Storm On The Horizon

by Meredith Bond

  Chapter Six

  "Miss Tatiana, how lovely you look today," Kit said, dismounting from his horse and handing the reins over to his groom. He hadn't known whether Tatiana would be walking or riding, so he'd come prepared to do both. Now that it was clear that he wouldn't need his horse, he signaled to the groom to take him home.

  "Thank you, Mr. Vallentyn. You don't mind a walk, do you?" she asked, watching the animal being led away.

  "Not at all. It is a fine day for a walk." He could say this because he wore a thick wool coat with his leather breeches and riding boots. He just hoped that Tatiana would be as warm in her little spencer. The military-red, short-waisted jacket didn't look like it could keep very much of her warm, if at all, but it did look fetching over her simple white dress. The combination was extremely becoming and showed off her fine figure.

  "...If a bit chilly," she said, with a little laugh. "I'll tell you a little secret." She stepped closer to him so that only he could hear. Still, he had to bend down a touch to catch her words. "I've called upon a pocket of warm air to stay close so that I don't feel the cold so severely."

  Kit chuckled. She was obviously very comfortable with her magic. He liked that. She wasn't using her power to harm anyone, only to ensure her own comfort. There could be nothing wrong with that. He admired her pluck. She used her magic but discreetly enough so no one would notice.

  The other night, of course, had been a different situation entirely. He stopped her from using her powers against ordinary men who wouldn't have known what had happened to them. Not only was it forbidden to use magic against those who had none, but it also would have made it obvious that Tatiana did. The Vallen, who had kept their existence secret from ordinary people for so many hundreds of years, could have been found! That was simply not acceptable and against everything Kit had ever been taught.

  Miss Tatiana had clearly been furious, and rightly so, at getting snubbed. That still didn't make it right to use magic against the unwary. He was sure, however, she would never use her magic against others for her own gain—the other basic tenet of their people.

  "And what about your sister?" he asked, noticing Miss Ekaterina Ashurst standing not too far away surrounded by a handful of gentlemen. "Won't she be cold?"

  Tatiana glanced behind her. She turned back with a charming but mischievous smile on her face. "I'm sure she won’t feel the cold with all those men around her."

  Kit laughed and had to agree with her assessment.

  Tatiana took the arm he offered and they began to walk slowly down the graveled lane that led deeper into Hyde Park. There were few riders out at this time. Most were people riding through the park on their way somewhere, rather than members of the ton out to see and be seen. So the walk was pleasant and uninterrupted.

  Kit debated taking a side path through one of the smaller gardens, but decided it would be best to stay to the main pathway. With Miss Ashurst so busy and having Tatiana all to himself, Kit delved right in to his plan to learn more about her situation.

  "It is your grandmother who is sponsoring you and your sister? Do your parents not care for London?" he asked, beginning his campaign in a gentle way.

  "Only Trina is being brought out. I honestly don't know how my mother feels about town, but my father certainly does not enjoy it." She turned toward him with a smile and a slight twinkle in her eye. "He always feels compelled to go to Parliament and then becomes upset at the goings-on there."

  Kit laughed. "My father is exactly the opposite. He loves being in town. Loves attending Parliament. He even insists that I go, even though I don't have a seat."

  "But you will have a seat, so perhaps it's a good thing to get you used to and learn how to manage. I don't know that my father ever had anyone take him under his wing like that."

  Kit acknowledged the wisdom of her words. "I never actually thought of it that way. Personally, I side with your father in that I don't enjoy it at all. But if I were to tell that to either my father or grandfather, I would be drummed right out of the family for such heresy."

  "Oh, dear!" she laughed. "Are they very devoted, then?"

  "Very!" This line of conversation did not get him any closer to what he wanted to know. He paused to regroup his thoughts and then asked, "And how do you feel about London? Are you enjoying your stay so far?"

  Tatiana turned her head away with a thoughtful look. He wondered if she knew how expressive her face was. If only he could read thoughts or emotions, he would be able to decipher all that was clearly going through her mind.

  Her expression seemed pained at times but determined. And he realized, with a start, that she looked different. Somehow she looked... beautiful.

  Her lips and cheeks seemed fuller, her eyes an unfathomable black, and she seemed suffused with an inner radiance that hadn't been there only a moment ago. He felt his senses tingle as a flame of desire flickered within him.

  And then she turned back toward him and he realized it must have been his imagination playing tricks on him, for she looked just as she had before—pretty, but not the stunning beauty he thought he had somehow glimpsed.

  "Enjoying my stay? Yes, I am, now that I've met you."

