“As am I,” Ian said sincerely, making Griff look at his one-time friend. “I am sorry, Griffin. I don’t know what else I can say.”
And neither did Griff. So much had happened since the days he and Ian had been like brothers. Was the lad he’d trusted with his life still there, somewhere? If it wasn’t for Lady Ericht’s gentle presence, Griff wouldn’t even be contemplating that question. At the moment, however, his situation with Ellie took precedence to everything else. Could Ian be counted upon? “Ye were right yesterday,” Griff said cautiously. “She won’t have me. There’s a spark between us, but she won’t have me.”
“She’s a stubborn lass,” Ian returned with an old, familiar smile. “I did warn ye.”
“And are ye not just as stubborn?” Lady Ericht asked the two of them.
Ignoring his mother’s question, Ian stared quite pointedly at Griff. “Yet ye’re still determined to have her anyway?”
Before Griff could respond, Lady Ericht replied, “Can ye think of a man more worthy of yer sister than Griffin Reid?”
Ian shook his head. “That was never in question, Mother. But I’d lay even odds she’ll drive him mad within a fortnight.”
Something that might be entirely too accurate, not that Griff wanted to dwell on such an outcome. “That’s neither here nor there if she won’t agree to marry me.”
“She doesn’t have much of a choice if ye force her hand,” Ian said evenly, though his eyes seemed to gauge Griff’s reaction to the statement.
“And have a wife who’d like to hide my body at the bottom of Loch Ericht?” He shook his head. “I’d much rather have a willing bride than a forced one.” And though he wanted Ellie more than he’d wanted anything, forcing her into a marriage wasn’t the way he wanted to go about accomplishing that goal.
“I would think,” Lady Ericht began, “that a man who served in one of the most elite regiments of the army would be able to win her over. Ye had to have faced more formidable foes than Ellie in the last decade.”
Ian snorted and Griff couldn’t help but smile slightly as he said, “Perhaps, but they were a different variety, my lady.”
She shrugged as though his point meant very little. “Then ye change tactics.” She nodded in her son’s direction. “Ian, he doesn’t know London well. So ye’ll have to help him.”
Acquiring Ian’s assistance hadn’t been something Griff would have even contemplated as far back as an hour earlier. Could his old friend truly be of assistance?
“Aye,” Ian agreed, meeting Griff’s eyes once more. “I’ll do what I can if he wants my help.”
Dare he really trust his fate to a MacLaren? Doing so hadn’t been the right course for earlier Reids. But Lady Ericht’s words did still rattle around in Griff’s heart. Ye might as well have been brothers ye were so close. When – or if, rather – Ellie married Griff, Ian would be his brother. If his old friend really thought to help Griff, the assistance would be most advantageous. “I’d be in yer debt.”
“We’ll just call it even, my friend.” A sad expression flashed across Ian’s face. Then he smiled just a bit. “A word of advice?”
If Griff was to trust his one-time friend, he supposed it wouldn’t hurt to listen to a word of advice. Besides, he wasn’t doing so well on his own. He nodded. “Aye, if ye have some.”
Ian heaved a sigh. “Ellie is rather spoiled.”
Something Griff was well aware of.
“She’s accustomed to those English fops paying her court and lavishing her with attention.”
Griff managed not to grind his teeth together at the thought of hoards of Englishmen all vying for Ellie’s attention. How many were there? How many would he have to defeat?
“So do the opposite,” Ian advised. “Flirt with her friends, dance with them, take them riding in the park. But pay Ellie no attention at all.”
“Ian!” Lady Ericht’s mouth dropped open.
The earl shrugged. “She’ll turn green with envy, ye can trust me on that. Ellie’ll go positively mad if Griff’s not paying her any notice. He’ll capture her attention a lot faster that way than if he were to pine after her, right along with the rest of them.” He glanced back at Griff. “She’s great friends with Sophia Hampton—”
The blonde English girl from the park. She seemed pleasant enough.
“—And Lady Chloe Springate.” Ian winced a bit. “Actually, if ye flirted with that girl, ye might do me a service in the meantime.”
“What sort of service?” Lady Ericht frowned at her son.
