Tenacious Trents 03 - A Reluctant Rake

by Jane Charles

  “Lydell?”

  “Yes,” Millicent shouted. “That is who my maid found in my bed.”

  Did Lydell lie about who he was to get into Millicent’s bed and how could any woman mistake one man for another in that circumstance? Yet, that wasn’t the reason Millicent gave for her parent’s decision. “So your parents didn’t reject Trent because he didn’t have a title.”

  “They would have, if they would have believed me. Now we will never be together.”

  The headache that was earlier an inconvenience was now making her ill. Lydell had lied to Millicent about who he was to trap her, and her fortune, into a marriage, but Millicent was too stupid to understand that Trent was never there.

  “What did Mr. Trent say the next morning when he found out Lydell had gone to your room?”

  Millicent planted her fists on her hips. “He was already gone.”

  “Gone?” Or perhaps he was never there.

  “I am sure it was urgent, otherwise he would have stayed by my side and not left again, I am sure of it.”

  Audrey simply nodded. Was her friend mad or delusional or both?

  “That is why my parents wouldn’t believe he was the one but accepted Lydell’s version of the facts. Jordan arrived so late and left so early that none of the guests ever saw him. Not even the servants, so my parents refused to believe he was there.” Millicent reached out and grabbed Audrey’s hand. “You believe me, don’t you?”

  She was practically begging and all Audrey could do was nod. She didn’t dare tell Millicent what she really thought for fear the woman would become even more unhinged. Was Lydell aware of his wife’s misconception? Had he tried to tell the truth or was he simply letting her believe what she wanted?

  “I am so glad we had this talk,” Audrey found herself saying. “I must go now. We will visit later.”

  She turned on her heel and walked back toward the entrance as quickly as her feet could carry her.

  Audrey paused just outside of the gate and grasped it for support. Her stomach churned. What had she done? She had believed Millicent last spring and cut Trent out of her life and kept her resentment alive all this time. Two letters from Millicent had altered everything. The first saying that Trent had come to her bed and the second, that her parents were marrying her to Lydell because Trent refused.

  She leaned against the gate and breathed deeply. She never questioned Millicent about the circumstances and never thought there was a need. Trent did have a certain reputation after all. She had also been too hurt and didn’t want to know the details. Instead, she let her anger blind her. Had she just questioned Millicent at the time would things have turned out differently?

  There was no guarantee that Trent would have courted her, or if it would have led to anything permanent, but she hadn’t even given him a chance to find out. Granted, he only danced with her a few times and said he wished to call on her after his return, yet it didn’t mean he had any serious intentions. It was silly of course, but she had begun to hope.

  Her heart constricted at the pain at realizing she had believed lies and may have ruined her chances.

  Jordan rubbed his eyes and leaned back in the chair and stretched. Tightness had developed in this shoulders and neck from studying but at least he had his answers. There was precedent on how to remove one guardian to replace him with another. He would just need to speak with Lady Rothsbury’s brother, Mr. Jonathan Bridges, to make sure he was willing to take over the task of managing the young lord’s estate until the lad reached his majority. He would call on Bridges at his offices as soon as he washed and ready to move on with his day, but he was so bloody tired.

  He glanced out the window from his fourth floor set of rooms to the street below. Jordan had given up his space within a small office. He no longer needed to hide his identity or have potential client’s questioned before he met with them and had taken to working from his set of rooms in Old Square. Nobody knew he sometimes resided here, except his valet, butler and one footman.

  A smile pulled at his lips as he envisioned the look on his father’s face if he had ever learned of Jordan’s decisions to become a solicitor. Well, his father no longer had control and Jordan could do as he bloody well pleased.

  That left one question to be answered: What would Audrey Montgomery think about him being a barrister, or simply a solicitor? Her mother wanted a title for her daughter, but what did the daughter want?

  What smile he possessed disappeared when he remembered that the only gentlemen she had granted dances were already titled or one day would be. Did she have the same goals as her mother? Jordan wouldn’t have believed it last year, but perhaps she had changed. He certainly had in the past year, but for reasons nobody but his family would understand.

  A scratch at the door drew his attention and Jordan crossed the scarred, dark wood floor to find one of his footmen on the other side.

  “Come in Higgins.” Jordan stood back so the young man could enter.

  “A message came for you, Mr. Trent.”

  He tore the missive open. It was a note from Grace asking that he call on her as soon as possible. His first thoughts were that there was news of Adele and Julia, but quickly dismissed the notion. If anyone was to would contact him about his step-mother and half-sister, it would be one of his brothers. This was curious indeed. Hopefully all was well with Matthew.

  “Thank you, Higgins.”

  The young man also held out a satchel. “We assumed you would need to call on Mrs. Trent and your valet packed an extra set of clothes being you didn’t come home last night.”

  Jordan had come straight here from his sister’s supper, needing to put the thoughts of Lady Lydell from his mind and work himself to exhaustion so Audrey didn’t plague his dreams through the night.

  “I really should give up these rooms.” He glanced around at what had been his second home for the past few years. “What I do here can now be done at home.”

