by Amelia Grey
“Yes, miss,” the servant said without question.
Loretta heard every step Hawk took behind her as they made their way down the corridor and into the drawing room, where she turned in front of the fireplace to face him. She felt flushed and out of breath. Just looking at him filled her with such longing feelings.
“I can see you wasted no time coming over,” she said. “I’m surprised my brother’s note has even had time to reach your house.”
His gaze caressed her face. “It didn’t.”
“Oh, then how did you know we were here?”
“Gossip passes around fast in London, Loretta. I heard that your brother was in the clubs first thing this morning asking who might be the best physicians in Town.”
“Oh, yes, I see. I suppose that would be the place to go to get information.”
“For Farley?” the duke asked.
“Yes.”
“So he’s no better.”
“Actually, he is a little better,” she answered. “The frequency of coughing spasms has slowed, but when he has them, they are still quite severe. I would feel better if a physician looked at him and confirmed to me whether or not he has consumption.”
Hawk nodded, then reached in his pocket and extended a folded piece of vellum to her. “Here’s the name and address of one for you. I’ve sent him word that you will be around to see him this afternoon and for him to send the amount of his fee to me.”
“Thank you, Your Grace,” she said, taking the paper from his hand, though her gaze never left his face. “I’m grateful for this, but I have money to pay him.”
“I want to do it, Loretta. I would do anything to help you. You must know that.”
“Very well,” she said, knowing that would give her more to pay a hackney, so they wouldn’t have to walk, and for any tonics or elixirs Farley might need to aid his healing. “My uncle will be going to White’s later this afternoon to catch up on all the latest news. That’s when I’d planned to take Farley. My uncle doesn’t know about this and I would rather keep it that way.”
Hawk smiled. “I can help you with that, too. I’ll make sure to see the earl while he’s at White’s and detain him as long as possible.”
The rate of her heartbeat kept increasing. “That’s very kind of you, considering—”
“Considering what? That I’m not usually such a nice man?” Hawk said as the corners of his mouth lifted just enough to let her know he was teasing her.
Loretta smiled, too. “That’s not true, and it’s not what I was going to say. Considering you aren’t that fond of Farley.”
“It’s never been that. It’s that I don’t trust him. It’s been that way from the beginning.”
“I know. And he doesn’t trust you.”
He nodded once. “I think he and I came to an understanding of each other that night of the storm.”
“You never told me what you two said to each other.”
“Nothing of any importance,” he offered. “How have you been?”
“I’m well. And you look”—magnificent—“well, too.”
His gaze swept down her face again and then back to her eyes. A tingle ran from her breasts down to the core of her womanhood. There was no denying she loved the way he looked at her and the way it made her feel when he did.
“I am. It’s good to see you.”
She didn’t want to get into a personal conversation with him. It made her want him to reach over and touch her cheek, slip his arms around her waist, and hug her close to his strong, wide chest and wrap her in his arms.
Denying her desires, and returning to a safe subject, she asked, “Are the contracts for Paxton ready? If you don’t mind me asking?”
“You can ask me anything, Loretta. They’re ready. My solicitor will be sending them over to the earl’s. I expect his lordship will want some adjustments. That will be fine. I’ll do them to make him happy.”
She nodded. “And that will make you happy.”
“I know you don’t want to believe it but pleasing Adele has always been important to me. She’s in London with me,” he added.
“I didn’t know. Perhaps I’ll get to see her.”
“I’ll make sure you do. She’d like that, too. She and I had a long talk after Paxton’s last visit.”
“He told me.”
“But perhaps you don’t know that she’s agreed to attend the Season before they marry.”
“No, I didn’t know, of course. I’m glad, but—perhaps a little confused, too. I mean, will you still go ahead with plans for the betrothal contracts?”
“Yes. I want everyone to know she’s engaged. This has been my goal since we met, as you know.” He moved closer to her.
“How could I forget that?” she stated ruefully.