“It’s neither here nor there.” He shook his head. “Cat seems to think the girl has set her cap for me and I’d rather she not do so. It doesn’t matter either way. I have no interest in the girl, but if Griff gave her a bit of attention, she might decide I’m not the fellow for her and save me the unhappy chore of breaking her heart at some point.”
“Lady Chloe is a perfectly sweet girl.” Lady Ericht’s frown darkened. “I don’t like the idea of ye or Griffin playing with the girl’s affections.”
Ian raked a hand through his hair. “No one is playing with the girl’s affections, Mother. I’m simply trying to be of assistance to Griff with Ellie, and Lady Chloe could help in that regard.”
“Ian!” his mother grumbled.
The earl sighed as though he was most put upon. “He doesn’t have to single her out. In fact, he should flirt and dance with all of Ellie’s friends, not just Lady Chloe.”
That did make a little bit of sense, actually. Ellie had always wanted whatever wasn’t hers. Griff found himself nodding. “Just get me introductions to the right girls, Ian.”
Ian grinned from ear to ear. “Consider it done, my old friend.”
Ellie couldn’t quite believe her eyes as she stepped inside the yellow salon. What was Griffin Reid doing here today? And was he laughing with Ian as though they were the best of friends?
“So we went around the back side of the city,” Griff chuckled. “How they could have missed us is anyone’s guess. Apparently, the French should have invested in spectacles for their commanders. Anyway—”
“Umm.” Ellie cleared her throat, capturing both men’s attention. As they rose to their feet, she said, “I didn’t realize we had company.”’
Ian, blast his eyes, smirked. “We don’t, Ellie love. “ He clapped a hand to the captain’s back. “Griff is here to see me.”
Oh. Well… had they patched up whatever they were angry about, then? Ellie shook her head, determined not to wonder about anything in regards to Griff. Doing so was not conducive to her resolution to put the captain far from her mind. “Well, I hate to break up yer discussion, Ian, but it’s time for us to go.”
“We’re ready,” Ian said, stepping towards the corridor.
“We?” Ellie echoed, her gaze darting to Griff who looked past her towards her brother.
“Mmm,” Ian agreed. “I told Griff he was welcome to join us at the Colsterworths’ this evening.” Then he nodded towards Griff and said, “Man won a small fortune at Hazard a sennight ago. He’d better be offering more than tepid punch tonight.”
Griff met Ellie’s eyes and her mouth nearly went dry. Heavens, just a glance from him was enough to send her heart racing. How was she to try and forget his kiss with him in such close proximity?
“Ye don’t mind if I join ye, do ye, Lady Elspeth?” His voice rumbled over her and Ellie wasn’t certain she could breathe.
“Umm. Well, umm,” she stumbled, trying to clear her mind.
“My sister,” Ian laughed. “Always so eloquent. Come on, Griff, ye can finish telling me yer war stories in the carriage.”
“I don’t think we have time for all my war stories tonight,” Griff replied, slipping past Ellie and following her brother from the salon. “But as far as Badajoz…” his voice drifted off down the corridor.
Ellie could only stand and gape after the pair. What was that about? Did Griff truly mean to escort them to the Colsterworths’? She couldn’t sit in a dark
carriage with him, even if Ian was there. What she needed was to keep her distance from the man.
Ian’s plan would never work. Ellie sat across from Griff in the coach the short trip from MacLaren House to Colsterworth House and never once did she even look in his direction. Her eyes might as well have been glued to the carriage window for all that she stared so pointedly out the damned thing. And just as soon as they stepped into the Colsterworth ballroom, she darted across a sea of people only to be surrounded by a team of Englishmen.
“Chin up,” Ian advised. “Don’t let her catch ye mooning over her.”
“I’m not mooning over her,” Griff grumbled, even though he had been doing that very thing.
The Almighty must be having quite a laugh at Griff’s expense. After all, the one girl Griff had always been determined would never have any control over him held his heart in her dainty hands. He wasn’t even sure how it had happened. Perhaps she’d captured it that night at the Ridgemonts’ ball. Perhaps she’d captured it that day in the park when he’d first seen her after so many years. Or perhaps she’d always possessed it and he hadn’t realized until recently. He had thought about her nearly every day he was away. They hadn’t been generous thoughts at first. She was his destiny, the key to Reids’ restoration. But she’d always been his, in his heart. Now he had to win her, somehow.
