I Shall Love the Earl

by Laura A. Barnes

  Maybe, tonight, he would request permission for a dance.

  Chapter Six

  Another ball was almost to an end, and still Dallis had received no request for a dance from Rory. Dallis’s thoughts drifted back to when he had arrived. The ballroom quieted when Rory walked in with Noah and Sidney Wildeburg. He strolled to his mother’s side, bending to kiss her cheek. Then the ballroom came to life once more, with hushed whispers and rumors spreading. Still, he never once acknowledged Dallis. After all, the gossip surrounding them was sprinkled with vicious innuendos. How dare he ruin her reputation for the sake of a drunken kiss? She deserved better. When Lady Beckwith introduced her to Lord Holdenburg, Dallis became enamored. He wasn’t Rory, but a close second. The lord exuded charm in abundance, dancing with her twice, and supplying the gossip mongers with more feed. Not only did two men wish for her affection, now it drove all the other gentleman toward her. Their range of requests went from asking for her hand in a dance, or a walk around the ballroom, to escorting Dallis to dinner and the usual offer of a glass of punch. Her dance card filled quickly for the evening, and her poor toes throbbed from the unwanted attention.

  The only gentleman she wanted to dance with refused to ask. Still, as usual, she held a spot for him. What frustrated Dallis the most was that Rory offered every other wallflower sitting by the wall a twirl around the ballroom floor. Everybody but her. During her dance with Sheffield, Rory glared at them from across the room. Sheffield laughed as he noticed, brushing hair off her cheek to anger Rory even more. Which it did. Rory started toward them and Sheffield swung her into a crowd of dancers so that they were lost from Rory’s view. Sheffield told her the chap deserved it, and he enjoyed the sweet payback. Dallis wasn’t as sure as everybody else this evening. They'd planned to have Sheffield dance with Dallis, while Sophia persuaded Rory into dancing with her. Then Sheffield would interrupt them and switch partners. However, the plan didn’t work. Rory refused to dance with Sophia.

  The musicians signaled the last dance of the evening with the opening notes of a waltz. The soulful music drifted into her, pulling at her need to be in Rory's arms. She lifted her head to meet his gaze. Rory stood a few feet away. When their eyes locked, the notes hit a melody, drawing them together. He held his hand out and she slid her palm into his. Rory swept Dallis into the dance, their bodies moving as one across the floor.

  Until now, he had resisted dancing with Dallis. But the pull of music from the orchestra urged him to her side. The sadness radiating off her touched his soul. The need to hold Dallis as they danced was stronger than the need to deny her. Rory couldn’t do that again, no matter how much he needed. Each turn, their bodies pressed closer. His hand wrapped around her waist, gripping tight with a need for more. Dallis’s hand nestled in his suggested a trust he didn’t deserve. Her other hand trembled on his shoulder, revealing her desire. Rory squeezed her hip, relaying how he shared the same emotion. When her head lifted and Dallis’s eyes confirmed what he sensed, he felt ten feet tall.

  When the dance ended, they stood in the middle of the dance floor. The other dancers separated and wandered away. Still they stood with Rory holding Dallis in his arms. Their eyes locked in an unspoken message they both understood. Rory silently told Dallis that he would pursue her until he caught her. Her reply was that she waited with open arms.

  When Rory became aware that all the eyes in the ballroom were fastened on them, he released Dallis and stepped away. He bowed and thanked her for the dance. Then he walked away yet again, collecting his mother and sister. Before he left, he stopped in the doorway with one last glance in her direction. His sensuous eyes held hers in a trance—then abruptly turned to a glare before he stormed away.

  His glare confused Dallis. Then she understood when Lord Holdenburg lifted her hand to rest on his arm. The earl offered to return Dallis to her grandmother. He spoke on how some members of the ton held such deplorable manners, and Holdenburg offered apologies for the behavior of Lord Beckwith. Then his conversation swiftly turned to his delight on making her acquaintance and expressed his wishes to call on her. Dallis agreed, realizing it was useless to expect otherwise from Rory.

