by Darcy Burke
Henry looked her firmly in the eyes. “Miss Newbury, I promise to never dictate your life.”
Millie sighed again and looked at Anna. “And I must find a husband here, now?”
“This house party is merely an opportunity,” Anna replied. “Lady Stratford only invited the very best of her acquaintance, so you can be sure the people here do not mean you harm. It affords you the chance to get to know someone without worrying about further expectations.”
“Expectations?” Millie’s brows perked up.
Anna sent her a warning look.
Millie rolled her eyes. “Yes, I know, men are lecherous creatures and can take advantage should I not be careful and I just kick between the legs and blah blah blah.”
Henry choked on his tea, and the teacup clanked down hard onto the saucer. He coughed, but it also sounded a bit like laughter.
Anna did her best to ignore him. “You simply need to be open to the opportunity. If you pass our time here and are not inspired by someone, then no harm no foul. It will be good practice for the upcoming Season.”
Millie groaned.
“A lady does not groan.”
Except, of course, when she has good reason, Anna added to herself. Henry had recovered and watched them with intense amusement.
“There is a great search planned for this morning,” Millie plodded along. “Since you are our hostess’s nephew, you should be on our team. I bet you know all the answers.”
“I am her nephew, but that doesn’t afford me any insight. She changes it each year. Besides, she draws the gentlemen’s names and adds them to groups of ladies as they are pulled. It is completely random.”
Millie’s lips tweaked into a smile.
Anna knew that look. “Millicent Newbury, I do not like that glee spreading across your face. Whatever you are thinking you stop it immediately.”
“I do not know what you are talking about. I am merely excited for this morning’s activity.”
Anna felt distinctly the opposite.
Chapter Three
His anger from the night before had dissipated and Henry had resigned himself to the fact he was stuck at this house party, however, if he could simply find the box of letters, he could leave without a backwards glance.
Unfortunately, he would have to conduct his search in the middle of the house party, with nearly every room occupied by guests. The hunt his aunt had planned, however, might act as a plausible reason for him to search the house, at least today. He hoped he would find the package quickly enough and be on his way.
The impact of being near Anna again was one he had not expected, not that he’d expected her to be here at all. From overheard snippets of conversation and a few careful questions, he’d learned Millie was Aunt Cornelia’s goddaughter, one of many, and she was the path in which the invitation had been issued. It comforted him that his aunt had not invited Anna with the intent to find her a second husband. Cornelia always issued him an invitation, and if she thought he might reconnect with Anna, Cornelia would move mountains to orchestrate it.
Henry spied Anna across the room where she stood with her stepchildren. It was strange to think of Anna with grown children. How fortuitous he should be stuck at a house party with the girl who broke his heart, and the family she’d married into as reward.
He didn’t know how he felt about her widowed status. Should he be happy her husband had died? What did he care that she was widowed? It changed nothing.
From the crowd gathered in the music room, it looked like half of Cornelia’s guests had turned up for this hunt. Cornelia explained the rules: each group would consist of four people, and the gentlemen would be shuffled randomly into other groups, allowing everyone a chance to meet and work with people they might not be familiar with.
Since the whole point of this house party was for the ladies to make splendid matches with quality gentlemen, this came as no surprise.
His aunt rattled off names and people moved about the room, reorganized into different groups. Henry paid them little attention. He was not here for the same reason as the other guests. Better to not be distracted.
Aunt Cornelia swirled her hand around in the bowl of papers, selected one, and pulled it out. She unfolded the paper, her eyes darting across the name written there and she glanced up to meet Henry’s gaze. A mischievous smile crept across her face. “Joining Lady Rycroft and Miss Newbury will be… Lord Carrington!”
Henry’s eyes narrowed a fraction, ready to call her bluff.
Cornelia’s brow arched, daring him to contradict her, much less in front of her guests.
He didn’t, as she knew he would not, and he moved obediently to stand beside Anna and her stepdaughter.
Millie’s blue eyes twinkled. If he didn’t know better, it was with mischievous delight, but he’d known her all of a few minutes, so he was likely mistaken.
A young fop joined their group, tall with dark hair, the last of the names called. He introduced himself as Mr. Turner Pennex, son of Viscount Pennex.
“This hunt should be a lovely way to occupy ourselves, don’t you think?” Mr. Pennex asked.
Henry nodded at the parchment in Millie’s hand. “What are we hunting?”
She handed him the folded parchment and he tore through the wax seal.
He read through the list, a rather random and ridiculous one, as Millie read over his arm.
“A sapphire necklace, something with holly.... Someone who has been to Scotland? What are we supposed to do with such things?”
“Collect them, I suspect. And for the people, we just have them endorse the parchment.” Henry refolded the parchment. “Come. I know where my aunt keeps the jewels.”
Anna would not survive Henry’s company again.
Just being near him, hearing the laughter in his voice, the smell of spice that surrounded him, brought back so many memories and feelings from before. It would not do to dwell on any of that now.
Millie chatted with the unsuspecting Mr. Pennex as Henry directed them through the castle. The young gentleman really had no idea what he’d walked into the middle of.