  Higgins didn’t say anything but it would make both of their lives easier if Jordan wasn’t living in two places.

  “I will send word if I will not be returning tonight.”

  The young man bowed and left the room and Jordan set about preparing for the meeting with his sister-in-law. Afterward he would travel to the docks to call upon Mr. Jonathan Bridges.

  An hour later Jordan stepped into his sister-in-law’s parlor to find Grace seated calmly on the settee while Miss Montgomery paced before the fire. His heart lifted. Had it been Miss Montgomery who sought him out and not his sister-in-law?

  Any exhaustion he suffered earlier disappeared the moment he was in Miss Montgomery’s presence. It wasn’t simply attraction, though he was more attracted to her than any woman of his acquaintance. She calmed and soothed something deep inside and all he had to do was simply be in the same room with her. It had been that way from the first moment he met Miss Montgomery.

  Miss Montgomery turned when the butler announced his entrance, her face drawn with concern. He dearly hoped she wasn’t about to deliver another set down. Hadn’t she promised they would talk? Her expression led him to believe the topic she wished to broach was far more serious than he earlier anticipated.

  “Is something wrong?”

  “I need to ask you something,” Miss Montgomery blurted out.

  Grace stood and smoothed her gown. “Audrey insisted she needed to speak with you but it was a conversation that needed to take place in private.” She lifted an eyebrow in interest. “She won’t tell me what it is about but this was the only place she could speak with you alone without her reputation being damaged.”

  A grin pulled at his lips. “Miss Montgomery wishes to be alone with me?” He took a few steps further into the room. “My day just became all the brighter.”

  Grace stepped between Jordan and Miss Montgomery. “You will behave as a gentlemen,” she warned.

  Jordan chuckled. As much as he wished to be alone with Audrey and not be a gentleman, he was in his brother’s home
and clearly Miss Montgomery was upset. “I promise.”

  Grace simply nodded and left the parlor, closing the door behind her.

  Jordan sauntered over to Audrey, concerned by the paleness of her skin and the worry lines etched above her brow. His hands itched to smooth them away and ease her burden.

  “Last spring, when you were gone, did you attend the Grayson’s house party?”

  It had been his intention to be there but at the last moment he had to travel to Bristol. “I had received an invitation as you know.” Miss Montgomery wasn’t aware of his profession as far as he knew and Jordan hadn’t told her last spring because he hadn’t yet asked her uncle permission to court her and frankly, he had been unsure of her reaction. He didn’t want to be put in the situation of choosing a career over a lady when it was far too soon to determine if they would be a good match, despite how he warmed in her presence.

  “I know that is the reason you were to be gone. But did you go?”

  He reached out and grasped her hand in his. “What is this about?”

  “I cannot tell you until I know if you were there or not.”

  “I did not attend the house party but needed to be somewhere else.”

  She closed her eyes and blew out a breath. What did it matter whether he was at the Grayson’s or not? However, something had happened during that time that altered her opinion of him. Would he finally find out what his horrible crime was?

  “Where were you?”

  “I traveled to Bristol.”

  A frown formed and she tilted her head as if to study him. “Why?”

  It did seem rather odd that he would choose to go to Bristol when he could have been enjoying himself at a fashionable house party. “I cannot say.”

  She pursed her lips and then gave a quick nod, as if deciding if she would pry further. “And you were never at the Grayson Estate? Not even for one night?”

  “If I was going to travel all that way I would have stayed longer than a night.” He assured her. “What is this about?”

  Miss Montgomery sighed again and turned away from him. “I think I have made a terrible mistake and I owe you an apology.”

  His heart lifted. “What mistake? Is this about what I did to make you hate me?”

  “I never really hated you.” Her shoulders slumped and then she turned to him, her face a lovely shade of pink. “Millicent, that is Lady Lydell, wrote to me from the house party.”

  Her face took on a deeper hue. She was quite lovely in her embarrassment. “Go on.”

  “She claimed that you had, that…” Miss Montgomery closed her eyes and turned away again.

  Jordan came up from behind and placed his hands on her upper arms in encouragement and comfort. “What did she claim I did?”

  “This is not a proper conversation and I shouldn’t say anything, but you do need to know.”

  He leaned in and whispered in her ear. “What do I need to know?”

  “She claimed that you had gone to her room one night and that the two of you … that.”

  Jordan stilled. “I understand your meaning.” Bloody hell! Why would Lady Lydell say such a thing for? Didn’t she know such rumors would see her ruined?

  He straightened. Miss Montgomery hadn’t known he had never gone to the Grayson’s. She refused to talk to him after that time he was away.

  “I received another letter, two days later, that you had refused to do the right thing and her parents were forcing her to marry Lydell.”

  “As I wasn’t there, I was not required to do the right thing.”

  “All this time she has led me to believe her child is yours as well.”

  Jordan turned Miss Montgomery so that she could face him. “This is why you have been angry with me all this time?”

  “I thought you ruined my friend and then abandoned her.” Tears moistened her eyes. “I had been warned about you.”

  “That I do not doubt.” He grinned down at her.

  “You shouldn’t be smiling about this. What will people think?”

