“Of course, my lord,” Jack said with a grumble.
Jack was a most trustworthy man of affairs, but this situation with Gwen required planning and finesse. If he were to go through with it.
Hayden stroked his chin, deep in thought. It appeared as if Gwen had been honest about everything, which was a good sign, but the hint of a scandal was not. Her mother would stand trial and come into contact with his father, who was a member of the House of Lords. If his father knew he intended to wed Gwen, he would not readily agree.
“There is one more thing, my lord,” Jack said, interrupting his thoughts. “Miss Trescott and her mother are destitute, only earning a small portion each year from their tenants.”
“Do you know why that is?”
“Lord Fairview gambled most of his fortune away over the years, leaving them with a pittance upon his death.”
“Unfortunately, that is not unheard of,” Hayden said.
“No, my lord, it is not. Is that all you require of me?”
The hopeful look on Jack’s face was almost comical and Hayden smothered his grin with a fake cough. The man looked as if he might fall on the floor and sleep there happily.
“That will be all,” Hayden said. “And thank you for your excellent work.”
“My lord,” the steward said with a quick nod.
As Jack walked away, Hayden’s mind began to turn. His first thought was of Gwen. An image of her came forth, but his mind could not quite capture her beauty or the uniqueness of her. Even though she was a vision, he knew that there was more going on than a simple case of lust and impropriety. It had nothing to do with Gwen, and everything to do with him.
He looked over at the decanter sitting on the shelf nearby and wondered if his current predicament entitled him to a drink. Was he truly considering marrying a woman who had made it perfectly clear she was not interested and would love nothing more than for him to walk away?
Instead of grabbing the brandy, he opened the top drawer of his desk and reached inside to remove a small, golden object. Flipping the lid revealed the hidden face of the compass. Hayden smiled as the needle pointed true north, still working with great accuracy. His mind drifted to his brother, remembering the day Gabriel had given it to him.
It had been on one of his brother’s visits home after being sent to some godless country. Hayden would never forget the crisp clean lines of his brother’s uniform, nor the pride in their father’s eyes, which had never glanced at Hayden with such adoration. Gabriel was not only a decorated war hero, his duty to his country complete, but his duty as a son was also always fulfilled.
Hayden ran his thumb across the glass face of the device and allowed his grief over his brother to wash over him. Gabriel had been the good and honorable son, the one who was supposed to inherit the title and everything that went along with it. And Hayden, after coming to the conclusion he could never win his father’s approval, had lived a life that was the complete opposite of his brother.
His throat constricted with bitterness, but it was only towards his father, never his brother. Gabriel had been his saving grace. If he were in Hayden’s situation, there would be no question whether to marry Gwen or not. His honor would demand it and on that principle alone, Gabriel would carry through.
Could Hayden scrape what was left of his honor and do the right thing for once in his life?
Hayden arrived at Café Birch, exactly at 2 o’clock, for a gentleman must never be late to an appointment. He had a feeling this meeting was going to be an interesting one, due to the fact his fiancé-to-be was most likely going to try and reject him.
Again.
His eyes scanned the room and quickly landed on her. Today she wore a lavender gown with a matching ribbon woven through her hair, a stark difference from the nightgown she’d worn last night. He rather missed that skimpy article of clothing.
Keeping to the back wall, he studied her and the madam as they waited for him. The madam took a leisurely sip of water, her posture relaxed and mild. Gwen, on the other hand, looked as if she was about to meet her maker. Her back was stiff and her eyes were darting back and forth. It was a wonder she had not already laid eyes on him. He had expected her nervous behavior, but he hoped to calm her fears this afternoon over lunch.
He started walking in their direction and as soon as Gwen’s eyes found him, she paled and averted her gaze. This was definitely going to be an interesting meeting.
“Ladies,” he said in way of greeting, after rising from his bow.
“My lord,” Sunny said.
“My lord,” Gwen murmured.
“Thank you for making the time to meet me here today,” he said, sitting in the chair opposite of Gwen. “It seems that we all want the same thing.”
“We do?” Gwen asked, her tone skeptical.
“Of course. We all want what is best for you, Lady Trescott,” he said.
Gwen gave him a saccharine smile and he wanted to laugh. In no way had time or sleep sweetened her attitude towards matrimony.
“That is correct,” Sunny said, giving Gwen a look.
Gwen opened her mouth to speak, but the waiter came to their table, and she pressed her lips together. Hayden and Sunny ordered a lite fare, but Gwen declined in favor of her tea. If the circles under her eyes were any indication, she had not slept well after he’d left. To be fair, neither had he.
Sunny cleared her throat delicately. “My lord, this situation in which you two find yourselves is nothing short of a scandal waiting to happen. I am very surprised that no one saw the two of you leaving the room together or Lady Trescott in her nightgown.” Sunny gave Gwen a pointed look and Gwen had the grace to look sheepish. “However, since the events of last night have left you both unscathed, I suggest we press forward and do what is in the interest of both parties present.”
Hayden looked the madam over, pleased and somewhat astounded at her intellect. He appreciated her forthrightness, as well as her articulation, and he hoped she would help him secure an alliance with Gwen.
