Wallflower (Old Maids' Club, Book 1)

by Catherine Gayle

  Toby had sent her off on her own and then sent Lord Devonport after her. She wouldn’t be surprised if it had been Toby’s footsteps they’d heard in the hall, coming to be sure that Lord Devonport had caught her.

  It was enough to drive a lady to distraction.

  So much activity had come and gone through the front doors of Shelton Hall that even Father had stopped in to the drawing room for a moment. At that time, four gentlemen suitors surrounded Tabitha alongside so many flowers she thought she might find her death from sneezing. Owen and Toby stood watch over the proceedings from near the window, talking in hushed tones (with Toby glowering over at all the men in the room—all of them aside from Lord Devonport, at least). Elaine fussed about, making sure all the flowers were in vases and all the gentlemen had everything they could wish for (most especially her brother).

  Father could not conceal his glee; the smile upon his face brightened his graying features in a manner Tabitha had not seen since before her mother had died, stretching all the way to his eyes and beyond.

  For that, at least, she was glad. For herself, however...well, she was assuredly a trifle bit incredulous. Only a week ago, she’d been stunned by having two callers. Now she didn’t know what to do with them all. If not for Elaine’s calming presence, Tabitha wasn’t certain what she would have done.

  But she had to remember, while this might not have been the outcome she had expected, her experiment of the previous night had proven successful. Tabitha had been herself. She’d behaved as she would if she were alone with her two closest cousins, instead of surrounded by half the ton. Now she would simply have to continue along that path and see what would happen.

  “More tea, Lord Villiers?” Elaine asked sweetly. He nodded and held out his cup. Her intense blue eyes—the same shade of eyes she shared with her brother—sparkled as she leaned over to pour, then moved on to the next gentleman, clearing Tabitha’s line of sight to Lord Devonport, himself.

  His eyes held a glimmer, too, but they’d taken on that darker, more intense shade she’d seen before. As recently as last night, as a matter of fact. A tingle of awareness shot up her spine when he lifted the corners of his mouth in a knowing smile.

  Tabitha turned to Lord Brackly. “Your brother has once again been called to his duties with the Life Guards, you say?” His eyes widened and he swallowed a sip of his steaming tea rather too hastily. He coughed violently and she thought he must have scalded his tongue. “Does he think battle with France is imminent, as General Lord Wellington seems to believe?”

  “I could not say what my brother thinks, Lady Tabitha,” Lord Brackly replied. “Tell me, have you seen the Elgin marbles?”

  The abrupt change of subject bowled her over. She fought to school her features. “No, I’ve not had that pleasure.” The gentlemen surrounding her began to murmur amongst themselves about the marbles and their grace and beauty, debating their level of deterioration and the legality of their presence in England. All of the gentlemen except Lord Devonport, at least.

  “I think,” he said above the general hubbub, looking straight at Tabitha, “Wellington is as good a judge of what Old Boney will do as anyone in the world right now. He’s been fighting the man as long as anyone. And now that the Congress of Vienna has declared Bonaparte an outlaw, he will not go quietly. Frankly, the idea that they could keep him locked up on Elba seems a bit outlandish to me, but no one asked for my input on that particular score.”

  Lords Brackly, Villiers, and Fairweather looked over at Lord Devonport as if he’d grown three heads during the course of his speech.

  “Would you say then, my lord,” Tabitha asked, “that the call for our men to return to their posts is a sign of looming battle?”

  Lord Villiers cleared his throat. “I first saw the friezes three years ago, myself,” he said loud enough that the entire room would hear every word.

  “Yes, I would,” Lord Devonport said above Villiers’s attempt to turn the subject again, ignoring the man’s scandalized glare. He stood, and his voice carried throughout the room even better than when he was seated. His standing also served to call Tabitha’s attention to the taut fabric of his breeches over his thighs, and how tightly they hugged to him. Good Lord. She needed to stop looking at him and thinking about him entirely. “Before the year is out, I’m sure. Indeed, I would expect it within a few months’ time at the latest.”

