by Gayle Callen
Lady Wade suddenly looked at Louisa. Was this her opportunity to suggest ideas to help?
But Lady Wade said, “Before I hired Miss Shelby, I spoke at length with Lady Ralston, her last employer. Her granddaughter was frightened of her first Season. Miss Shelby worked with her, helping her become more confident. She was a success in London, and made a good marriage.”
Lady Wade gave Louisa an urgent, pleading look.
Feeling relieved, Louisa suddenly understood. She and Lady Wade had had the same idea. Louisa hadn’t been hired as a companion—but as someone to help Miss Wade. And since it was now Lady Wade’s suggestion, surely Lord Wade would no longer object.
Filled with purpose and excitement, Louisa turned to take Miss Wade’s cold hands in hers.
“Lord Wade wouldn’t want you to forgo your life for him,” she said firmly. Louisa was touched at how much the girl loved her brother.
Miss Wade closed her eyes. “But—”
“I had success helping Miss Ralston prepare for Society. I’d like the opportunity to work with you. You’re a lovely young lady, with so much to offer. I know I could help you feel at ease. We could start with a whole new wardrobe, one that shows you off like a jewel in a crown.”
Louisa glanced quickly at Lady Wade, realizing she was offering to spend a large sum of money that wasn’t hers. But the viscountess was smiling with relief.
Miss Wade rolled her eyes. “There’s a lot more wrong with me than clothing.”
“There’s nothing wrong with you, Miss Wade. I’ll prove it to you. And I don’t mean that you shouldn’t help your brother, too. Perhaps you can help him in the mornings, and spend your afternoons with me?”
Miss Wade glanced at her grandmother with hope. “You would not mind if I continue to help Simon?”
“Of course not, Georgie my child,” the old woman said gently.
Miss Wade looked back at Louisa. “I would like to work with you, Miss Shelby. But you might be disappointed by the results.”
Louisa smiled with confidence. “I believe you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”
Lady Wade rose and came forward to kiss her granddaughter’s cheek. “Thank you, my dear. You’ve made an old woman happy.”
Miss Wade smiled uncertainly. “I hope you’ll keep thinking so, Grandmama. Louisa—you don’t mind if I call you that? I’m just Georgie.”
“That would please me immensely, Georgie,” Louisa said, filling with happiness and purpose.
“Come to my room after luncheon. I have some beautiful sketches to show you of the latest London fashions.”
“You came prepared,” Georgie said with admiration.
“I’m always prepared. It gave me such joy to help Miss Ralston. Knowing that I can work with you, too, has showed me my true purpose, to help young girls prepare for their coming out.”
Georgie studied her. “But don’t you want the same thing you’re helping me to achieve? Don’t you want everyone to admire you, to find a man who loves you?”
Louisa hesitated, not wanting to dissuade the girl. “Honestly, I loved every moment of the Season. I loved the excitement of every ball, dancing with men, and even wondering whom I would sit next to at dinner parties. But I’ve done it for several years now, and I find myself wanting something new. Thank you for allowing me to help you.”
Georgie nodded and left, presumably to join her brother.
Lady Wade stood beside Louisa and watched her go. “You have exceeded my expectations, Miss Shelby.”
“Call me Louisa, my lady. We’ll be working together, after all. And this was why you hired me?”
Lady Wade smiled. “Partially. I do like knowing I have company even when my grandchildren are busy. And they won’t live here with me forever, I know.” Her smile faded. “Though Georgie seems like she has everything, hers has been a difficult life, even before Simon’s accident. I’m so disappointed in my son, God rest his soul. He allowed his wife her way in everything. Some women can only focus on men, Louisa, and she is one of them.”
Louisa suddenly remembered Simon’s words about Louisa having admirers; had he been comparing her to his mother?