“I couldn’t agree more Madam Sunny,” he said. “Since Lady Trescott’s honor remains intact, as far as society knows, I see no reason for a special marriage license.” He saw Gwen look hopeful at his words, but her shoulders slumped with his next sentence.
“However, I think we should announce our engagement with all due haste.”
Chapter 5
Gwen sat in complete and total shock. It was probably the only reason why she didn’t feel her magic stirring as it usually did when she was agitated. She looked between Sunny, who nodded her golden head, and Lord Greystone, who had a resolute look on his face. Resisting the urge to flee grew more difficult by the second. At least her mother was not here to witness all of this. Thinking of her mother’s plight flooded Gwen with guilt. While she was facing the complication of marriage, her mother was dealing with something much worse.
“Might I make a suggestion, my lord?” Sunny asked.
A small nod from Hayden, who Gwen noted, still had a mild green aura. Her irritation surfaced. How could he be so calm? She had hoped he would arrive with the intention of informing her that they were to part ways. Much to her chagrin, that had not been the case.
“I believe it best for you two to be seen together in society, maybe once or twice, before the announcement is seen in the papers,” Sunny said. “It would give the impression that you asked for Gwen’s hand because you’ve become infatuated with her or something equally harmless.”
Hayden looked at Gwen and winked at her, before smiling and turning back to look at Sunny, who didn’t raise a brow. That small, flirtatious act sent tremors through Gwen, and she was immediately transported back to the moment she’d met Hayden. That scene in the bedroom had played in her mind more times than she would ever admit. She took a fortifying drink and was pleased when she was able to set the fragile teacup down without it rattling on its saucer.
Sunny continued, “That way there would be less speculation as to why the sudden
engagement. All of London knows you are eligible for marriage and it will not be a shock to see you on the marriage mart. I believe it prudent to steer clear of any openings for something other than typical gossip. ”
“Very wise, Madam Sunny,” Hayden said. He tapped his index finger on the table as though in thought.
“We must also discuss the matter of a chaperone,” Sunny said.
“Hmmm,” Hayden murmured quietly.
Sunny turned to Gwen and fixed her honey colored eyes on her, while Gwen stared at Sunny’s aura. It was still the same light shade of yellow it had been all afternoon. The peacefulness that she exuded was comforting to Gwen, but it could not eradicate her nervousness completely. Fortunately for Gwen, her anxiety chose to manifest as irritation, instead of a display of magic this time.
“You two sit here and discuss me as though I am not here,” she said.
Sunny looked affronted, while Hayden’s expression remained unchanged.
“My dear,” Sunny began, “is there something you would like to say? I thought that, given your silence, you were in agreement with what was being said. Am I incorrect?”
Perhaps it was Sunny’s tone, honey covered steel, which took the fight out of Gwen. Or maybe it was because deep down she knew they were both right, and she was lucky that she and Hayden were not already married. If the look on his face was any indication, Hayden was not walking away from this without a fiancé.
“Forgive me, Sunny,” Gwen said softly. “This is all so sudden and with the other facets of my life spiraling out of control, I find myself feeling quite irritable. Would you be so kind as to let me have a moment with Lord Greystone?”
“Of course,” Sunny said as she rose from her chair.
As soon as Sunny was out of hearing range, Gwen turned to Hayden. His face left no indication as to what his thoughts were, but gone was the hint of playfulness from before.
“I cannot marry you,” she blurted out.
He nodded his head once and said nothing. His silence was disconcerting and for some reason she felt the need to try and explain everything.
“My mother is being accused of witchcraft and is in jail. An actual, honest to God jail!” she said, waving a hand in the air. “Sunny is the only family I have left and I only met her yesterday. And, as you know, she owns a brothel. An honest to God brothel!” Both hands were waved this time. “Imagine my shock when Sunny told me, but it did not matter because I had been instructed by my mother to seek her out.” She took a deep breath, after feeling winded, and lowered her voice to a more suitable volume. Already, she was drawing attention from neighboring patrons. “My sole focus is freeing my mother, not trying to become someone’s bride. I think you are very honorable in your intentions towards me, but it is misplaced, my lord.”
She watched as Hayden’s eyes widened a fraction and it happened so fast she would have missed it if she had not been sitting directly across from him. Obviously she had said something to provoke some type of reaction from him. Whether it was good or bad, she could not begin to guess.
When he remained quiet, she grew uneasy. In her mind she had done her best to explain what a terrible idea it would be for him to marry someone such as she, and that was withholding the fact she was near penniless.
“Are you quite finished, Lady Trescott?” he asked.
“Quite,” she whispered.
His lips twitched and her lips parted in shock at his amusement. He was laughing at her.
“I do not see what has you so amused,” she said, eyes narrowed.
“You.”
He leaned towards her, getting close, as if they were the only two people in the room. Suddenly Gwen found it hard to breathe steadily with his green gaze delving into hers.