  Her words, although softly spoken, hit him hard. The flame resurrected itself but now spread heat throughout his body and mind. The only thing that kept him from figuratively jumping for joy was the sadness laced through her words. Could it be true she already had an offer of marriage waiting? Could that be what made her sound unhappy? But then, why couldn't she just turn down the offer if she was no longer interested in the gentleman?

  Unless she didn't have a choice in the matter.

  The thought sent ice following the heat running through him. That must be it. That must be the answer to all of his questions. For some reason, she was being sacrificed in marriage while her sister was free to choose whomever she wished.

  Were those unshed tears glittering in her eyes? She shook her head. "I apologize, I should not have spoken so freely."

  She misinterpreted his silence. Kit's heart lurched within his chest. "No. No, I appreciate plain speaking. More than most men, I imagine. It is just that I feel the same way. I... I thoroughly enjoy your company as well. Much more so than, perhaps, I should."

  "What do you mean?" she asked, cocking her head a little to one side. She seemed to pull a smile from somewhere deep inside of her.

  Kit gave a little shrug. "It is nothing. You are a thoroughly delightful companion, that is all." How could he possibly complain to her about being pressured to find a wife, when she had no alternative but to accept some stranger as her husband? He, at least, had a choice. It wasn't much of one—he could do as he wished and devote all of his time and energy to running the family estate and be happy, or he could make his father happy and try to find a wife. He'd tried the first and been made to suffer his father's constant haranguing, his insults, his sneers at the work he considered beneath his son. So now Kit would try it his father's way... mostly. He didn’t like the idea of courting Miss Tatiana as a way to get closer to her sister. That just didn't sit right with him.

  Still, this line of conversation didn’t calm his curiosity as to why her parents offered her sister a fabulous dowry yet not even allow Tatiana to look about for a husband of her own. "I was saddened to hear rumors that you would only be in town for a short time."

  Tatiana turned her eyes away from him again. Immediately, Kit wanted to cut his tongue out. Why could he not keep the conversation on a light and happy subject? He was only upsetting her with this line of questioning.

  "Yes. Unfortunately, my parents have only allowed me to come to see my sister settled. I'll be returning home in less than a fortnight."

  "That is a very short time!" Kit couldn't help the words popping out of his mouth.

  Less than two weeks! How could he possibly get to know someone in so little time, especially when society dictated that they spend no more than thirty minutes together at a time? And he did, indeed, want to get t
o know Tatiana much better.

  With a start, he realized that he was drawn to her unlike any other woman he'd ever met. Could it be that his father's idea he marry wasn't such a bad one after all?

  Tatiana was clearly Vallen and comfortable with her magic. She had an easy confidence and a frankness that he found disarming and attractive; she certainly wasn't practiced in the banter and flirtation considered as the currency of the ton. She wasn't even very beautiful—or was she?

  What exactly was it about her that he liked so much? He didn't know precisely--just what his intuition told him—Tatiana was a very special young woman.

  She was giving him a sad, little smile. Her gaze slipped behind them for a moment, but then her whole head turned to look back.

  Kit followed suit to see what had caught her attention. It seemed as if a comedy was being enacted behind them. Miss Ashurst attempted to walk forward, but so many men surrounded her it was nearly impossible. All of the gentlemen jostled each other, elbowing and walking around one another, to be the one to walk beside her. As each one tried to capture her attention, he would move forward to walk next to her, forcing the others to shift and make room for him. Then another would discover something to say, and so it went. It made for a rather amusing dance.

  "It is so sad," Tatiana said, turning back to face him, both amusement and concern on her face. "She is completely overwhelmed by all the attention."

  "She does seem to be that way," Kit agreed, looking back over his shoulder. Miss Ashurst certainly did not look particularly happy—more like lost in a sea of men with her attention tossed this way and that by the waves of their persistence.

  "Maybe..." Tatiana's word trailed off as she turned and began to raise her arm toward the group.

  As he had the night before, he grabbed her hand before she could let lose any magic. All right, so maybe she wasn't always so discreet with her magic. "But if you do that, it will spoil all the fun," he said, laughing to soften his control of her actions. She didn't seem to be the type of young woman to allow anyone to tell her what to do. "Surely, your sister can handle this."

  Tatiana's eyes widened, and a slow blush crept into her cheeks. Her eyes darted around to see if anyone else had noticed her slip. "I don't know that she can, but you're right. I should not, cannot use magic here."

  "Someone might see you," Kit agreed. How nice that she was intelligent enough to know that would not be a good thing. He definitely admired a clever woman.

  She shook her head and put her hand to her now flushed cheek. "I've got to remember where I am. I'm afraid I'm just not used to being in such a public place. At home... well, everyone is Vallen so we don't think about using magic whenever we want. But it is wrong. I know that. Poor Trina, though, has never had so much attention before. She's completely out of her league."