  Dallis came to a decision. Even though Rory had danced with her this evening, he'd still subjected her to the ton’s gossip, the waltz only amplifying the whispers of his regard toward her. If he didn’t want her ruined, he should have asked for a dance, not claimed one that he didn’t sign his name for. Even though she held the space on her card open for him and him only. From now on, no more. If he wouldn’t pay her the respect she deserved, then she would pine for him no longer. Rory was either man enough to stake his claim, or he was the coward she didn’t have him pegged to be. Either way, it was time she allowed the other gentlemen of the ton to court her. Starting with Lord Holdenburg. There was something devilish about him that intrigued her. It might even be entertaining to have a charming rogue court her.

  As Rory waited for his mother and Kathleen to gather their wraps, he stood in the shadows watching Lord Holdenburg escorting Dallis back to her grandmother. The scoundrel had her laughing while he held her hand. Rory gripped his hat in his hand, ruining the trim. How could she dance like heaven in his arms one moment, and the next laugh over a scoundrel’s charms? Rory realized he'd blundered his chances yet again this evening. With all good intentions to lay claim to her, he froze when he watched gentleman after gentleman claim Dallis's hand for a dance. All his doubts and insecurities had floated to the surface until he danced with her. Rory wanted more. But he couldn’t act on his intentions, because all eyes had followed them to see what course of action he would take. And like always, he did nothing. Dallis had him twisted inside and out and he didn’t understand what to do.

  Tomorrow he would make amends. He would send her flowers and take her for a walk in the park. Perhaps, like Sophia, Dallis liked to feed the ducks.

  Chapter Seven

  “Ahh, brother dear, tsk, tsk, tsk.”

  “What now, pet?” Rory asked, studying the ledgers.

  “Mama is so disappointed in you. This is worse than the time you punched old Lord Cranky.”

  Rory threw down the quill and rocked back on his chair. It was useless anyway to figure his finances. His assets were tight and would remain that way until he could draw a steady profit. Even with his nightly fights, the shopkeepers would threaten to throw him in debtor’s prison any day now. This morning, he'd decided to accept Sheffield’s loan and join the investment opportunity. Rory hoped for a profit, and if not they would have to sell the townhome. He thought maybe his mother had heard of their dire situations. Oh, she was aware they were low on funds, but not how desperate they were. But from the knowing smile on his sister’s face, rather than her being distraught, Rory realized his mother was at least unaware yet of their need for coin.

  “Mama is never unhappy with me. Are you certain you have not mistaken me for yourself?”

  “I am an angel compared to you today.”

  “Humph, an angel my arse.”

  “Now vulgar language in front of a lady, your offenses are piling high, my brother. Are you sure you want to add to them?”

  “Spill.”

  Kathleen ticked off her fingers all of his indiscretions as she listed them. “First, there is the bloody nose you gave Lord Phipps for trying to kiss Lady Dallis and myself. Even though I think the punch was more for Dallis than for me, but thank you nonetheless for including my welfare in the punch. I would have done it myself, but Mama says a lady should never display any acts of violence. Second, there is a rumor spreading that you were drunk and kissed Lady Dallis on her doorstep in a most vulgar fashion. However, I disagree. I think it sounds romantic. With you sweeping Dallis off her feet in a passionate embrace and her falling into your arms succumbing to your desire. Third, there was the dance you shared with Dallis at the Sambourne Ball. If that was not an intimate moment for the ton to view, then I do not know what is. And to end all ends of your disappointments, there is the
matter that it has been three days since the ball and not once have you paid a visit to Lady Dallis. Nothing. No afternoon tea, no walks in the park, no flowers, and not a single effort to court her. You have ruined Lady Dallis, yet you take no means to right your wrongs. Meanwhile, Lord Holdenburg has stepped forward to lay claim to Dallis’s hand.”

  His sister’s long-winded speech on his ungentlemanly behavior sat heavy in his gut. Rory realized how the impact of his three-day absence would affect Dallis. It wasn’t as if he didn’t care. It was the complete opposite, he cared too much. To be honest, his depth of emotions for Dallis scared him. The feelings she invoked in him were more powerful than anything he'd ever experienced. One glance from Dallis set him afire. Ultimately his pride stood in the way. Rory wanted to court her as a man who was financially sound. Not one who called on his love without a coin to his name.