He walked closer still. “I also told her she’s free to revoke the engagement at any time for any reason. If she falls madly in love with someone during the Season or even if she’s standing in front of the altar, with the church filled with people and she’s about to say I do, she is still free to change her mind and there will be no unfavorably repercussions. Your brother is free to change his mind, too. Though, I won’t look as favorably on him as I will Adele, if he decides to do so.”
Loretta’s heart swelled with gratitude. “You told her that?”
He nodded.
“I don’t know what to say other than that’s most uncommon and very generous and understanding of you.”
“Though I detest having to admit it, there is one thing your uncle has taught me. I learned from him that people should be allowed to change their minds without being punished for the decision for the rest of their lives.”
Loretta suddenly wanted to hug Hawk tightly, but knowing the folly of doing so in her uncle’s home, she simply said, “He taught me something as well.”
Hawk questioned her with his expression.
“How much easier it is to live with forgiveness in your heart than with bitterness.”
“That shows how strong you are,” Hawk said.
She wasn’t feeling very strong at the moment. In fact, she was feeling extremely weak against her loving feelings for the duke. She was very near to the point of rushing him and burying her face in his neck and the consequences be damned.
Hawk moved close enough he could have touched her cheek. “You’ve always known if Paxton married Adele he would have enough income to provide for you. That you could leave Mammoth House and your uncle’s control, yet you have always talked against this marriage and tried to keep the betrothal from going forward. Why, when it would have made your life so much easier to bear?”
She inhaled softly and enjoyed being so close to Hawk. “My fate was set long ago, and as lonely as it has been at that large stone house, I knew that if I couldn’t be happy, I wanted to do my best to see that Paxton would be.”
“I want you happy, too, Loretta.”
Hawk reached to touch her cheek just as she heard her uncle lumbering down the corridor. She stepped away from Hawk just as the earl walked into the room with a grunt, a limp, and a surprised look in Loretta’s direction.
“Your Grace,” the earl said and bowed.
“Earl,” Hawk answered. “Miss Quick just walked in and offered refreshment. I told her I couldn’t stay. I only stopped in because I was out. I wanted to let you know that the contracts of marriage were delivered to your solicitor this morning.”
“Ah. That’s good to hear. Thank you for letting me know,” her uncle said, stretching his leg out straight as he eased into an upholstered armchair with a fair amount of huffing and puffing. “Loretta, get me that stool to prop my foot on.”
“Yes, of course, Uncle.” She reached for the stool but Hawk grabbed it first and positioned it to where her uncle could use it.
“Most kind of you, Your Grace,” he said, continuing to adjust his body in the chair. “It’s a nuisance that I can’t get around as I want to anymore.”
“Do you need anything else?” L
oretta asked. “Perhaps a pillow would help?”
“That might work. Let’s try it.” The earl then looked at Hawk and said, “We just arrived last evening, but I’m not surprised you heard so quickly we’re in Town.”
“Mr. Quick sent a note around early this morning. Now I must take my leave. Perhaps I’ll see you at White’s this afternoon?”
“Ah, yes,” the earl said. “If I can get my knee to cooperate with my leg and allow me to get in and out of the carriage again, I do plan to be there.”
“Good. I’ll see you later.”
Hawk glanced over at Loretta and nodded.
She gave him a grateful smile.
Chapter 23
A gentleman should never discuss the wooing of a lady. Not even with his closest friends.
A PROPER GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO WOOING THE PERFECT LADY
SIR VINCENT TYBALT VALENTINE
The card room at White’s was active. Not a table was empty. Perhaps it was the steady drizzle outside that kept the gentlemen playing and not wanting to venture out into the cold rain to make their way home. Some conversations were loud, cheerful, and long, while the gentlemen at other tables talked low, determined and serious as their cards were laid down, hands were won or lost, and money was swept from the tables.