“I don’t remember doing a hunt of any kind when we were last here.” Henry’s voice was quiet, but louder he called to Millie, “a left up here, Miss Newbury.”
Anna fought a teasing smile before it slipped across her lips. “No, I imagine you wouldn’t. I don’t think you knew we were supposed to be playing a game.”
“Do you mean when we escaped your chaperone and went sneaking about the castle?”
Millie’s head whipped around. “You escaped your chaperone, Step Mother?”
“I certainly did no such thing,” Anna insisted and shot Henry a reproachful glare. Millie turned back to the perplexed Mr. Pennex and resumed her stream of chatter.
“Sorry,” Henry murmured.
Anna shrugged halfheartedly. Millie knew the truth anyway. “It is a wonder you remember that much. We spent most of the time....” A blush warmed her cheeks and she looked away.
Henry smirked. “We spent most of that morning occupied with other entertainments if I remember correctly.”
She didn’t meet his gaze. “A lot of good it did us. We lost the game.”
But we fell in love.
The thought came out of nowhere and slammed into her ribcage. She did her best to trample it down.
They entered a room that had been turned into a giant curio cabinet. It was filled with cases and shelves of oddities from around the world. Lord Stratford had done a bit of exploring in his younger days, as had many of his relatives before him, and over time an extensive collection had been formed.
“The jewels are in here somewhere.” Henry threw a hesitant glance around the room.
The four of them set to work, searching for something that might be a sapphire.
Anna paused in her perusal of a tall cabinet lined with snuff boxes and as Henry open the drawers of a desk, shuffling through papers and quill bits. His search was thorough, but it didn’t
look like sapphires were on his mind. He moved to a bookcase-lined wall, pulled the lid from the vase, and peeked inside.
“I doubt they’ve hidden jewels in that African vase,” she noted.
He didn’t spare her a glance. “I’m being thorough. You never know what my aunt has cooked up.”
Anna laughed. “I imagine Lady Stratford would have set them out where anyone could find them.”
“Found them!” Millie called from across the room. Anna gave Henry an “I told you so look,” and went to see what Millie had found.
Along the opposite wall were a set of column podiums each holding a glass case. Inside the container beside Millie and Mr. Pennex sat a dazzling sapphire necklace with matching teardrop earrings.
“Are we supposed to nick it?” Millie asked.
“Millicent Newbury!” Anna reprimanded.
Millie glanced at Anna apologetically. “Yes, sorry, I suppose that’s not the point of the game.”
“Should we just write it down then?” Mr. Pennex suggested.
Henry dug into his jacket pocket and produced a notebook with a pencil tucked into the pages. “Write the location and description on the back of the list. That should suffice.”
A pencil was an odd thing for him to carry, and Henry caught Anna’s inquisitive gaze.
“Something I picked up from my time in the Army.”
Anna nodded and offered a light smile, but her mind thumped in amazement. He’d been in the army? When? Had he been injured? Had he been in any battles?
It dawned on her that she truly had no idea what he’d been up to in the years since their failed elopement. She’d avoided any mention of him, but now desire to know about his life slammed into her.
Millie and Mr. Pennex bent over the glass case to jot down the details; Anna took a step closer to Henry.
“You’re prepared for anything, aren’t you?”
Henry shrugged. “Better to be prepared than to be caught off guard.”
“You spent time in the army?”
He didn’t look at her. “Would you like to compare life stories over the past decade?”
Anna shrugged lightly. “I admit, I am curious what you’ve been up to.”
He threw her a hard, sardonic glare, as if to say, “Really? You want to talk about this now?”
Anna pursed her lips and gave him her best “I am not intimidated by you” stare, her brows raised in challenge.
He looked away. “I can’t image our time apart has been all that interesting.”
“My life certainly hasn’t.” Anna looked back at Millie and Mr. Pennex bending over the glass case.
“From the looks of it, Millie and Percy have made the past ten years interesting. That can’t have been easy?”
Anna shrugged. “It wasn’t at first, but we grew to understand each other.”
“Even with Millie’s impertinence, you have nothing but kindness towards her.”
“Of course, I do. Would you expect me to admonish her for her sometimes outrageous behavior?”
He shrugged.
Anna continued. “I learned early I could make neither of them bend to my will. At best I can guide them to adulthood without allowing them to lose who they are. Their spirit is the best thing about them. I’d hate for them to lose that.”
“Other parents might think differently. Did Rycroft see things the same as you do?”
“Rycroft didn’t have many opinions, and certainly not about his children.”
He regarded her, his arms crossed over his chest. “Was he not the husband you hoped for?”
Anna fought the urge to rise to his bait as she turned towards him. “No. He was not.”
Henry’s brow rose in question but Anna evaded. “And your time away, did you find what you were looking for?”
“I did.”
“At the expense of my father’s coin.”
He tilted his head but didn’t answer.
Millie appeared at Anna’s side, smiling. “This is fun, is it not?” She looked between Anna and Henry. “Shall we move on to the next item?”