  Did the women who surrounded him not understand? For the last few days, when he visited Lord Hartridge to help him with his research, Sidney and Sophia bombarded him, offering advice on how to pursue Dallis. When he rejected their advice, they harassed him by calling him all sorts of a fool for not following his heart. Finally, he'd left and hadn’t returned since. Lord Hartridge took pity and told him to return later when the girls wouldn’t be there. Since Lord Hartridge hadn’t contacted him, Rory knew they laid in wait. Now he couldn’t even enjoy the one job he took pleasure in without being subjected to two opinionated women. Nay, they were his friends.

  “Well?”

  “Well what, Sis?”

  “Are you going to call on Dallis?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Mind your own business.”

  “You are my business at the moment.”

  “Perhaps I should mention to Mama the need for you to find a husband this season?”

  “You would not dare.”

  “Wouldn’t I?”

  Kathleen fumed in her seat at the threat Rory sent in her direction. He wouldn’t dare. It was empty-handed, only spoken so that she would leave him alone. But no longer. Rory deserved happiness for the weight he'd carried on his shoulders the last few years. And Dallis was just the woman to ease his burden.

  “Rory, you deserve happiness. Dallis is the lady who makes your heart beat. I have seen the change in you since she arrived in town. Your step is lighter, you smile when you watch her, and a tenderness softens your eyes when she is near. Why are you not pursing her, Rory?”

  “You know why.”

  “For a foolish reason. None of that will matter with her.”

  “This is something you will never understand.”

  Kathleen rose from her seat and paused at the doorway. “Do not let pride stand in your way of happiness. A lady of Dallis’s quality is a rarity. A once in a lifetime chance. Go to her before the scoundrel Lord Holdenburg whisks her away.”

  Rory stared at the vacant doorway and let her words sink into his soul. Pride was a damnable emotion for a man. If a man didn’t have pride, then he was weak and succumbed to vices out of his control. His father was a perfect example. However, in some men pride was their domineering ability to have everybody succumb to them. Rory was neither of those men. Somewhere in the middle, he wavered. He'd watched men for whom pride was their fall. Sheffield and Wildeburg were perfect examples. When they thought they'd lost the love that made them whole, they sat their pride on a shelf to prove to the women they loved that they were men who couldn’t live without them. Each man in their own right still kept their pride, but learned to display it in a different nature.

  But they were two men who weren’t in a financial mess.

  Rory couldn’t by all rights continue with this madness. He didn’t eat or sleep, and Dallis consumed every one of his thoughts. She deserved better than the treatment he displayed toward her. He owed her an apology and one to her grandmother for bringing shame on their family. Not only them, but he owed one to his mother and sister too. Rory’s actions affected them just as deeply, if not more so. But by god if he would apologize to Lord Phipps. The bloke deserved the punch and was lucky he didn’t get more.

  DALLIS STARED OUT THE window, watching the wind and rain pelting the earth. The trees swayed with each burst of the storm. Huge raindrops soaked the pebbled streets. The wind howled causing the shutters to bang against the house. Her grandmother’s servants hadn't secured them before the storm rushed upon them. Dallis enjoyed watching Mother Nature in action. Dallis always felt secure in a storm, never frightened like most girls she knew. She hated her time at school when the girls would whine in fear. Sometimes Dallis would sneak outside to stand in the storm. She would let the water beat down upon her, lifting her face to the sky. Her grandmother would scold her if Dallis attempted such an act now.

  The storm matched her mood this afternoon. Dallis wished she could howl along, for she was beyond frustrated. Rory never paid her a visit over the last three days. Every place Dallis visited she heard the whispers of her name associated with his. The pitying looks she received ended with her glaring at them in return. The only consolation was that Lord Holdenburg called on her, which encouraged the other gentlemen to pursue her. However, the difference was that they pretended to be courting when really they wanted to kiss and grope her when nobody glanced in their direction. All thanks to Lord Roderick Beckwith, she was now labeled as the wallflower to steal away into the garden with. Everyone connected to Rory offered their apologies for his behavior. Everyone but him.

