Well, not so much a tour, since Gabby understandably had no desire to return to Paris or anywhere else she and Jonathan had been on assignment.
They had decided instead to visit a friend of Jonathan’s from his Oxford days of debauchery. An Irish earl of some standing who had, by all accounts, changed dramatically and was now living in married, quiet bucolic bliss.
This was lovely for them all, of course. But it left Anna at rather a loose end.
She had friends and acquaintances in abundance. People who were either genuine or dying to know what had happened to her husband and then her father all those years ago.
Anna had played the Society game for far too long to be upset by its players and their desperate need for gossip.
Still, when she really thought about it, she hadn’t one single real friend amongst them.
Girls she’d gone to finishing school with had fallen by the wayside at Peter’s insistence. He never liked her to nurture relationships outside of him and her family. And he only tolerated a closeness to her family because he’d had her father under his iron control, given that they’d been embroiled in the same diabolical scheme to murder Evelyn’s father and steal all of her money.
Her father’s insistence that Anna marry Peter Grant, and her husband’s subsequent dominance and control meant that Anna had very little life to live.
Peter’s suicide was oft times whispered about but had miraculously been kept under wraps, so Anna hadn’t been ostracised because of the scandal.
And Jonathan’s contacts had, by means she wasn’t privy to, ensured that Geoffrey Spencer’s incarceration in Newgate Prison for the murder of his brother and his subsequent death months later, went unnoticed by the ton and allowed the family to escape even more scandal.
Again, there were whispers. But their family name was enough to ensure that they remained relatively unscathed by the events, at least from a societal point of view.
Anna watched idly as a carriage pulled up to the front of the townhouse.
It was a bright, sunny day, and the lacquered conveyance shone in the sunlight. There was no crest adorning the sides, so it didn’t belong to a Peer, but whoever owned it certainly had wealth, that much was obvious by the quality of the coach and even more so by the standard of greys pulling it.
Someone was leaving the wedding party.
Soon more guests would trickle home.
Mama was staying, uninvited. Anna had tried to convince her to come home with her to her own townhouse mere minutes from Jonathan’s, but it was to no avail.
She insisted that she should stay in her husband’s — now her son’s — home.
No doubt she intended to assert her authority over Gabrielle.
Anna couldn’t supress her grin at the idea.
Her mother was most certainly barking up the wrong tree if she thought to intimidate the indomitable new member of the family. Gabby wasn’t the type of person over whom anyone could assert authority.
Mama was removing to Spencer Park tomorrow morning. Or at least to the house she now lived in on the grounds.
She had wanted to stay at the main house, of course. But Jonathan had been extremely firm.
He wanted to be alone with his wife. And not even the redoubtable Millicent Spencer was going to stand in his way.
Mama had tried to get Anna to agree to remove to Spencer Park with her when she left tomorrow, but Anna would rather bang her head repeatedly against a brick wall than do so. It would be less painful and significantly more enjoyable.
Though Anna no longer partook in the Season in any real way, it was a good-enough excuse to convince Millicent that her daughter wanted to stay in Town.
Her whole family had been trying for years now to convince her to move home or even to Andrew’s main abode, but Anna was determined not to.
It wasn’t that Peter’s house held any particularly fond memories for her. But, bizarrely, and most unusually, Peter had left everything to her, his wife, in his will. No doubt, had they borne the heir he had so desperately wanted, that’s where his ill-gotten gains would have gone.
But their lack of children had been yet another failure of Anna’s in Peter’s eyes, and yet another cog in the wheel of her ongoing loneliness and sadness.
Anna would have made a good mother, she hoped. But she wouldn’t have wanted to inflict Peter Grant as a father on any innocent babe, and so it was for the best, she admitted reluctantly, that she had remained childless.
A movement on the steps at the front door caught Anna’s eye, and her heart stopped dead in her chest as Lucas Townsend placed his hat atop his head and then bounded down the steps to the waiting carriage.
He turned to speak to the driver, and she got a perfect view of his face, highlighted by the afternoon sun.
Anna’s heart started once more, so loudly she was surprised the windowpanes didn’t rattle in their frames.
Her eyes raked him greedily, relishing the chance to watch him so closely.
He was still so handsome it took her breath away.
Even more so now than when he was a mere boy on the cusp of manhood, she had to admit.
His face, which had once been filled with boyish charm, was harder now, more chiselled, older and wiser, yet infinitely more handsome because of it.
There was character there now, his jaw so strong and unyielding, his mouth set in grim lines instead of the ready smile it used to wear.
He hadn’t gotten any taller, but Lord had he gotten broader!
Anna felt something hot and sinful unfurl in her belly as her eyes travelled over the large shoulders, the expansive chest, clothed in the beautifully cut navy blue coat, its gold buttons bright and shiny in the sunlight. The coat, she noted, was the exact colour of his eyes.
Her own eyes travelled right down his form, which, she noticed, held not a trace of the plumpness common in wealthy men of Society, to impossibly muscular legs moulded by ivory breeches and encased in shiny Hessians.