Henry nodded. “What do you suggest?”
Millie looked at the parchment. “We need to find this quote: I examined my own heart. And there you were. Never, I fear, to be removed.”
Anna’s eyes moved to meet Henry’s before she could stop herself, and she was surprised to see Henry watching her. Both looked quickly away.
“What is that quote from?” Mr. Pennex asked.
Millie thought for a moment. “It’s from Emma. I read it again just last week!” She looked at Henry. “Does your aunt own a copy?”
“I would imagine she does, if she’s included it. To the library?”
Millie nodded. “To the library!” She linked her arm with Mr. Pennex’s and they strode determinedly from the room, leaving Henry and Anna in their wake.
Millie stopped in the hallway, looking back and forth. “Forgive me, but which way to the library?”
“Left, my dear,” Anna answered automatically before glancing sheepishly at Henry. Henry smiled and the sight pulled at things inside her she did not want to acknowledge. Her heart fluttered, just as it had ten years ago when he’d asked her to elope. Just as it had when she’d met him days before that fateful night. Ten nights was all it took for her to tumble head over heels in love with him, young and naive as she’d been at nineteen. Now she only had to survive one night with her heart intact.
They found the library, but Lady Stratford’s copy of Emma had already been claimed by another group.
“I didn’t think to bring my copy,” Millie lamented. She glanced despairingly across the room.
“I can check if my sister brought hers with her,” Mr. Pennex said and bowed before quickly leaving the room.
Millie looked expectantly at Anna. “I could have suggested that I accompany him, but asking to go poking about a gentleman’s rooms seemed like something you might chastise me for.” Millie smiled, as if Anna should be thanking her for her decorum.
Henry beat her to it. “That is probably wise. You might find yourself engaged after such an activity.”
Millie regarded him. “We could always elope.”
Henry said nothing and Anna turned away to hide her smile. Millie was impertinent and a handful, but damned if the girl didn’t make her laugh.
“I think I’ll peruse that shelf,” Millie said as she walked away. “In the same room, but just far away on the other side of this expansive library.” Her voice trailed away. “It’s as if I’m not even here at all.”
Henry chuckled as he moved to a wall of floor-to-ceiling shelves and resumed his search, presumably for what his father had left him. Did he not ask Lady Stratford for it? “She’s not exactly subtle.”
Anna shook her head. “She thinks subtlety is the greatest of sins.”
Henry caught her gaze for a long moment, before his gaze trailed down her form. “I can think of greater sins.”
Anna laughed. “For shame, Henry.”
He grinned and resumed his search. “You used to enjoy my salacious comments.”
“That was a long time ago.”
He found a wooden box and flipped the lid. It did not contain what he was looking for so he closed the lid and moved on.
“You appear in better spirits than last night.”
“It’s a wonder what a good night’s rest can achieve.” He moved on to another set of shelves, opening the cabinet at the base. Anna followed, watching him curiously.
“Today I have not been blessed with the company of my aunts and uncles,” he added. “That alone can do wonders for my mood.”
She understood. “I take it they were all present with Lady Stratford to welcome you?”
He grimaced as he stepped away from the shelving, his head tipped back to see all the way to the top. “Unfortunately.”
Anna nodded. “I saw them when we arrived. At the time I didn’t know you planned on attending too so I didn’t pay it much thought.”
“And now that you’re here? How long do you plan to stay?”
He met her gaze for a long moment, a torment of emotions moving over his expression. “I am not sure.”
“You are not making much sense.”
Henry sighed. “It is simply because I don’t know how to act around you.”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I find my irritation with you fading the more time I spend in your company. Everything from our past seems jumbled and complicated, and yet simple and easy at the same time.”
Anna nodded. He’d hit the nail on the head. “I’ve been feeling the same. I don’t think there is a right or wrong way to act.”
His smile softened. “I’ve missed you, Anna.”
She returned his smile. “I’ve missed you too.”
“It seems cruel that we should reconnect now, after all these years.”
Anna’s brows pinched together in confusion and he continued.
“My presence here has waylaid plans already in motion, but it has not caused me to abandon them. I have somewhere important to be.”
“Oh?” Anna tried to ignore the creeping pain that clutched her heart. “Have you someone waiting for you?”
“In a manner of speaking.”
Anna’s heart sank. He was married, of course he was married. Or had a fiancée. Or was promised to someone. He was leaving, again. Though had she truly expected him to wait and pine for her all these years?
She’d expected that now he was an earl he’d finally come home to take on that responsibility. She’d expected—hoped for actually, since first seeing him burst through the ballroom doors—they might have a chance to reconnect, a chance to see if their ten-day romance from ten years earlier had been more than just the stuff of fairytales.
“And when I return to London, we are to depart for America.”
Chapter Four
Henry didn’t know why he said it like that, why he was purposefully misleading her.
To see her reaction? There was barely any, only the tightening of the muscles around her eyes. Someone less familiar with her face might have missed it but, despite their time apart, he found he was still as attuned to her as he’d been from the very beginning.