“Now it is my turn to speak,” he said. Only after she nodded did he continue. “I have recently been named heir for a title, one that I never wanted and probably never will. Especially considering what was lost for me to gain it.”
She saw pain flash through his eyes, and without thinking she reached out and grasped his hand. It was a very improper thing to do, but Hayden did not shrug off her small display of comfort. She should have been grateful they were in a room of people because only this prevented her from hugging him outright. She had seen many emotions cross his face since she’d met him, but nothing heart-breaking like this.
“I was ordered by my father to secure the title by finding a bride. If I do not produce one, I will lose all I stand to inherit, which would be no loss to me, but I am not doing this for myself. I am doing this for my brother, to keep the remains of what would have been his legacy.”
He covered her hand with his own and the weight of it made her heart beat faster.
“Gwen, I do not believe that finding you was an accident. I am in need of a wife and you are in need of a protector. What amuses me is that I am currently one of the greatest catches on the marriage mart and yet you, a woman who should be desperate for all I have to offer, are constantly rejecting me.”
She tried to pull her hand away, unsure of how to respond. One thing she did know was that he was right. She did need him. But not enough to possibly expose him to her magic.
His hand tightened over hers, preventing her from retracting it, and then his thumb began to make long sweeps against her skin. This time she could not contain her body’s reaction and a small shiver snaked its way down. By the narrowing of Hayden’s eyes, she knew he’d seen it.
“I’m not rejecting you,” she whispered. “I’m protecting you.”
Astonishment crossed his face and his thumb stilled its caressing motion. “From what?”
“From me.”
And there it was. A confession of sorts, or at least the truest one he was ever likely to hear from her lips. Although, that wasn’t the complete truth of the matter. She was also protecting herself from him. From the things he made her feel, things that were impossible in the short time she had known him.
“Gwen,” he began, his voice soft, “I cannot possibly imagine what it is you think to protect me from, but I assure you I will be quite alright. What you can protect is my honor and inadvertently, my brother’s legacy.”
Her heart squeezed painfully and her lungs felt as if they were not drawing in enough air. He wanted to protect someone he loved and was she not trying to do that very thing concerning her mother?
She watched as his aura brightened at her sigh of surrender.
“There could be another woman out there more suited to help you build the legacy you so desire,” she said.
His hand left hers, only to cup her jaw. His touch was warm, gentle and unexpected, but she did not pull away. “You are the woman I desire.” He looked deep into her eyes and said, “Greatly.”
The intensity in his gaze and the message he was conveying caused a yearning to rise within her. It was so strong and so forceful that it scared her and she pulled away from his grasp.
“You only say that because you have not had the proper time to search for a wife, but I will give it to you.”
His lips parted with either shock or a protest and so she hurriedly continued with, “We will be engaged to appease your father, but it will be in name only. During our ‘engagement’, you can be on the lookout for a more suitable candidate. Then after a length of time we will go our separate ways.”
“And if I refuse?”
The harshness of his tone made her swallow deeply, uncertainty clogging her throat. His aura shifted from the soothing green to a pale red. Seeing this was unnecessary because one look at his face told her he was angry.
“Then the deal is off,” she said.
The skin around his jaw tightened as he clenched his teeth.
“How much time do you think you will need to find a wife?” she asked, hoping to divert his attention from his anger.
This question seemed to upset him all the more. He squinted at her for several minutes as if he could not believe what he was hearing. Then his gaze shuttered and she could r
ead nothing on his face. Unfortunately for him, she could still see his red aura, which was deepening in color quite rapidly.
“How much time do you think I will require, Gwen?” he asked, his voice like ice.
“Well, um… I wouldn’t presume to know, but a week?”
His aura flared wildly and she flinched. This was not going well.
“Three?” she whispered.
“Until the end of the season,” he said.
She thought about the number of weeks which that entailed and grew panicked. She could barely control herself around him now, so what would happen to her if she spent large quantities of time with him over the next two months? Although she doubted anything could steer her from her plan to free her mother, she was not so sure Hayden couldn’t delay it. She could not allow him to divert her focus. Her mother was all that mattered.
“Three weeks and nothing more,” she said firmly, even though she was quaking inside. She did not believe he would do her bodily harm, but he could certainly damage her heart. Even now, his adamant pursuit of her was weakening her defenses. The feeling of being desired by one such as he was wreaking havoc with her emotions.
“My father is a member of the House of Lords.”
“What did you say?” she asked, so softly she was uncertain he’d heard her.
“When your mother goes to trial, my father will be sitting on the jury which will decide her fate,” he said simply.
Maybe it was the nonchalance in which he said the words, or it could have been the fact that he had not mentioned it until now, but Gwen became angry.
“You only thought to mention this now?” she snapped. Probably not the best method on winning him to her cause, but he’d clearly withheld this as a bargaining chip of sorts.
“I was planning on telling you after I’d secured your hand, but you have required more convincing than I was prepared to deal with.”
A silence stretched out between them, each lost in their own thoughts for a time. She watched as his aura shifted once more, now a pale gray. Apparently, she was not the only feeling defeated.
The Masquerade (Den of the Fallen Book 0) Page 4