by Laura Martin
‘I needed a little air, a little space to think.’
‘And where better to do it than under the stars?’ he murmured, looking up. Beth followed his gaze and for a moment was captivated by the twinkling stars in the dark sky above. ‘I’ve always found I think best in the open air. I find something calming about looking up at the stars above us and realising I’m a very small part of a very big world.’
‘You find that comforting?’
He looked at her, shooting her a grin that lit up his face and made him look young and carefree. Beth felt something tighten inside her and she had to force herself to focus on his reply.
‘Strange I know, but I like the thought that I’m just one of millions of people. If I’m having a bad day there will be thousands having a worse time, and if I’m having a good day there are thousands sharing it with me.’
‘I’ve never thought of it like that. I like it, it’s philosophical.’
He gave a little self-deprecating shake of his head. ‘I had far too much time on my hands during the voyage from India. It seems to have resulted in me sharing the thoughts that should perhaps stay locked in my own head.’
Beth laughed. This wasn’t how she’d expected her conversation with Mr Ashburton to go. In public he was always so upright, so formal. She wasn’t sure if she had ever even seen him smile, but here he was laughing and relaxed and making a joke at his own expense. Beth almost enquired about his voyage from India, she hadn’t even been aware he’d been out of the country, but before she could ask he had posed his own question.
‘What did you need space from?’
‘My mother,’ she said before she could censor her words.
‘Ah.’
‘I know she means well,’ Beth said quietly, ‘but sometimes the weight of her expectations can be a little stifling.’
He regarded her for a few seconds as if weighing up something in his mind. ‘What you need is a distraction.’
She blinked, surprised as he stood abruptly and held out his hand. For a moment she just looked at it, not moving.
‘Dance with me. I promise you’ll find it distracting. I enjoy dancing as much as the next man, but I’d watch out for your toes if I were you.’
Hesitantly she placed her hand in his. It was madness, but it was as though he’d hypnotised her. Slowly she stood, checking over her shoulder, looking at the flickering lights on the terrace to check if anyone could see them.
‘We shouldn’t...’
He moved a little closer to her and she felt the warmth of his breath as he whispered into her ear. ‘Sometimes it’s good to do something forbidden.’ The words conjured up a host of illicit images and she felt fierce heat begin to creep through her body.
‘What if someone sees us?’
‘We’re hidden by the bushes.’
She allowed him to pull her gently into position and, as if he had signalled the musicians they were ready, the music began to swell in the ballroom. It was a waltz and it only took three steps for Beth to know Mr Ashburton had lied. He was an accomplished dancer, holding her in a way that made her feel as though she were floating just off the ground. She glanced up, taking a moment to study his features in the darkness. Even now there was a hint of a smile on his lips. He was an attractive man with a strong jaw and dark eyes that contained a sea of warmth. Perhaps this arranged marriage wouldn’t be so bad, if he had actually agreed to marry her.
Beth let herself get lost in the moment, pushing away all conscious thought to enjoy the pressure of his hand on the small of her back, the sway of their bodies in the darkness and the magical feeling in the air.
As the music faded she should have stepped away, but Mr Ashburton stayed where he was for a moment, holding her close and looking down into her eyes. She felt an irresistible pull, a need to know what his lips felt like on hers, and she could see the same attraction reflected back as he gently placed a finger under her chin and tilted it up just a fraction.
She’d never been touched like that by a man before, never felt the spark of excitement even a gentle caress could send through her body.
‘You dance well, Lady Elizabeth,’ he said quietly.
Beth barely heard his words, she was too distracted by the heat of his body so close to her own and the naked desire flaring up inside her.
‘Thank you.’
She was sure he was going to kiss her, she even rose up a little on the balls of her feet to narrow the gap between them. The moment seemed to stretch out for ever, the anticipation building second by second until she wanted to shout out, to beg him to pull her into his arms.
‘Joshua?’ The voice came from the darkness behind them, refined and clipped.
Beth stepped back so quickly she nearly tripped over the hem of her dress, only Mr Ashburton’s hands on her arms saving her from ending up in a tangle on the ground. She glanced behind her, stiffening as she saw Mr Ashburton emerge from the darkness.
‘How...?’ She looked from one man to the other. There were two of them. Both tall with dark hair and dark eyes, with the same strong jaw and straight noses. As she looked closer there were subtle differences in their looks and perhaps an inch difference in height, but there was no mistaking that they were closely related. Brothers perhaps, but surely she would know if Mr Ashburton had a brother.
‘Leo.’ The man in front of her, the Mr Ashburton she had almost kissed, took a quick step forward and embraced the other man.
Beth was still trying to catch up, her mind whirring as she realised why Mr Ashburton had seemed so different, so relaxed. The man she had been sitting with, Mr Joshua Ashburton, was not the man she was promised to in marriage.
‘Lady Elizabeth,’ Mr Leonard Ashburton said, giving her a stiff, formal bow. ‘It seems you have met my brother.’
‘Indeed,’ she managed to utter.