“That,” Ian said under his breath, gesturing towards a pretty brunette girl not far away, “is Lady Chloe Springate.”
That was the girl who’d set her cap for Ian? She seemed slight as a wren. Timid. She was a pretty girl, but hardly the sort who could handle a strapping Highlander like Ian. “That is the girl who has ye frightened?”
Ian snorted. “Hardly frightened. But ye don’t know what it’s like here, Griff. These English chits will do nearly anything to trap a man in her net. Plotting and scheming. Ye have to be on yer toes day in and day out or ye’ll find yerself with the parson’s noose wrapped tightly around yer throat and ye won’t even know how it got there.”
Griff glanced back at the slight Lady Chloe. “And ye think that girl has some nefarious plot to catch ye, do ye?”
“Looks can be deceiving,” Ian returned.
“Clearly.” Griff tried not to smile. But then he caught sight of Miss Hampton and he did smile, as broadly and cheerfully as he was able. If he was truly going to put Ian’s plan to test, starting with a girl he was already familiar with seemed the best course.
Miss Hampton smiled in return and stopped before Griff and Ian. “Lord Ericht, Captain Reid, a pleasure to see you this evening.”
“The pleasure is all mine,” Griff replied smoothly.
“Captain Reid was just regaling me with his tales of valor, Miss Hampton. Ye are in the presence of a true hero.”
She batted her eyes in Griff’s direction, and he felt like a cad all of a sudden.
“But,” Ian continued conspiratorially, “do ye know where he truly outshines most men?”
“Where?” Miss Hampton leaned forwards, all ears, apparently, as was Griff. Who knew what Ian would say?
“The dance floor,” the earl replied. “No one can dance a reel quite as well as our Captain Reid. Ye should make him show ye.”
Griff coughed. “Aye. I’d love to show ye how well we dance in the Highlands if ye have a space for me on yer card.”
“Of course, of course.” Miss Hampton lifted her wrist up so Griff could scribble his name in one of her open spots. “I look forward to it, Captain.”
Ellie gaped as Sophie swirled past her on the dance floor, her hands linked with Griff’s during a spirited reel. Sophie was dancing with Griff? And he looked so…happy. But…Well, how could he look so happy dancing with Sophie after the passionate way he’d kissed Ellie a few nights before? Shouldn’t he...Well…He hadn’t even looked at Ellie. Was she so easily forgotten?
“I beg your pardon?” A man’s voice reached Ellie’s ears.
A man, a man. She looked up to find the rather handsome Marquess of Walsingham frowning down at her. She had been talking to Walsingham before she’d spotted Griff, hadn’t she? Heavens, what had they been discussing? The weather? The refreshments? The theatre? She had absolutely no idea at the present. “My lord?”
“I asked if you’d like to go for a ride in the park tomorrow.”
Had he? Ellie couldn’t recall. “Tomorrow?” she echoed.
“But if you have other plans…” he began, backing slightly away.
Blast it all! The last thing she wanted to do was rebuff the nice marquess. “Tomorrow would be lovely,” she insisted and was happy when a quick smile replaced his frown. He was a lovely man, and certainly deserved her attention, or more of it than she’d given him thus far.
Ellie tried the remainder of the evening to focus on the matters at hand. Or rather, on her suitors that were at hand. She laughed at Mr. Greywood’s jokes, danced with Lord Walsingham twice, and took a turn about the room with Duke of Widecomb. It should have been a marvelous evening, but…Well, Griff hadn’t looked at her even once.
He’d danced nearly every dance. He’d flirted with countless girls and seemed quite jovial, which was more than maddening. How could he be jovial when she could barely think straight? Shouldn’t his stomach be tied up in as many knots as hers was? Hardly seemed fair that he got over her quite so quickly. It had only been a few days before that he’d professed his feelings for her, hadn’t it? It wasn’t just a kiss for me, Ellie. I want ye as much now as I did last night. Ha! Hardly! Who would have thought Captain Griffin Reid was so fickle a man?
