“Who was that girl, Wandorne?”
The Count of Stratham had stepped out of the house, and had the grace to look a little sheepish.
“Miss Chloe Vaughn,” Moses snapped, but the fire of anger was dissipating even now. Now that it was too late. “And Miss Chloe Vaughn did not deserve to be treated that way.”
“Oh, Moses, I am sorry,” came the gentle voice of Lady Olivia. She had followed her brother out of the front door, and had a concerned look on her face. “You know that it was merely a jest. ‘Tis a joke that we have had since childhood, you and me. Our parents always laughed at it, and so did we.”
Moses scowled at her. “Do I look as if I am laughing?”
She shook her head slowly, her eyes wide and concerned. “I hope that it has not caused any … any damage between you?”
Moses hung his head. Damage? How could he put into words the irrevocable damage that had been created? It was impossible to say, and it sounded mad even when he thought about it. A woman he had met twelve hours ago had left him, and he felt bereft. As though sunshine itself was never going to warm him again.
“It has caused damage,” he said bitterly, but with no heat. “You may never know the ruin that you have done me, Stratham.”
His friend moved forward and grasped his arm. “I admit, I have never seen you so animated before. Well, not since … not since Charlotte was alive. What on earth has happened?”
“Chloe Vaughn!” Moses exploded, voice heavy with passion and regret and pain. “Chloe Vaughn has happened to me, and now that I have lost her, I am completely done for, Stratham. She thinks that I am a liar and a cheat, a man who cares so little for the truth that I blatantly disregard it at every opportunity. What have I done – what have you done? I - I barely know what to do with myself!”
He felt their eyes on him, and his cheeks darkened with shame and with anger. That he would have to suffer through this again – it was like another bereavement.
Anthony’s eyes had widened. “Done for? My good man, you have never been done for in all your life, and especially not now. Why on earth should that be the case? You should go after her!”
Moses hesitated. It would not be impossible to discover the residence of Lady Kathryn Callaghan, that was certain. There was no reason why he could not find out – but how could he face her again? How could he look Chloe in the eyes and try to explain?
“Moses,” said Anthony quietly, and Moses looked up at the sound of his first name. “If there had been anything – anything at all – that you could have done to save Charlotte then you would have done it. Am I right?”
Anthony’s sister moved forward and took Moses’ hand, squeezing it. Moses felt tears start to burn in his eyes, and unable to speak, he nodded.
“Now you have a chance to do something to save your relationship with this Miss Vaughn,” continued Anthony in a low voice, “and you should not hesitate. Go to her.”
“G - Go to her?” Moses spluttered, his eyes wide. “Ye gods man, I have not left the grounds of Wandorne for nigh on a year!”
The mere thought of leaving them was starting to make his head hurt, and the light of the morning was overly bright in his eyes.
But the look of his friend’s eyes did not waver. “You should not hesitate,” Anthony repeated. “Hesitate, my dear boy, and you will regret it for the rest of your life.”
“…and I trust that we will not have to suffer this again!”
Lady Kathryn was looking at her, and Chloe did not have to try to look forlorn. She had never felt pain like this, never known betrayal like this. Were there even words for it?
The carriage jolted over a stone, and it seemed to provoke another thought in her companion.
“And another thing,” said Lady Kathryn. “You should never have gone off on your own, Miss Vaughn. ‘Twas most indiscrete of you. You could have got lost, you could have found it impossible to find the house again, and then what would you have done in the storm? You would have been done for, Miss Vaughn. A cold, perhaps a fever!”
Chloe nodded sadly, and her eyes drifted to the window. They were still rattling through the Wandorne estate; it was only now that she realised just how large it was.
“I was left to worry about you and hunt for you in vain,” continued Lady Kathryn, and Chloe was touched to hear genuine concern in her voice. “Even when I received Sir Moses’s note from … Baxter, was it? Well whoever it was, though it did relieve my heart that I had not misplaced you entirely, I then had to bear the knowledge that you were putting poor Sir Moses at such an inconvenience.”
The sound of his name, twice in quick succession, seemed to pour salt into Chloe’s heartbreak. How could a fiancée just reappear in front of your eyes? How could he tell such falsehoods with such innocence and pain; she had truly believed him, every word. Her heart had ached for him then, but it ached for herself now.