‘I didn’t want to disturb your ball,’ Mr Joshua Ashburton said, clapping his brother on the back. ‘My ship got in earlier than expected and I couldn’t wait for our reunion, but when I saw you were entertaining I thought I wouldn’t burst in on your evening.’
‘Instead you thought you’d dance with Lady Elizabeth in the garden.’ The words were delivered without much emotion but Beth felt the heat flood to her cheeks. She’d hoped he hadn’t seen anything more than two people standing together in the garden innocently conversing, but it was apparent he had caught at least a little of her indiscretion.
‘I should leave you to get reacquainted with your brother,’ Beth said, stepping quickly away.
‘Thank you for the dance, Lady Elizabeth.’
She swivelled, catching Mr Joshua Ashburton’s eye, and felt the undeniable pull of attraction.
Unable to do anything more than nod, she picked up her skirts and moved as quickly as she could without actually breaking out into a run.
Chapter Two
‘You truly wish to accompany me?’
Joshua threw his head back and laughed at his brother’s quizzical expression. It had only been a day and a half since his reunion with his brother after twenty-five years but already it felt as though he knew the man sitting across from him as well as if they’d never been parted. He had been six years old when they’d lost their parents, with Leo eight, and the serious, pensive little boy had grown into a serious, pensive man.
‘I’ve got three months in England,’ Josh said, tapping his fingers on the arm of the chair. ‘Then who knows how long it will be before I can come back again? I don’t want to waste a minute.’
‘It won’t be a fun afternoon.’
‘You don’t know that.’
‘It is tea with the mother of the girl I promised to marry and then have dragged my feet ever since. It is not going to be fun.’
‘Who is this girl?’
Leo regarded him for a second before answering. ‘You’ve met her. Lady Elizabeth
.’
The image of her swaying closer to him, blue eyes locked on his, lips parted in that way that hinted she wanted to be kissed, flashed into his mind.
‘Lady Elizabeth,’ he murmured, savouring the memory. ‘She seemed pleasant enough, why the delay in marrying her?’ Pleasant was an understatement. Everything about her had been alluring: the sweet scent of roses in her hair, the feel of the curve of her waist under his hand as they danced, the way her cheeks had flushed every time he’d looked at her.
His brother sighed, running a hand through his thick hair, the same gesture Josh knew he himself favoured when he felt stressed.
‘I haven’t even asked the girl. It was an arrangement between myself and her father. I owed him a debt of gratitude for a...favour he performed for me. In return for his service I promised to marry his daughter when she was of an appropriate age.’
Josh was intrigued about the favour but knew not to push his brother on something he seemed so protective of. ‘You must be quite the catch, for him to arrange the marriage like that.’
Leo shrugged. ‘When Lord Abbingdon dies I become the ninth Viscount Abbingdon and inherit all the land and money that accompanies the title.’
‘And Lady Elizabeth is the daughter of an earl?’
‘Indeed. But an impoverished one. Her father was concerned she might be forced to marry someone in trade, someone wealthy but not titled, who could prop up the flailing family fortunes. In me he saw money and a title—the best he could hope for.’
‘You sell yourself short. So why the delay?’
Leo closed his eyes for a moment. ‘In truth I do not know. I need to marry, it is a stipulation of Lord Abbingdon’s will. Of course the title and property will come to me no matter what, but he has threatened to give whatever money he can away if I am not married by the time he dies.’
‘A little unreasonable.’
‘He tells me it is bad enough that he hasn’t got a son of his own to inherit, but after you and I there is no one even slightly suitable to inherit the title, or so he says. Hence the stipulation I must be married.’
‘Is there someone else you wish to marry?’
‘No. And I’m sure Lady Elizabeth will make a good enough wife. It is just I barely know her.’
‘Then we must remedy that.’
Ten minutes later they were strolling through the streets, enjoying the sun on their faces and the warm breeze that reminded Josh of the days just before the monsoon back home.
‘What about you?’ Leo asked as he lifted his hat to a group of young women who all chorused good afternoon when they passed.
‘What about me?’
‘Is there someone you plan to marry, someone you hold in high regard in India, or are you looking for a wife here?’
‘Good Lord, no. I love India, I can’t imagine living anywhere else, but I am well aware it is not the life a well-brought-up Englishwoman would necessarily wish for. I fear I’m destined to be a bachelor my entire life.’
‘You have to go back?’
‘Yes. I have to go back.’ He had to, but he also wanted to. England was a pleasant diversion, the chance to get to know the man walking next to him in person rather than through the letters they had exchanged throughout their lives, but it was a short interlude, nothing more. His real life was waiting for him back in India, the shipping business, the transport lines, the hustle and bustle of the docks.
‘Very well.’ Josh was beginning to become accustomed to his brother’s stoic acceptance of everything he was faced with. He couldn’t imagine Leo becoming incensed or enraged, instead just nodding in that calm way of his and moving on.