  Jordan sobered. He doubted that it would do anymore damage to his already tarnished reputation, but he was trying to become a respectable gentlemen. Otherwise he would never be called to the bar and it was something he had worked far too long for to let it slip through his fingers now.

  Audrey glanced down and twisted her hands together. “Millicent insisted that you had wanted her all along and only danced with me to be close to her.”

  “You believed her?” How could any gentleman in his right mind prefer Lady Lydell when they could be with Audrey Montgomery? Jordan placed a finger under Audrey’s chin and lifted it so he could look into her eyes. “The only lady I’ve ever wanted to court was you.”

  “I’ve known her all of my life. Why would she lie to me?”

  “Jealousy?” If a trusted childhood friend had told him something about Miss Montgomery, he may have believed the one he had known the longest as well. Besides, how could he blame her for thinking the worst? He didn’t exactly have a pristine reputation. Though he would like to blame his father for that, he was equally as guilty. He never let the ton believe anything other than he was a debauched lord only seeking pleasure.

  “Why would she possibly be jealous of me?”

  Jordan simply stared at her. Did Audrey have no idea how beautiful she was? Such lovely golden hair and soft, warm brown eyes and lips, pink as a rosebud and ripe for kissing. Jordan wanted to kiss her but feared where it would lead or that she would reject him again. She may be here to apologize for a misunderstanding but she hadn’t indicated she wished to further their relationship.

  “There is more.” She sighed

  How worse could it be?

  “Millicent truly believes it was you.” Her face grew crimson. “It was dark and in the middle of the night so Millicent couldn’t see who was there and the gentleman claimed to be you.”

  Who would go to Millicent’s bed and claim to be him? Unless it was Lydell, but to what purpose? Simply being found in the ladies room would have sealed his fate?

  “Millicent’s maid found Lydell with her the next morning and Millicent believes you left when she fell asleep and Lydell replaced you.”

  “She honestly believes such a thing, when I was never there? She is that stupid?”

  Miss Montgomery shrugged.

  He should be livid for what Lydell had done by using his name, but Jordan was too happy to have this misunderstanding between him and Audrey resolved. “Why did you start questioning her story now?”

  “She has been acting strangely since the Season began. Millicent is intent on having you one way or the other.”

  Lady Lydell’s behavior toward him was now becoming clear.

  “When I saw you with her last night, in the hall, I knew something was not right.”

  Jordan was hoping he would not have to explain the encounter to Miss Montgomery because he had no explanation for it, until now.

  She chuckled. “You were terrified, at least by my observation.”

  “That I was.”

  “If you had done what she claimed, or were in love with her as Millicent insists, you would not have been so intent on looking for an escape.”

  He chuckled. At least Miss Montgomery didn’t find it unmanly that he wanted to run away from a woman.

  She sobered and looked up at him. Her brown eyes were darker than usual. “Will you please forgive me for treating you so horribly?”

  And he had planned or thought to be the one who would need to apologize, once he learned whatever wrongs he could have committed just to have her back in his arms. “Of course.” He pulled her close and wrapped his arms about her.

  She looked up at him and blinked. “I feel terrible for thinking the worst of you.”

  “Hush,” he whispered and brought his lips to hers.

  His mouth descended on hers and Miss Montgomery’s arms moved higher and she threaded her fingers through his hair. Her full breasts pushed against his chest and her war
mth penetrated his clothing. He had waited so long for her to welcome him into her arms.

  Jordan groaned and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss further, mating his tongue with hers. He grew hard with desire and it took everything he had not to lay her down on the settee and make love to her in one of the many ways he had dreamed about since meeting her. But, he would do this right. They would court, he would propose, and then they would marry. Then on their wedding night she would be his, and not before. He was going to do one thing respectable in his life though a special license was not out of the question.

  “I told Grace she should never leave my brother alone with a lady.” Matthew’s voice jolted Jordan from his intentions. Audrey squeaked and turned toward the door. Thank goodness her skirts blocked all view of his person.

  “Did it ever occur to you to knock?” Jordan asked.

  “Not in my own home.”

  “I apologize,” Audrey stammered. “I don’t know what came over me.”

  Matthew chuckled. “My brother no doubt.”

  Jordan wouldn’t have minded being over her, but now was not the place or time.

  Jordan stepped into one of the large warehouses not far from the ships floating along the Thames. He had been in warehouses before but one never as busy as this one. Men were everywhere directing shipments, loading crates, moving them from one end of the warehouse to the other, shouting out orders. It was as precise and fascinating as watching a ballet.

  He chuckled to himself recalling the time his father learned he enjoyed the ballet. Jordan had convinced him that it was simply because of the costumes. The skirts were not short, but they were above a woman’s ankles and made of the lightest material that when they turned, more leg was exposed than allowed in proper public. And, who could argue with tight bodices? This had seemed to calm his father but it had nothing to do with why Jordan enjoyed the ballet. He loved the beauty of the dance and the story told through movement.

  Would Audrey enjoy the ballet? He would need to get tickets for the next performance. The family box was situated close to the stage and they would have an unobstructed view.