  The rain wasn’t the only thing that drew her attention. The man standing across the street and watching her through the window, huddled in his coat, made her stare. She recognized Rory, and was past caring if he would arrive. The damage had already been done. Any word that passed through his lips would mean nothing to her. When her gaze connected with his, he straightened and walked toward her front door. It didn’t matter, for she no longer cared that he'd finally decided to visit. When Shaw announced Rory, she would plead a headache and send him on his way.

  “Come from the window, Dallis dear, and read to me for a spell.”

  Dallis turned and smiled at her grandmother. Her nanna meant the world to her. She always made her feel special with various degrees of affection. Her granny demanded nothing from her, whether it be how she acted, or what her interests were. Nanna loved Dallis for who she was, not what was expected of her. For that, her grandmother would always hold a special place in Dallis's heart.

  Before she sat with the book, she wrapped a stole around her grandmother’s shoulders. Whenever Dallis read to her, Nanna would fall asleep. Dallis settled in the chair and opened the newest romance novel. Her grandmother used to read these novels to her when Dallis was very young. She always dreamt of meeting her soul mate and falling in a deep, abiding love that would last an eternity. Ever since her grandmother’s eyesight failed, Dallis read the novels. Each one filled with romance and angst, but they all ended with the hero and heroine professing their undying love and living happily ever after.

  After reading a couple of pages, Shaw interrupted informing them of a guest. When Dallis inquired to the guest’s name—although she knew—she sent a refusal pleading sickness. When she resumed reading the novel, Dallis saw her granny’s eyes narrow in suspicion. Still she kept on narrating the novel. When Shaw didn’t return, Dallis assumed Lord Beckwith accepted her excuse and left. She continued reading, her voice changing with each character. Dallis’s tone becoming full of emotion as the heroine wept with regret.

  Dallis didn't realize that someone stood in the doorway listening.

  “I think she fell asleep,” Rory whispered.

  Startled, Dallis dropped the book on the floor when her eyes met his. She'd sworn that it didn’t matter if he ever came, but admitted now it was a lie. It mattered. Her heartbeat grew faster when he strode across the room to kneel at her feet. Rory lifted the book and put it in her lap, then stared into her eyes. Her eyes grew wider as he stayed close. Dallis felt the heat radiating off his body.
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  “You left,” she said.

  “No.”

  “I have a headache.”

  “Do you?” His eyes softened in concern, looking her over to see if she was indeed ill.

  Dallis licked her lips and nodded to confirm she did. Her heart melted a little more toward him when he gently massaged her temples easing the pain away. His touch was soothing as he took care of her. All her anger disappeared. She needed him to stop. She raised her hand to brush his away, only to have him clutch it in his grasp and hold on. Rory brought her hand to his lips and placed a gentle kiss in her palm. Then, he laid her hand in her lap.

  “I am sorry.”

  These three simple words, spoken with a deep emotion, settled in Dallis’s soul. His troubled gaze searched hers for forgiveness. It was then Dallis saw the heavy burden he carried. She wondered of his troubles, but he was a proud man and wouldn’t confide in her. If she forgave him, then what? Would he court her, or hide back in the shadows toying with her heart with every glance he devoured her with? Rory consumed her emotions. But would he reject her again? He waited before her, for an answer.

  Dallis lifted her hand, her thumb caressing his face, easing his worries. A simple gesture accepting his apology. Rory closed his eyes at her gentle touch trying to wipe away his troubles. When he opened them to gaze into her eyes, he moved forward and pressed his lips against Dallis's. Whisper soft and then pulled away. Dallis sighed, and he wanted more, but held back. Then he decided, why not? When his lips began to move in to take her mouth in a more passionate kiss, he heard the footsteps of the butler outside in the hallway. He wasn’t alone, another set echoed behind him. Rory stood quickly and walked over to the fireplace, putting a respectable distance between them.