They paused outside a narrow town house, its paint a little less pristine than the others on the street. There was an air of genteel neglect, nothing that stood out by itself, but next to its neighbours this house just looked as though it needed a little more money spent on it.
Leo approached first, knocking on the door and standing back, waiting until a nervous young maid admitted them and repeated their names as if worried she might forget before leading them to a room on the first floor off a narrow hallway.
‘Mr Leonard Ashburton and Mr Joshua Ashburton,’ she said, dipping into a clumsy curtsy as the men passed her into the room.
Josh’s eye quickly swept the room looking for Lady Elizabeth. It was a reflexive action, one he couldn’t control. He just wanted one glimpse of her, to take the sight of her in one more time before he resigned himself to the fact she was as good as his brother’s fiancée.
She wasn’t there. Getting up to greet them was a slender woman in her late forties, no doubt Lady Hummingford. He could see a few similarities between her and her daughter, but Lady Elizabeth was fair where she was dark, and petite where her mother was tall.
‘Alice, inform Elizabeth we have guests. Please sit down, gentlemen, my daughter will join us shortly.’
Josh sat, looking around the room. It was small but neatly decorated, although there were no personal touches, no paintings on the wall or figurines on the mantelpiece, and all the furnishings matched a little too well. If he wasn’t much mistaken these were rented rooms, and cheap ones at that. It would seem his brother was correct about the Hummingfords’ financial struggles.
‘Mr Ashburton, I wasn’t aware you had a brother. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance.’
‘The pleasure is all mine, Lady Hummingford.’ Josh inclined his head. He hadn’t been brought up in these circles. Mr Usbourne, his guardian, was a kind man, a wealthy man, but he wasn’t a member of the aristocracy. Society in India was limited so Josh socialised with a mixture of people, but the rules weren’t quite the same there. Luckily he was a quick mimic and only had to observe how his brother behaved to be able to emulate him perfectly; still the formality felt a little stifling.
‘Will you take tea whilst we wait for my daughter?’
‘Please.’
‘Very good.’
* * *
Elizabeth started nibbling on the edge of her thumbnail as she regarded herself in the mirror, only conscious that she was doing it when she caught sight of her hand raised up to her mouth.
‘He’s just a man,’ she repeated to herself for the hundredth time. Mr Ashburton, Mr Leonard Ashburton, had sent a note the day before to ask if he could call this afternoon. Her mother had been buzzing around with nervous energy ever since and Elizabeth had quickly retreated to her room. The solitude had been a relief, but it had meant she’d spent the last twenty-four hours worrying about the encounter.
Top of her list of concerns was that he had seen her entirely inappropriate behaviour in the garden at his ball when she’d danced with his brother in the darkness, and had come to declare her a harlot, not fit to be his wife. Second on her list was exactly the opposite: that he might have decided to stop dragging his feet and that he was coming round to tell her they would be married within the month.
There was a soft knock at the door. Alice opened it and poked her head through the gap.
‘The gentlemen are here, my lady. Your mother asked for you to come down.’
‘Thank you, Alice.’ Beth smiled at the maid, trying to put the nervous young girl at ease but she had already dropped her eyes to the floor and was starting to withdraw. ‘Wait. Gentlemen? Is there more than one?’
‘Yes, my lady.’
‘Who are they?’
Even before Alice spoke Beth knew the answer. She remembered the feel of Mr Joshua Ashburton’s hand on the small of her back guiding her around their private outdoor dance floor and the hammering of her heart as the music faded away and he kept hold of her for just a moment longer than he really should. Even now she could feel the warmth that had suffused her body, that tiny spark of pleasure at just being close to him.
‘Mr Ashburton and Mr Ashburton,’ Alice said, and before Beth could ask any more she slip
ped away and clattered down the corridor.
Beth closed her eyes and let out a long breath. She had no idea what both men were doing here. There was absolutely no reason for Mr Joshua Ashburton to call on her and her mother. Quickly she tried to suppress the flicker of excitement she felt. She needed to focus her time and energy on his brother, not allow herself to be distracted by Joshua Ashburton’s mesmerising smile and good humour.
Checking her reflection in the mirror one final time, she flashed a smile to check it didn’t look too forced then left the sanctuary of her bedroom and walked downstairs.
The house they were renting whilst in London was small and even as she descended the stairs to the first floor she could hear the murmur of voices in the drawing room.
As she entered the conversation stopped and all eyes turned to her. Both men stood and she was struck again by how similar they looked. They both were tall with broad shoulders and hair so dark it was almost black. They both regarded her with rich brown eyes, set on either side of a straight, narrow nose. Despite all the similarities she could tell which brother was which immediately. Leonard Ashburton looked at her with a serious expression on his face, greeting her formally. His manner was cool and restrained and she was struck with the impression that he worked hard to maintain an unreadable façade.
His brother, Joshua Ashburton, was the complete opposite. He smiled broadly as soon as Beth came into the room, his eyes lighting up as she turned to regard him. He actually took a step towards her as if about to take her hand or some other equally intimate gesture before catching himself and stepping back again.