Lady Wade sighed. “To my daughter by marriage, Georgie barely existed. Simon and Leo were the lights of her life, and it was always easy for them to charm her. She considered them a success. Although she certainly ignores Leo’s many problems.” She lowered her voice, glancing at the door. “I think she gave up on Georgie, because the girl would never be today’s ideal of beauty. And Georgie, being no fool, took that to heart, and thought she herself was the problem. What little girl wants to believe ill of her mother?”
“I’m glad you told me this, Lady Wade. Do you have suggestions on where we might start?”
“Her wardrobe. Her mother insisted on what she has now.” She shuddered. “If I didn’t know better, I would have thought my daughter-in-law wanted Georgie to look bad. But certainly it is only negligence. I would never tell Georgie that.”
“I understand. If you don’t mind, my lady, I need to go find those sketches. Could we take a trip into London sometime in the next few days? We have dressmakers to see.”
Lady Wade grinned. “I would be thrilled to accompany you.”
Louisa practically bounced up the stairs on her way to her bedroom, startling a maid who was dusting.
Finally, she knew what she wanted, what her true purpose was! Though there might not be many young ladies of the ton who needed her services, there were certainly girls among the families of the newly rich industrialists who had not been raised to enter Society. Louisa’s world, though not of the ton, had its own strict rules and arrogance. There would be many families who would pay for her help.
As she turned into the ladies’ wing, she suddenly came to a stop and faced the gentlemen’s wing. What about Lord Wade? If Georgie blossomed into a confident young woman, as Louisa was certain she would, the girl would head off to London. Lord Wade would be alone, since he had vowed he would never marry. Could Georgie persuade him to accompany her?
Chapter 7
After eating dinner in his study, Lord Wade joined them in the drawing room. During their afternoon going over sketches, Georgie had told Louisa she would tell Simon their plan this evening, and Louisa found herself nervous, though she was still confident. After all, formal instruction was now Lady Wade’s idea.
Lord Wade was not the kind of man who would explode in anger; he was very good at hiding his true emotions from his family—like her father. She would have to watch him carefully.
She admitted to herself that she watched him all the time, even when she didn’t have to. She melted at the way he tried to protect his grandmother from the depths of his emotions. Lady Wade was obviously more a true mother to him than his own.
Louisa liked the way he walked, and now that she’d seen him rowing, she understood why there was an athleticism to his every movement. Even the aid of a cane and his valet couldn’t disguise that.
When Simon was seated, and Manvil had departed, he said, “So Georgie, what is the big secret you wanted me to be here for?”
Louisa glanced nervously between Georgie and Lady Wade.
Georgie cleared her throat. “I’m sorry to call you in tonight, Simon. I know you had more work to do.”
Work in the evening? Louisa thought suspiciously.
“Georgie, anytime you need me, I’ll come running.”
Lady Wade smiled. “That I would like to see.”
Simon grinned. “Poor Manvil would have a hard time keeping up with me.”
Georgie took his hand. “I wanted you to know that for the next few weeks, I’ll only be able to work with you in the mornings.”
Lord Wade smiled. “Ah, so who is more important than I am in the afternoons?” he teased.
“Louisa,” Georgie answered.
He looked puzzled.
There was an excitement in Georgie’s manner that made Louisa feel relieved.
“I guess I should say that I�
�m working on me in the afternoons with Louisa,” Georgie continued. “She seems to think I’m not hopeless where the Season is concerned.”
“Of course you’re not hopeless,” he said. “I always told you that. You just needed more practice.”
“She’s going to teach me.”
Louisa saw the briefest stiffening of his shoulders, but Georgie continued speaking.
“Grandmama says Louisa helped another girl before me, and she’s even married now. The first thing we’re going to do is plan a new wardrobe.”
Louisa knew that Lord Wade could not miss the hope in Georgie’s voice. Didn’t he see that this could be a good thing? It was obvious his sister was relieved to have help.
Simon gave his sister a smile. “If you’re happy, then I’m happy, Georgie.”
But there was something off about his reaction, as if he were performing. Louisa exchanged glances with Lady Wade, but neither of them would say anything to dim Georgie’s happiness.