She thought she might remove her brother’s head right from his shoulders when he informed her that Griff would be joining them in their box at Drury Lane the next evening. Curse Ian straight to the devil! Didn’t he know that being in Griff’s presence was more than painful? No…She heaved a sigh as she sank into her bed that night. Ian didn’t realize such a thing. And she couldn’t tell him. She couldn’t reveal the truth of that kiss to Ian, not if she wanted to keep her own head. So she’d just have to put up with Griff for however long Ian wanted to keep the captain around.
Ellie thought she might murder her brother and perhaps her mother and sister for good measure too. Whatever rift had been between Ian and Griffin, it had evaporated as though it had never existed, and the devastatingly handsome Captain Reid was nearly always underfoot these days. If he wasn’t sitting in the MacLaren box at the theatre or enjoying dinner at MacLaren House, then he was playing loo with Cat or sharing Ian’s whisky in his study or being doted on by Ellie’s mother. It was maddening. How was she to focus on her future when Griffin was always there, when the memory of his kiss lingered forever in her mind?
Griff always attended the same balls and soirees as she and Ian did, though he never again asked her to dance. He seemed to make a point in meeting each man on her list and then spent the entire ride home mocking the gentlemen, much to Ian’s delight. Traitorous brother. Disloyal oaf. Perfidious boor.
Griff was slowly driving her mad, dancing with other girls, flirting with more than his share, and ignoring her almost completely. So much for his heartfelt profession “It wasn’t just a kiss for me, Ellie. I want ye as much now as I did last night.”
Ha! He didn’t want her at all, at least not anymore. And while that should have been a blessing, while she should have focused on securing one of the perfectly fine gentlemen on her list as her future husband, she found she just didn’t have the heart for such things at present.
“Ellie!” Cat said as she burst into Ellie’s bedroom without even knocking first. “Lord Walsingham and Lord Ambelcotte are here.”
At the same time? She probably shouldn’t have put both half-brothers on her list. But both were handsome gentlemen and both had nice-sized fortunes. Truly, she’d be happy with either of them. How was she to decide which one to keep and which to dismiss? “What do they want?”
“Presently,” Cat began, her blue eyes large, “they’re arm wrestling with Griff in the yellow salon.
But I don’t think that’s why they—”
“Arm wrestling with Griff!” Ellie wailed, bolting off the edge of her bed.
That obnoxious Scot! What did he think he was doing? It wasn’t enough to mock her suitors, now he was engaging them in physical altercations! Ellie threw open her door and flew down the steps. She slid to a halt at the landing to put her hair to rights, and then she stomped towards the yellow salon.
Even if Cat hadn’t told her where to find the trio of men, she’d have known they were in the yellow salon from the loud chorus of voices. Arm wrestling! Of all the ridiculous things! She tossed open the door to find the Marquess of Walsingham and his half-brother the Earl of Ambelcotte knelt over Mama’s cherry wood table, engaged in the most serious bout of arm wrestling Ellie had ever seen, not that she’d seen that many bouts. But still!
Lord Walsingham’s right eye twitched and a low growl escaped Lord Ambelcotte as they struggled for dominance. Ellie sucked in a breath, then snapped, “Captain Reid, what are ye doing?”
Walsingham leapt to his feet. “Lady Elspeth,” he said, sounding apologetic, as well he should.
“Ha! I won!” Ambelcotte rose to his feet as well. Then he turned a sheepish expression on Ellie. “I mean, good afternoon, Lady Elspeth.”
But she didn’t care about either of them, not when Griff stood just a few feet away chuckling to himself. When she got her hands on him… “Captain Reid, I would like a word with ye.”
“With me?” He touched a hand to his chest and feigned innocence. As though he’d ever been innocent a day in his life!
“I know very well ye were the instigator.”
“Just helping to solve a dispute amongst the two gentlemen.”
“How altruistic ye are.” She narrowed her eyes on him. “I’d like that word now, Captain.” Then she turned on her heel, stomped back into the corridor, and waited for him.
An Encounter at Hyde Park Page 24