  “Lord Devonport!” Lord Fairweather cut in. “I hardly think battles and war are appropriate conversational subjects at the moment. There are ladies present, sir.”

  “I’m quite aware of that fact, Fairweather,” Lord Devonport said. He glowered in the viscount’s direction, then spread his gaze to Tabitha’s other callers. “In case you weren’t aware, Lady Raynesford happens to be my sister, so I know quite well that she is hardly one to be surprised or offended by discussion of the events taking place in the world. And as my sister has been married to Lady Tabitha’s brother for several years now, I happen to know that Lady Tabitha is highly intelligent and informed, and enjoys discussing more than just art, weather, fashions, and the latest ballroom scandals. Indeed, discussing sculptures, several of which are of nude men, such as you three have been, might be more invasive to these ladies’ tender sensibilities, I should think.”

  Almost despite herself, Tabitha felt a flutter of longing flicker through her veins. This, more than anything, made Lord Devonport appealing to her. His insistence on treating her as a clever and sensible woman, and not as a brainless twit shouldn’t make him appear more handsome, should it? Blast it all, why did he have this effect upon her? She wanted to make him crazy with need for her, not the other way around. She didn’t want him to have such power over her emotions as this.

  Owen nodded from his position near the window. “Well said, Devonport.”

  Well said, indeed. Tabitha inclined her head in Lord Devonport’s direction and he gave a small nod. The Lords Fairweather, Villiers, and Brackly each looked sufficiently admonished, but eventually began to speak again. The conversation turned from the wars to an impending issue facing the House of Lords and other subjects of weight, then eventually to theater and opera and other subjects of lighter fare.

  Tabitha enjoyed herself immensely. She loved being able to have an intelligent conversation with a man (or with several, as the case may be), without having to resort to the fluff that was generally accepted for ladies.

  Despite her fears to the contrary, she even reveled in the fact that all of these gentlemen had called upon her and were giving her their undivided attention. She’d expected it to be uncomfortable, to be disconcerting. Instead, it was invigorating.

  But no matter how hard she tried to make it so, nothing could make her wish for any of them to kiss her the way Lord Devonport had done last night. Despite the fact that they all focused solely on her, she couldn’t imagine any of them touching her, placing their hands upon her body—her breasts—making her want it to continue the way she had with Lord Devonport. She couldn’t envision a time when anything Lord Villiers, Lord Brackly, or Lord Fairweather could do would make liquid heat flood to her intimate places the way a single heated look from Lord Devonport seemed to do even as he sat across the room from her.

  Slowly, the gentlemen began to take their leave. First Lord Fairweather left, begging Tabitha’s permission to take her for a promenade through Hyde Park. A while later, Lord Brackly took his leave with Tabitha’s permission to call upon her again. When Lord Villiers finally stood to go, he requested the opportunity to take her to Gunter’s for an ice later in the week, to which she agreed.

  Finally, only Lord Devonport and her family remained. He had not removed his gaze from her the entire afternoon. After Lord Villiers departed, Toby excused himself, followed soon behind by Owen and Elaine, all claiming they had to ready themselves for the evening’s entertainments.

  Suddenly, Tabitha found it difficult to look up at Lord Devonport. For that matter, she found it next to impossible to breathe. She fiddl
ed with her necklace for lack of anything better to do with her hands. She had to do something with them, or she feared she might rush across the room and touch him in inappropriate ways, similar to how he touched her last night.

  Oh, dear. She shouldn’t have thought about that again. Not while they were alone together. Tabitha felt heat rise up the back of her neck as it always did. She needed to get away from him. She needed him to leave.

  If that didn’t happen soon, she couldn’t be held accountable for her actions, no matter how absurd they might be.

  ~ * ~

  By Jove, how he loved to watch her. He’d give every last coin he possessed to discover what had just passed through her mind and caused the blush to creep up the long column of her neck before sprawling over her cheeks. Even the bits of her bosom displayed over the top of her gown had turned a lovely flushed shade. He wanted to see the rest of her, to discover where else she might have changed to pink.