“Is that all you need me for tonight?” Lord Wade asked, his hands resting on his knees as if he were about to stand.
“Yes, Simon,” Georgie answered.
He stood. “Then I think I shall go back to work. Manvil?” he called.
The valet came through the door. But something felt wrong to Louisa. She wanted to ask Lord Wade to stay, but it wasn’t her place. Lady Wade and Georgie were already starting to discuss a problem in Georgie’s embroidered handkerchief as he left the room.
Without stopping to think, Louisa rose. “Lady Wade, might I be excused for a moment?”
The viscountess glanced at Louisa, then at the open door. But all she said was, “Of course, Louisa.”
Louisa hurried into the corridor. Lord Wade and Manvil weren’t far ahead of her. “Lord Wade?”
They both stopped and turned.
Louisa swallowed and said, “Might I speak with you a moment?”
He hesitated. “Manvil, would you mind waiting by the stairs for me?”
The servant left them to stand farther down the corridor. Lord Wade waited, his head inclined as Louisa came toward him. Maybe this had been a terrible idea, but it was too late to back down now.
She stopped in front of him. Oil lamps lit the long corridor, and he was cast in their shadows. His blond hair gleamed, his eyes shone, and his smile was faint, mysterious. Did he know what she was going to say?
“My lord,” she began. But her mouth was so dry, she had to swallow and lick her lips. “My lord—”
“Nervous, Miss Shelby?” he inquired pleasantly. “Perhaps there is a reason for you to feel this way.”
She stiffened. “I want you to know that I did not go behind your back and enlist your grandmother so that I could work with Georgie. Lady Wade asked me for my help. She admitted that that was her purpose in hiring me.”
“She has so many reasons, doesn’t she,” he said dryly.
She took a step nearer. “Pardon me?”
“Never mind. I’m just rambling.” He took a step back.
“I did not tell her that you objected,” Louisa continued. “Why didn’t you do so tonight?”
“What would be the point?” he asked. “Georgie seemed excited by your help. I’m forced to give you the benefit of the doubt.”
“Forced?”
“That’s a good enough word. Now if you’ll excuse me—Manvil?”
Confused, Louisa opened her mouth, but the servant was there before she could think of a reply. Lord Wade let himself be led away, leaving her frustrated.
When Louisa retired to her room that evening, she didn’t even try to sleep. Warm milk wasn’t going to help. She should start letters to her sisters telling them all about her new purpose in life.
But she was worried about Lord Wade, and he was all she could think about. Louisa knew that Georgie was doing the right thing, but did he?
Biting her lip, she went back out into the dark corridor, carrying a candle. The other ladies had gone to their beds, but was Lord Wade still in his study all alone?
As Louisa entered the central portion of the house, where the two wings met at the top of the dual staircases, she heard male voices. She ducked back the way she’d come, blowing out her candle. Lord Wade and his valet came up the stairs and turned into the gentlemen’s wing. She crept behind them until they reached his bedchamber and disappeared inside. Then she hid in a recessed doorway until her legs grew cramped and her back began to ache. Finally the valet left, turning toward the servants’ staircase at the far end of the wing.
She went to Lord Wade’s door and laid her ear against it. There was no sound, not even footsteps. She told herself he was already abed, peacefully asleep, but she couldn’t believe it.
Suddenly the door was flung wide and he was standing there glaring at her as if he knew everything. He was in shirtsleeves, and his cravat and collar were gone, leaving his throat bare.
“Why are you following me?” he demanded.
“I—I—”
“Louisa, I could hear every step you took.”
Then he reached forward. She gave a little squeak as he found her arm and dragged her inside. When the door slammed shut, he let her go, and she put her back against it.
He folded his arms across his broad chest. “I want an answer.”
She lifted her chin. “I was worried about you.”
Whatever he had thought of her motives, that wasn’t it, because he gaped at her. “What are you talking about?”