When she had known him, or thought she had, he had worn the simple, rough clothing of the merchant class. Not shabby, but definitely not the silks, velvets, and linens of the upper class. And certainly nothing so distinguished as a Captain’s uniform.
To look at him now, bedecked in the very finest of materials, one would never know he’d had humble beginnings.
He even bore himself as a force to be reckoned with, exuding a power and confidence and even arrogance usually reserved for men of the ton.
But then, wasn’t that what he was now?
Captain of a highly regarded ship, having gained a reputation of an exceptional sailor at a very young age.
Lucas had grown in ways beyond physical.
His reputation had been fixed within the first couple of years of his joining the navy, and his promotion through the ranks was the stuff of legends.
He had gained wealth, social standing, and the respect of men who had looked down on him in his youth.
And when he’d announced that he was taking some leave from the navy, the ton had fallen over itself to get him to attend house parties, balls, and soirées.
Yes, Lucas had truly made it in Society.
But at what cost? Anna couldn’t help but wonder.
Yes, he had gained all of that. But was it worth it? Was it worth leaving her all those years ago, standing on an empty road, awaiting someone who was never going to appear?
Was sacrificing their love worth the spoils he had gotten?
Or, had he never really loved her at all?
Her thoughts about Lucas Townsend had been relatively easy to silence over the years, until he had come back into her life three years ago.
Since then, it had been harder and harder to dismiss him, disregard him.
Harder still when she learned that he had been responsible for saving her brother and sister-in-law, along with Andrew and Evelyn.
All that knowledge served to do was confuse her further about the man, when she was already confused enough.
How could he be so cold, so cruel to her, yet risk his life for the family he claimed to despise?
It had to have been for Gabby’s sake.
Anna’s heart gave a painful thump as this thought surfaced.
She wasn’t blind; she saw the regard Lucas had for her new sister-in-law, and she was honest enough to admit that it caused a painful lance of envy to course through her every time she thought of it.
How sad for him, that he should care so deeply for a woman who clearly loved someone else. For anyone with eyes could see Gabby’s adoration for Jonathan.
Anna realised that during her rambling thoughts, Lucas had finished his conversation with the footman and was now entering the carriage.
Perhaps it was because she was thinking so intently of him, perhaps the gods were feeling playful that day, but something caused Lucas to pause at that moment and then, as if sensing her presence, turn to face the house. His eyes found her immediately, as if he knew exactly where to look.
Anna should have ducked out of the way. How dreadfully embarrassing to be caught staring. Yet, she found that she couldn’t. Held captive by his deep blue stare, she could only return it.
His face was unreadable, especially from this distance. From the set of his jaw, however, he didn’t look as though he were pleased to see her.
And why should he be?
He had made his feelings clear, over and over again.
So why didn’t she have some respect for herself and stop pining for him?
Anna had had to dig deep during her years with Peter Grant. She had found a strength she hadn’t known she’d possessed. A strength that gotten her through the terrible days and terrifying nights.
If she could do that, she could give up on Lucas Townsend.
After all, he had given up on her years ago.
Telling herself that it was for the best, Anna turned away from him.
Enough now, Anna, she told herself.
Once it stopped hurting so much, she could truly move on.
CHAPTER TWO
LUCAS WATCHED ANNA turn away from the window, and it took all of his strength not to bound back up the steps and find her.
For God’s sake, man, he scolded himself, why can’t you forget her?
He climbed into the carriage and sat back against the plush velvet seat, sighing as his thoughts ran riot once again.
What is this hold she has on me?
Why, after what she had done, knowing what she really was, couldn’t he let her go?
He was tormented by her. Always had been.
Well, he conceded, when he was a young boy and thought girls were annoying, germ-filled creatures, he hadn’t been. In point of fact, he had never even really seen her, except when his mother had dragged him to church, and she’d been nothing more than bright, blonde ringlets sitting at the front of the chapel in her family’s pew.
When he’d gotten old enough to notice young ladies, however, and she’d gotten old enough to be noticed, well, that day had sealed his fate.
He had fallen head over heels with a girl who was so far above him it would have been laughable, if it weren’t so tragic.
By some miracle, she had loved him back. Or at least claimed to.
The days and weeks that followed had been the happiest of Lucas’ young life.
Even though they had met in secret, spoken in whispers, and hidden from the world, he had been so in love, he was willing to do anything, everything, to be with her.
In hindsight, planning to elope had been foolhardy and selfish.
Lucas had known he had nothing to offer her, yet he’d asked just the same.
And Anna had said yes immediately, making him think it had been the right thing to do.
He’d been a fool then, and he was a worse one now. Because it still hurt, dammit. And it shouldn’t.
Lucas banged the roof of the carriage and sat back once more as it took off to trundle through the streets of London.
He wasn’t going home; he was going to the docks so he could lose himself in work as he always did.
He heaved a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose as his scrambled thoughts bounced from the past to the present, always about her.