  "Well then, what she needs is a little guidance—a word or an idea of how she can handle the situation." Subtlety was his favorite way of approaching challenges. Between that and his charm, he'd never encountered a problem that couldn't be solved. And magic, he'd learned from an early age, was not always the best solution.

  Tatiana nodded, still caught up in her own thoughts. But one of his own thoughts nearly stopped him cold. He wasn't upset that Tatiana had nearly used magic against unsuspecting people. Why not? He usually became furious when he saw magic being done in public.

  But somehow Tatiana's near use of magic didn't bother him. Why? Could it be her remorse when he caught her? That she so easily acquiesced to his alternative suggestion? Regardless, it was very strange. But he truly wasn't bothered.

  He looked over at her and wondered if she had used something magical on him. Something to make him so attracted to her?

  No. This wasn't magic, at least not the ordinary sort. It was simply Tatiana.

  He couldn't help but watch her as a smile slowly grew on her face, until finally she gave him a bright, happy grin. "Yes, of course. How absolutely brilliant, Mr. Vallentyn."

  She stopped and turned toward her sister. Peering at Miss Ashurst through the men, Tatiana seemed to be silently calling her name. It impressed Kit that she could speak mind-to-mind to her sister. They must have a special connection, he thought. They were twins, after all.

  Miss Ashurst looked over at Tatiana questioningly, and not a little exasperated. Her expression cleared almost immediately, though. She even went so far as to smile and give her sister a quick nod of her head.

  She stopped. This caused all the men around her to bump into each other; some had stopped with her and others had kept on walking. Miss Ashurst smiled, looking around at all of the men from under her lashes. She said something that Kit couldn't hear, and then put her hands through the arms of the two men standing closest to her. They all found whatever she said quite amusing.

  The crowd laughed and bowed. To Kit's surprise, all but the two she held on to said their prompt goodbyes. Within moments, there were only the two men left—and the trio were able to walk forward again quite comfortably.

  "Well done!" Kit said, taking Tatiana's hand and pulling it around his own arm. Oh yes, she was definitely very intelligent and excellent at solving problems. She'd not only taken care of the issue, but had done so with grace and cleverness within the confines of what was acceptable for her do in public.

  Oh, but he was in serious trouble!

  Kit appreciated the fact that it took relatively little effort to keep up a light, entertaining conversation for the remainder of the walk because his mind was in turmoil.

  He hated the fact that his father might have been right. He probably should get married. He'd thought that his estate was all he needed to be happy, but being with Tatiana made him realize exactly what he was missing at Vallentyn—companionship. Intelligent, amusing conversation. A thoughtful person to be with. Even someone to give him a bit of a challenge.

  On the other hand, his father did not want him to marry Tatiana. In fact, she was exactly the opposite of Lord Durrington’s choice. She had no dowry. No political connections. She might not even be available for him to marry. This fact annoyed him more than he wanted to admit, even to himself.

  So now he would have the doubly unpleasant task of telling his father that he was right, and that he didn't want to marry the type of girl his father pushed him toward. This was not going to easy or pleasant!

  They reached the main gate to the park much sooner than Kit would have liked. He was forced to draw this pleasant excursion to a close and get back to the work that waited for him—and quite possibly his father.

  Taking Tatiana's hand in his, he bowed over it and said politely, "I have enjoyed your company thoroughly, Miss Tatiana. Thank you for allowing me the honor of escorting you this afternoon."

  She gave him a smile and a small curtsey. "The honor has been mine, sir. Will I have the pleasure of your company sometime soon? Perhaps you'll come to call on Thursday? My sister and I will be at home."

  The thought that he could see her again—that she wanted to see him again, and in merely two days—made him happier than it should have. "I will do my best, but I'm afraid I can make no promises."

  The flash of disappointment in her eyes almost made him promise something he knew he couldn't. He would do his best to get away but couldn't risk making a promise he might not be able to keep. He didn't know how amenable his father would be to him visiting with Tatiana again. Perhaps it would be best if he simply didn’t mention which Ashurst girl he would be seeing. Damn! But he hated being under his father's thumb. He was used to his freedom at Vallentyn. Being in London and following the dictates of his father was getting more and more difficult and bothersome.

  He departed before Miss Ashurst and her entourage caught up to them. Perhaps if he told his father that he would be meeting Miss Ashurst, he wouldn't mind that Kit was "chasing after the wrong sister". And if he did call at their home, then he would be meeting the elder sister, so he wouldn't be lying. The thought kept him in good spirits for the rest of his walk home. />