  And today it was a locket at her neck that she handled when her nerves took over. Her fingers had swept over her chest to twiddle with it so many times while her other suitors were there, Noah thought he might have a apoplectic fit if she didn’t stop soon.

  “You seem to be the lady of the hour, all of a sudden,” Noah finally said, breaking through the crackling silence between them. Jealousy tinged his tone, despite his best efforts to avoid just such an occurrence.

  “I suppose I am,” she replied dispassionately. The timbre of her voice came far from matching her behavior. She must still think she could trick him into believing she had no feelings for him. Only a fool could believe such a thing, after her response to his kiss last night. “Is that a problem?” Finally, she raised her eyes to challenge his.

  “No,” he replied. The only problem he could see was that he wanted to rip each of their heads from their bodies every time they were in her presence, particularly now that she had taken to wearing gowns that enhanced her curves as the other ladies tended to do. Noah mentally shook himself. He had to concentrate. They needed to have this conversation, today, and not let it be pushed aside yet again. “Lady Tabitha—”

  “Why did you kiss me last night?” she interrupted. “I told you I would have nothing to do with you, yet you ignored my wishes and kissed me. Why?”

  At least she wanted to talk about what he wanted to talk about. He’d prefer a reprise of the event to talking, but first things first. “Because I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I couldn’t take my eyes from you the entire evening, nor, it seems, am I capable of that feat today. I—”

  “You still need my dowry, do you not?” she interrupted. He really wished she would stop doing that. It was quite as vexing as her penchant for answering his questions with more questions of her own. “That is the reason for your continued pursuit, the reason you saw fit to trap me in the hall and kiss me. You’re trying to corner me into marriage. To make it where society will deem me ruined unless I save myself by marrying you.”

  “No, that’s not—”

  “You no longer have need for my fortune? Pray forgive me. I must not have heard the cheerful tidings of your unexpected windfall.”

  “Enough.” No force lay behind Noah’s words, but a quiet authority. “I am not one of your brothers. I’m not a man whom you can talk over and insult at will, with no repercussions. Allow me my opportunity to speak, and when I finish you may ask me any question you so desire. My only stipulation is that you must grant me the opportunity to provide a complete answer without interruption.”

  Lady Tabitha looked disconsolate. “I apologize, my lord. Go on.”

  Noah sighed. Where to start? “You’re right that I must marry for financial reasons. I do not enjoy the lot I’ve been cast, and I am loath to marry for anything but love, but I’ve no choice if I’m to remain out of the poorhouse.” She looked ready to interrupt him again, so Noah held up a hand to stay her. “When the Season began, your brother suggested you might meet both of my needs, as you’re a lady with whom I’ve had a friendship of sorts over the past many years, and your dowry would more than solve my pecuniary woes. He was right, of course. You could meet both my needs. No, not could. You do meet both of my needs, and then some. I cannot deny that the initial reason I began to pay you court is that your dowry is enticing.”

  She winced, but remained silent.

  Noah rushed on, before she could think too long on that statement. “But your dowry is not nearly as alluring to me as you are. If I only wanted money, if any heiress would do, I would have offered for Lady Cressica or Miss Jennings, or any number of other young ladies with a hefty portion to take into her marriage. They hold no interest for me, though. When I am in their presence, I find myself thinking of you. Wishing they were you. And any time you’re in the same room when I am with one of them, I can’t fathom tearing my eyes from you. It’s a wonder they haven’t already sent me along on my way, in the same manner you’ve attempted to do.”

  Dragging a hand through his hair, Noah let out a ragged sigh. He stood and paced between the opposing sofas on which they sat.

  “Have you finished?” Lady Tabitha asked after he’d been silent a moment.

  “No. No, I’m not finished.”

  Without a thought to what he was doing, Noah sat beside her. His thigh brushed against hers. She gasped at the contact, but he stifled her protest with another kiss.