“Well…you have benefited greatly from Georgie’s help, and now I’m taking her away from you. I know you’ve been avoiding your family the last day or two, but Simon—”
“I haven’t been avoiding my family,” he said with disbelief. “I’ve been avoiding you!”
“Me?” she whispered. “I thought you were close to despair, that you might do something desperate!”
“Despair? Why would you think that?”
“I—well, there’s a whole list! You won’t go to London to visit your friends, you won’t eat with your family, and you refuse to marry. And now I’ve taken Georgie away from you.”
“You helping Georgie isn’t taking her away. And I visit with my friends,” he added defiantly. “And if I don’t want to make a fool of myself in London, that’s my business.”
“But Simon—”
He suddenly put his hands on the door over her head, and she sucked in a breath. She was surrounded by him, though they didn’t touch. His wide chest filled her vision; his face was just above hers.
She had always respected the warnings never to be alone with a man, assuming it was so the man couldn’t take advantage.
She had never understood that she might want to take advantage of the man.
Especially this man. He smelled divinely, and she could feel the warmth of his body so close to hers.
She shouldn’t be here. She couldn’t breathe.
“I’m avoiding you, Louisa,” he said again, his voice gruff, deeper. “Because all I can think about is kissing you.”
She had spent days studying his beauty, her nights thinking about every brief moment alone with him. He made her feel more alive than any man ever had. They were alone now, and no one knew—no one would know.
She stood on tiptoes and kissed him. For one electric moment, it was a gentle thing, the softness of his lips, the warmth of the contact. Then he leaned into her, pressing her body hard to the door, his arms trembling where they were still braced against the wood. His mouth slanted over hers as he groaned.
It was a kiss every girl dreamed of, full of passion and temptation. It was everything her sisters claimed it could be.
And then she felt his tongue slide along her lips, and a jolt of something even more sinful shuddered through her. She hadn’t imagined—
She opened to him, and the kiss became so much more. It was dark and wild and forbidden, their mouths joined, their bodies straining against each other. He led and she followed, learning quickly. When his arms came around her, she
clung to him tightly, as if her bones had disappeared, and she would sink to the floor.
Beneath him.
She gasped and boldly licked inside his mouth, tasting the warm rasp of his tongue. Her hands wandered across his back, feeling the differences between them; he was hard muscle, broad and strong.
His hands wandered too, lower and lower until they slid over her backside, cupping her. He pressed her against himself with an urgency that made her head spin. She wanted to feel everything, but there were far too many clothes between them.
And then suddenly he was gone, backing away from her, his mouth wet. She leaned against the door, trembling.
“You have to go,” he said hoarsely. “Don’t come here again, or I’ll prove I’m not a gentleman.”
She didn’t like the anger she saw on his face—it was directed at himself, not her. And this was all her fault. “Simon—”
“Just go, Louisa.”
When she was gone, Simon pushed the door closed and rested his head against it. Everything inside him raged at the loss of her. It had been so many months since he’d lain with a woman. His body was so eager he’d almost forgotten everything but burying himself inside her. A few more seconds and he would have lost all control.
He walked toward the hearth, feeling the warmth of the grate. His fingers skimmed along his bed, ran over the desk at the foot of it. In five steps he reached the wingback chair and sank into it.
Though it had been close, it was over, and he would not let it happen again. Who knew how many men she’d kissed like that? She’d tried to play innocent at first, but she could not keep up the pretense long. She might have done more than kiss those men. A beautiful woman like her should have had a husband by now. Why would no one marry her?
And was she so desperate that she’d come to him wanting to be compromised? She’d kissed him when any smart woman would have fled.
He’d stopped in time, thank God, and he’d never have to learn Louisa’s real motivations.
He remembered the excuse she’d used to follow him—that she’d thought him in despair. She’d sounded so convincing, so frightened for him. She’d said she was worried he’d do something desperate. Like hurt himself? It seemed so preposterous.