Sitting there, travelling at a snail’s pace through the congested streets of London, he gave his mind free rein. Fighting it was futile. He might as well allow the memories to wash over him in the desperate hope that they could be purged, and he could finally move on with his life.
Lucas thought back to the heady days of that summer and the glorious pride he’d felt every time he saw Anna run toward him, her golden hair shining in a sunlight that couldn’t even begin to compare to her bright beauty. He thought back to the smile she’d given him that made his heart stop, thought back to her words of love as she’d assured him that eloping with him — a penniless merchant’s son — was what she wanted.
Then, inevitably, the hurt, the anger, and the humiliation slammed into him as he remembered her betrayal.
Hard as it was to reconcile the girl he thought he had known with the cold, cruel Society miss who had toyed with him, no doubt for her own sick amusement, Lucas couldn’t argue with the facts.
And wishing her to be different did not make it so.
Why then, had he felt a shaft of guilt at the hurt in her mesmerising eyes when he’d walked the line of giving her the cut direct just now?
Why had he gone straight to see her three years ago when he’d finally returned home, only to be refused an audience?
Why had he kept such a close eye on her cruel husband and made sure he was kept abreast of the happenings in her life?
So many questions all leading to the same answer: he was a weak fool who needed to find a way to move on without being haunted by a woman who looked like an angel but hurt like the devil.
After an age, the carriage finally pulled up to its destination, and Lucas disembarked, straightening his jacket before placing his hat atop his head.
It was still strange, he thought, no longer wearing the uniform that had been such an integral part of his life for so long.
But it was time to move on. To put this country and the people in it behind him for good.
AFTER HOURS OF paperwork, Lucas came to the conclusion that burying himself in work was not cutting it.
He still couldn’t get Anna Spencer — or Grant, he corrected himself — out of his head.
What annoyed him the most, he realised, was her behaviour since his return.
Although Lucas knew what her husband had been, and it had killed him to imagine what she could be going through with him, she had chosen to marry him. Chosen to turn her back on Lucas, in favour of the crueller but far, far wealthier Peter Grant.
And when Lucas had finally returned home, he’d had every intention of confronting her, showing her what he’d made of himself, not that he’d been given much choice by her father. Then, when she realised what she’d turned her back on, he was going to treat her with the utmost disdain before turning and walking out of her life forever.
He had hoped that in doing so, he would purge the demon of Anna Grant forever.
Instead, he’d found himself worried sick about her, asking Evelyn, her cousin, if she was well and having his heart nearly splinter at the answer that actually, no, she wasn’t well at all. That her life was as miserable as he’d feared it would be.
She’d sent a message, he remembered, asking if he were going to attend a ball at the small Assembly Rooms in the village where they’d been raised.
He hadn’t been intending to do any such thing; he was going to turn and run, run from her and the feelings she still invoked in him.
But he could no more resist her then than he had been able to when they were mere children playing at adulthood.
And so, he’d gone to the damned Assembly Rooms, and he’d seen her, and all his plans to be horrid and cruel had flown straight out the window.
Time had been good to Anna, even if her husband had not been.
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Her girlish good looks had matured and made her the most strikingly beautiful woman he’d ever seen. Her soft, young body had slimmed to that of an elegant, almost willowy woman, though she still had curves enough to haunt him.
Now, however, there was an air of fragility about her, and he hated the man who had put it there.
She had always exuded a joie de vivre that had been impossible not to get swept up in. She’d made him happier by being so impossibly happy herself.
Everyone in the village had known what a difficult man Geoffrey Spencer was, and how hard he was on his daughter, even more so on his niece Evelyn.
Only his son had seemed to escape the man’s infamous ire.
Lucas hadn’t met Jonathan Spencer until recently. He had always assumed the man would be as arrogant and mean-spirited as his father, but, he had to confess, Jonathan was the polar opposite.
And now, he was married to one of Lucas’ best friends, a sister of sorts. Which meant that he would be seeing much more of Jonathan and possibly Anna.
The thought agitated Lucas so much that he found it impossible to sit still, and he rose from behind his desk to pour himself a very generous measure of whiskey.
That night in the Assembly Rooms, it had felt as though time had melted away, and they were Lucas and Anna again, two people who had fallen irrevocably in love and who had all the time in the world to just enjoy each other’s company.
They had danced, they had laughed, and though they had avoided any real conversation, they had chatted like old friends and flirted like would-be lovers.
It had been, in a word, glorious.
For some reason, Anna’s family had left her to her own devices, and certainly, none of them had seemed to be watching her.
It had been such a warm night, made even hotter by the crush of bodies in the ballroom, so they’d gone to taken some air on the balcony.
Andrew remembered with perfect clarity the way the soft, blonde tendrils of her hair came loose and danced in the gentle breeze.
He remembered the starlight glinting in her brandy-coloured eyes.
He remembered the smile on her petal-soft lips and the gentle blush on her cheeks.
The Captain's Revenge Page 2