Thoughts of Loretta had consumed Hawk since he’d left her at her uncle’s house, though he’d done a fairly good job of hiding it from Rath and Griffin as they played. He conversed, laughed, and carried on in the normal way with them, drinking his brandy and winning enough hands to keep up with his losses.
Occasionally he’d think about Farley and Loretta’s attachment to him. But Hawk tried to keep his mind off the lad. Even though the boy had been very ill, and still might be, every time Hawk remembered that the footpad had made Loretta cry he wanted to wring the boy’s neck with his bare hands—but only for a second or two. Just long enough to scare the devil out of him.
Loretta cared too much for Farley. One reason could be that he was the first person she’d ever nursed back to health. Hawk could understand how something that momentous could form a kinship between two people. Too, it could have something to do with her stubborn will to hold fast to her vow. Maybe she saw Farley as the child she’d never have because she’d never marry, or perhaps she even thought he’d replace the brother she would be losing when Paxton married and had family of his own. Or, hell. He didn’t know. It could be a combination of all of it and then more.
Hawk only knew he didn’t trust Farley because the lad hadn’t given him any reason to think he was changing. In fact, trying to steal the puppy from Adele had only convinced Hawk he wanted Farley out of Loretta’s life. But he had to do it in a way she’d accept. And the only way he could think to do it was to find Farley another home. A good home. The lad going back to the streets and his old way of life would not satisfy her. And Hawk supposed he wasn’t keen on that idea either.
Loretta had strength in spades and a kind heart, too. Why else would she have forgiven her uncle for being so incredibly punitive? Why did she care if she disrespected his house again? Hawk sure as hell didn’t care if she did. But because of her, Hawk would be civil to the man when they discussed the marriage contracts, when what Hawk really wanted to do was call him out for the stern, blackhearted man he was.
“If you don’t want your winnings, I’ll happily take them off the table for you,” Rath said.
Instinctively Hawk looked down and started to rake the pile of coins toward him. Rath took hold of his wrist and stopped him.
“Look at the cards, Hawk.”
He glanced at all three hands. He hadn’t won. Griffin had. Damnation. Hawk pulled his wrist from Rath’s hold. So he hadn’t been fooling his friends about his participation in the evening after all.
“Your mind’s not on the game tonight,” Rath said, and leaned his chair back on its hind legs.
“It hasn’t been for some time,” Griffin added, dragging all the cards back into the deck. “I’m beginning to wonder if you’re even in the room with us.”
Hawk harrumphed. “You both should know when it’s best not to take me to task.” Hawk picked up his brandy and took a sip.
“We’ve been friends too long to stay silent,” Rath said.
Griffin thumped the cards on the table a couple of times. “It’s because we’ve known you so long we have to ask what has your attention.”
“Because we don’t,” Rath added.
“Mr. Quick’s in town to finalize the marriage contracts between him and Adele,” Hawk answered, hoping to avoid further questions.
“This is what you wanted,” Griffin said as he started shuffling the cards. “That’s not bothering you. It’s something else.”
“Is Mr. Quick’s sister here with him?” Rath asked.
Hawk let Rath’s question hang between them unanswered. He heard chatter from the other tables, billiard balls smacking together in the other room, and the rasp of drinks hitting wood. Rath had always been too damned perceptive. “Yes,” Hawk finally said.
“She’s on your mind.” Rath’s dark-brown gaze stayed on Hawk’s. “Not the contracts.”
Knowing he had few secrets from his friends, and knowing they would keep picking at him until they were sure they had the right answers, he took another sip of his brandy and said, “She turned me down when I asked her to marry me.”
“The devil she did!” Rath’s chair legs hit the floor with a thud. “No wonder your mind’s not on the cards.”
“Did she really tell you no?” Griffin asked.
“What I want to know is did you really ask her to marry you?”
“Yes,” Hawk said emphatically.
“What did you do to her?”
Hawk frowned at Griffin’s last question. “What do you mean?”