“If I were to be as honest with you as I try to be with myself I would say … I would say that the idea of loving again terrifies me. Of not being able to keep someone that I care about safe in the future. It paralyses me, and so I have come to accept, bitter as it is, that I will probably die completely alone.”
Ah, she had thought that she had understood his words then. How wrong she was. It was only now, now that she had loved and lost – for it was foolish to even attempt to deny it to herself – that she could comprehend what he had meant.
But his words had been lies, and the emotions flooding through her were naught but truth.
“I was indeed most concerned,” continued Lady Kathryn, who did not seem to have noticed the low spirits of her ward. “I…barely slept a wink, actually. How could I have ever told your dear mother that I had lost you? That you had gone missing under my care? If my own daughter – but then, under the care of a baronet, who was I to complain? I said to Rebecca…”
Chloe let the woman’s words – kindly meant, and demonstrating real compassion – wash over her. All of her thoughts were consumed with Moses. How different he had been when it had just been the two of them? He had been bold, and brave, and rude at times. He had baulked at civilities and yet been kindness itself.
When they had made love, he had been full of joy, and there had been a desperation in his eyes to connect with her, to care for her, to love her almost. How could she have misunderstood that?
She smiled, despite herself, at the way he had tried to instruct Baxter to force her from the house when they had first met. He had seemed like an injured dog; biting the hand of anyone who came near it in the pain and agony of it all. But she had tamed him – or she had thought she had tamed him.
The sister of the Count of Stratham swam into her mind’s eye, and Chloe felt sick. She was, indeed, a beautiful woman. It was not difficult to see why Moses would be interested in her: beauty and the sister to a Count, it was hardly a difficult match.
And then the memory of his face when the Count had introduced his sister as Moses’ fiancée surfaced in her mind. He had looked shocked, that was certain: but, Chloe reminded herself fiercely, that was because he did not want to be found out. He had lied, and he had been revealed to be a liar.
Her heart hesitated. He had wanted to speak to her – to say something, to perhaps explain? Should she have stayed longer, maybe listened to the explanation that he was so desirous to give?
But then it hardened as the carriage entered the long driveway of The Beeches. What could he say? What possible explanation could there be? And after all, and now Chloe felt nauseous again, he betrayed her even less than he betrayed Lady Olivia, for she was his fiancée, and he had seduced another woman.
Her. He had seduced her, and she had let him, and for a few hours it had been magical, like nothing she could ever have imagined it could be between two people …
Chloe sighed as the house came into view, with a man dismounting from a horse – probably Mr Ramsbottom – and a maidservant beating a rug at the side of the house. It was all over now, at least. All pretentions t
o a happy ending were over, and now all she could do was put the thought of Sir Moses Wandorne behind her, and try to resume normal life.
She almost laughed aloud. What was normal life when you had shared something so intimate with someone that you would never see again?
And then, as the carriage started to slow, the natural philosopher in her welled up. Why should she not go back, and talk with him? Though her heart ached now, would it not be better to find out the truth? Not because she cared for him any longer, she told herself as the carriage came to a complete stop. But as a natural philosopher, was the truth not a worthy aim?
The carriage door was opened by a footman and startled Chloe out of her thoughts.
“After you, my dear,” smiled Lady Kathryn.
Chloe was overwhelmed with a sense of love and compassion for her companion. Lady Kathryn evidently cared for her, and it was impossible to ignore how concerned she had been for her welfare.
“Thank you,” Chloe murmured. Taking the proffered hand of the footman, she stepped from the carriage – and the man who had just dismounted from the horse turned around to look at her.
It was Sir Moses Wandorne.
9
Moses saw Chloe’s lips part in a gasp of surprise, and his blood started to heat at the mere sight of her. Oh, that he could have explained in his own home, at Wandorne, where he had always felt safe.
“Oh!” She had stopped dead in her tracks, hand to her mouth, and Moses saw another fine and beautiful woman emerge out of the carriage.
Without thinking, without considering what all those around him were thinking, Moses took a hesitant step forward, and then another.
The startled look increased in Chloe’s eyes as he watched her.
“It – it is you!”
Moses tried to hear positive and joyful recognition in those tones, but his heart sank as he saw a little crease appear between her brows.
His voice felt hoarse, but he managed, “Yes, it is me.”
“Who is “me”?” The woman said staring between him and Chloe. “Miss Vaughn, who is this gentleman?”