  He was gentler this time, coaxing her to respond as she had done before. Cupping both sides of her face in his hands, he urged her to change the angle of her head so he could deepen the kiss. She opened to him and he buried his tongue in her sweetness. A small hum sounded deep in her throat, sending wave upon wave crashing through his veins straight to his already firm erection.

  “My lady, we must begin preparations for—Oh! Oh, my gracious heavens.”

  Noah extricated himself from Lady Tabitha and leapt to the opposite end of the sofa at the entrance of her maid. Hester stood just inside the doorway with a hand covering her eyes while she peeked through her fingers at them. He shouldn’t have done that. He should have realized they were in her home, and the door to the drawing room had been left open, and that anyone could have walked in at any moment. Her brothers. Her father.

  Lady Tabitha’s colored cheeks combined with her lips being lusciously swollen from his kisses were nearly his undoing. Yet she somehow kept her composure as she addressed her lady’s maid. “I’ll be up in a few moments to ready for this evening, Hester. Lord Devonport was just leaving.”

  He was? He had no recollection of saying so.

  Still, the maid curtseyed in their general direction without looking up, a tremendous reddening giving blemish to her complexion as well.

  “And Hester?” Lady Tabitha called out as the maid began to scurry away. “You are not to breathe a word of this to anyone. Understood?”

  The mousy maid nodded. “Yes, ma’am. Of course.” Then she dashed off before she could be stopped again.

  “Well,” Lady Tabitha said, rising and turning to him, although not meeting his eyes. He stood as well, and she smoothed her hands over her skirts. “You should be off then. If you had finished, of course. You have finished, haven’t you?”

  “Almost,” he said. She did look up at that, backing away and holding her hands before her as though to ward him off. The stormy depths of her eyes flashed, like a vein of lightning streaking through their infinite vastness. “I promise I’ll keep my hands to myself this time.” Somehow. Still she did not lower her guard, enforcing a good distance between their two persons. Noah dragged a hand through his hair on a sigh. “I merely wanted to know if you had any questions for me. I promised to answer your questions.”

  “Only one,” she said. She lowered her hands to her sides.

  “Go on,” he said when she didn’t continue. “Ask away. I’ll tell you anything.”

  “Why in God’s name should I believe you want me, when no man has ever shown himself to want anything but my dowry, and when you’ve already proven yourself a
liar?” Lady Tabitha’s eyes swam in unshed tears. He wanted to brush them away, to cover her eyes in kisses until she had cried so much she couldn’t cry any more. But she would not allow him such liberties, he was sure.

  He mustn’t muck this up. Noah took his time in answering her, making certain he said precisely what he meant to say. “You should believe I want you because I can’t stop looking at you. You should believe I want you because when I’m in your presence, and most of the time when I’m not, my need for you is all-consuming—a need which I know you felt last night.” She went a furious shade of red at this, confirming his assertion. “You could feel the same need right this very moment if you should need further evidence. Would you like proof?”

  She shook her head and turned her head away to stare desperately at a wing chair.

  “No? You’re certain?”

  “That will not be necessary, my lord,” Lady Tabitha whispered.

  “Well, do not claim I did not offer substantiation. As to the other gentlemen you asked about, I cannot fathom why there has not been a flood of callers for you since your debut. Clearly, they do not see in you what I see. Or at least they did not until last night. Even then, I wonder how many of them saw your true beauty, that which is inside, and not just your outer beauty. They only wanted you after you put yourself forward. Perhaps, after today, they will see you for the paragon you are.”

  Noah took a small step forward. She did not back away, so he closed the distance between then and took her gloved hands into his own. The shock of heat threatened to derail him. “As to my lying—I do not deny I neglected to apprise you of my monetary circumstances and in that way lied to you. While I feared you would react just as you have done, there can be no real justification for my negligence. As of now, you know the whole truth. From this point on in our relationship, should you agree to continue with it, I promise to be more forthcoming with such information.”