Griffin pushed the deck aside and leaned forward. “Did you do something to her brother she didn’t like? Did you pursue her too heavily? Remember, she contemplated going into a convent rather than marry Denningcourt.”
Hawk blew out an exasperated sigh. “She never wanted to enter a convent. That was just a rumor. I might as well tell you as I will find no peace from you until I do. When she refused to marry Lord Denningcourt, her uncle forced her to take a vow never to marry. She plans to honor that vow, and I haven’t been able to persuade her differently.”
Both Rath and Griffin looked at him as if he’d lost all his senses. And maybe he had. If he couldn’t understand Loretta’s reasoning for holding fast to her oath, he certainly couldn’t explain it to them.
“If she won’t cooperate, perhaps you could abduct her in the middle of the night and rush off to Scotland with her. Swear to her you won’t bring her back to civilization until she marries you.”
“Don’t think I haven’t thought about it,” Hawk mumbled. “She’s stubborn. It wouldn’t work.”
“You could compromise her?” Rath offered.
Hawk grimaced. “That is not an option either.”
“I didn’t think it was,” Rath said seriously.
“What’s this about anyway?” Griffin asked, leaning back in his chair. “It’s not uncommon for people to break vows. It’s done all the time.”
Rath placed his hands on the table in front of him in a frustrated gesture. “Every morning that I wake with a pounding head I vow I’ll never dip that far into the brandy bottle again.” He picked up his glass. “But I always do.”
“So do I and everyone else I know, but not Loretta. She took her vow seriously and refuses to let go of it.”
“Don’t take offense, my friend,” Griffin said, “but maybe she doesn’t fancy you and this is—”
“No,” Hawk said, a little rougher than he intended. “I know it’s not that.”
Both Rath and Griffin were silent for a few moments. Griffin let his thumb flutter the cards again before saying, “So you’re telling us she takes this as seriously as one would wedding vows, or a priest or monk who takes his vows of celibacy in the church?”
“Yes,” Hawk answered, thinking again that she’d always noted that she swore her oath in the church. Then a prickle of an idea struck him. He thought on it deeper. Suddenly it was clear to him what needed to be done. “Thank you, my friends.” He laughed, reached over and clapped each of them on their shoulders.
They looked at him, baffled by his sudden good humor.
Hawk raked his coins from the table into the palm of his hand and then dropped them into his pocket. “I should have talked to the two of you long ago. I now know exactly what I need to do.”
It was obviously too late in the evening now to pay a call at the earl’s house but tomorrow would find him there.
Chapter 24
A gentleman should always know when a lady desires his attentions.
A PROPER GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO WOOING THE PERFECT LADY
SIR VINCENT TYBALT VALENTINE
Loretta sat in a large chair in front of the fire, her feet curled under her. Late afternoon had turned to early evening and she hadn’t moved. A lamp burned brightly beside her. She would read a few words, then stare at the flames and think about Hawk. Seeing him for those few minutes during the morning had been like a sweet balm to her heart and soul. She knew she shouldn’t even think about him, but already she was desperate to see him again.
The physician had put her fears about Farley’s health to rest. The man said that because Farley’s cough was getting better, not worse, and he wasn’t spitting up blood or anything else, he didn’t believe Farley had consumption. His only remedy going forward for the boy was sunshine whenever possible and warmer weather to put an end to the bouts of coughing.
That relieved her mind immensely and left her free to think about the duke. Her destiny had been sealed long ago. She couldn’t be with him, but no one could stop her from daydreaming about him. It was easy to lay her head back, close her eyes, and give her thoughts all the freedom they wanted.
“Miss?”
Loretta looked up from the flames to see Bitsy standing near the doorway worrying her hands together and visibly trembling. Loretta had never seen her strong, robust maid even slightly troubled. Knowing immediately something was wrong, Loretta closed her book, lowered her legs, and stood up. “What’s wrong?”