didn’t have to guess at Henry’s location. His voice carried down the hall from his study. Alison slowed. How was she to diffuse her cousin’s anger—and send her uncle packing? An idea struck. Dare she? They paused at the door and she reached for the knob.
Lily grasped her arm. “You should wait. He sounds terrifying. Actually, you should leave. Run away. I will tell him you had an appointment in town.”
Alison shook her head. “I must face him, eventually.”
“I am not so sure, Miss.”
Alison pushed open the door and entered the study. Her cousin and uncle turned from the hearth where they faced off.
“Good morning, Uncle.” She shifted her gaze to her cousin. “Henry, I do not know what you have heard, but I can explain.”
“You can explain why a woman who is engaged to the son of our father’s best friend and business partner, was caught in the bed of a known rake?”
She looked at her uncle. “I assume you explained that you and I were at Lord Weston’s home to protect Erin?”
Her uncle blinked, clearly surprised she’d mentioned Erin. She would wager he had counted on her not mentioning his daughter for fear of tarnishing her reputation.
“It was clear by his note that the viscount intended to seduce her.” Alison sighed heavily. “She is such a trusting soul, she has no idea how clever a man like Cameron Hunter is.”
Henry’s eyes narrowed. “And you do?”
She gave him a sad smile. “I am a bit older than her, Cousin, and Erin, well, as I said, she is too trusting by nature.”
“None of this excuses you going there,” Henry snapped.
“I admit, it was a lapse in judgement. But Uncle Harrison can vouch that I was, in fact, not caught in Lord Weston’s bed.”
“That is true, Henry,” he said.
“Are you saying the viscount didn’t declare his intention to marry you?” Henry demanded.
The edge in his voice snagged her attention and her heart beat a little faster. In truth, as far as Society was concerned, marriage to Viscount Weston would be a good match. Henry was a man who valued his place in society. Most guardians would insist the viscount marry her. Why did he so oppose the match?
“I plan to explain everything to the earl today at lunch,” Alison said.
His eyes sharpened. So, he had, indeed, read the Earl’s note.
“A luncheon date?” He clasped his hands behind his back. “I will accompany you.”
Alison’s heart pounded. She hadn’t considered that possibility.
***
Cameron occupied a leather chair in front of the fire at his club. He set the paper he’d been reading on the table beside him and stared into the amber liquid in the glass he held. Last night’s events had taken less than twenty-four hours to make it into print. What would Lady Alison’s fiancé think now? Any chance she had of smoothing things over was lost. He hadn’t thought otherwise. Or had he? She had been adamant that she would wed her fiancé. Despite the kiss Cameron had given her, he realized that somewhere, deep inside, he’d harbored a small light of hope that things might remain quiet and she would stand firm in her insistence that she marry this other man.
Cameron brought the glass to his lips and drank. The scotch flowed over his tongue and slid down his throat with a pleasurable burn. Heat bloomed in his gut but did little to chase away the anxiety firing through his system. A shadow fell across his lap. He looked up to see his friend, Jonathan Appleton.
Jonathan slapped him on the shoulder and sat in the chair beside his. “Well, Cam, what are you waiting for?”
Cameron narrowed his eyes. “Do no’ rush me. I have waited twenty-nine years to find a bride.”
“I still cannot believe you are going to marry her. Everyone here can scarcely credit the rumors.”
The looks he’d received when he’d entered the club had told him as much. “Might you speak with Bishop Tolleson about a special license for me?” he asked.
Jonathan grinned. “Consider it done. I, for one, am relieved to see you married, regardless of the circumstances that brought her into your bed…um life.” Jonathan smirked. “I must admit, I am relieved it wasn’t Lennox’s daughter lounging in your chambers. I can’t imagine you would have an ounce of peace with that wench underfoot.”
Cameron hadn’t forgotten that Erin Lennox was the woman all assumed they’d find in his room. He had yet to confirm his suspicions that Lennox had set up their meeting and discovery, but was thankful that, once again, fate had intervened and saved him from certain misfortune.
Jonathan signaled a waiter, then looked at Cameron. “By the by, who is this Lady A? I must know her real name, if I am to procure the license.”
Cameron lifte
d a brow. “Never say you aren’t up on who’s who?”
The waiter arrived and placed a glass of sherry on the table between them, then departed.
“I admit, I am familiar with most ladies of Society,” Jonathan said, “but I do not know this Lady A. Alison is the name I have heard bantered around.”
“Her father was the Earl of Kincaid.”
Jonathan paused in lifting the sherry glass to his mouth. “The Earl of Kincaid who died saving King George from the assassination attempt in eighty-four?”
Cameron nodded. “Aye.”
Jonathan leaned against the chair back. “I didn’t realize he had a daughter. I do not recall seeing her in society.”
Cameron finished his scotch. “She doesn’t frequent bordellos, and you attend few parties these days.”
Jonathan shrugged. “True.”
“In truth, Lady Alison is not a socialite,” Cameron said. “I know her only because Jillian pointed her out at a party two years past.”
Jonathan looked thoughtful. “If I recall, his wife died when the ship she was traveling on went down in the channel.”
Cameron nodded, then caught sight of John Napier. If Society had the slightest idea that the wealthy shipping magnet they’d been throwing their daughters at these last four years made his money selling young women to rich businessmen, they would murder him.
Cameron rose. “If you will excuse me, I have business with Napier.”
Jonathan’s eyes lit. “A business venture that might interest me?”
Cameron had known this question would arise. “I am not certain yet. I will let you know. You will speak with the bishop?”
“This afternoon. We are in luck. He is in town today. You will keep me in mind for any good ventures?”
Cameron nodded. “Aye, but say nothing to anyone else.”
“I am the soul of discretion.”
He spoke the truth. For all his womanizing, drinking and gambling, Jonathan never repeated a confidence.
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