But as Moses stepped towards the woman that he now knew he loved, he kept the gaze between them, and neither looked away. The panting of his horse, having galloped at twenty miles an hour, seemed to drift into a hazy background.
Instead, all he could hear was Chloe’s murmur, “You … you are here.”
And now he was standing before her, and he nodded slowly. “For the first time in a year, I have left the grounds of Wandorne. To see you.”
If Chloe had been going to reply to that, Moses would never know. She opened her mouth but was interrupted by a woman that he was sure now was Lady Kathryn.
“My good man, who are you?” She said brightly with a smile, but Moses was not entirely fooled. She stepped slightly ahead of Chloe, as if to shelter her with her body. “And how are you acquainted with Miss Vaughn?”
Moses swallowed. He could do this the complicated way; the way that society would prefer him to, with many polite niceties that would be adored by this Lady Kathryn but would take forever.
Or there was the simple way.
“I must apologise, my lady,” he said brusquely, “but I need a private word with Miss Vaughn as a matter of urgency. I am sure that you will forgive me.”
Without waiting to hear if Lady Kathryn approved of his words, for he was entirely sure that she would not, Moses took the unresisting hand of Chloe Vaughn and started to walk away from the carriage.
She did not resist, Moses thought darkly, but she hardly seemed willing. Her feet seemed to drag, and it was all he could do not to tug at her arm too hard. But no one seemed to care that he, a stranger to the house and to the family, was pulling away a guest of the house towards a grove of silver birches.
As he stepped under their dappled shade, they seemed to calm him and bring him back to his senses. The hurried ride, made as swiftly as he could, had not given him much time to prepare any sort of speech or declaration. His heart thumped painfully as he dropped Chloe’s arm and turned to face her.
Was this a good idea? Could he ever explain himself to Chloe? Even when the misunderstanding about Lady Olivia was resolved, could she ever trust him again? How could he live alone again in that house, knowing what it was like to experience passion with Chloe Vaughn?
The same Chloe Vaughn was glaring at him, her back to a tall and thick silver birch tree. “And what do you want?”
Moses’ eyes took in her tangled hair, the gown that he had loaned her, and the flush of her cheeks. Anger, passion, fury, confusion?
“I hardly know,” he muttered in a low voice. “Even now I am unsure whether following you here was a clever idea. All I knew was that I would never be able to live with myself without knowing exactly what Chloe Vaughn thought of me.”
She blanched at the sound her of her name on his lips, and her eyes flickered across his face as though attempting to discern a secret meaning.
A song thrush started warbling above them, and a light breeze ruffled the leaves around them, sounding like waves on a lake.
Moses swallowed. “This reminds me of the lake at Wandorne. There you were, beached on my shores, looking for shelter.”
“I have no wish to speak with you,” she said fiercely. “Why do you not go back to your fiancée Lady Olivia, Sir Moses. I am sure she is confused about where you are.”
“To hell with Olivia,” Moses growled, taking a step towards her. She attempted to mirror him by taking a step back, but she was stopped short by the silver birch tree behind her.
“You … you are frightening me, Sir Moses.”
“Good,” snapped Moses, but he softened slightly as he beheld her. “Because I am frightened too. But I would rather be frightened with you by my side than without you, at any price.”
She was so beautiful, and yet she was so fiery. Despite her fear, confusion, and anger, she had not run away from him. She did not cower under his fierce gaze, but she met it, determined to face him.
“I had thought,” Moses said softly, “that it would be possible to spend more than a few hours with someone without falling in love with them. How hard could it be? People do it all the time, and yet for myself, that just did not seem possible.”
Chloe’s beautiful grey green eyes widened, and her jaw dropped slightly. “In – in love with them? But Sir Moses, I never intended to disturb you. It was the rain, otherwise I would not have disturbed – ”
“I wanted to be disturbed,” Moses said, cutting across her and reaching out to take her hand, which Chloe resolutely placed behind her back. With a wry smile, he continued, “Chloe, I needed to be disturbed – I needed to be shocked back into life! Without you, my life would have just … continued. Existed, without anything of interest.”
Astonishment covered her features, but Chloe seemed determined to cling onto any residual anger that she could. “Then you may thank me and allow me to return to the house. Lady Kathryn will undoubtedly be looking for me, and – ”
Her voice was haughty, and she took a step back towards the house, but Moses was too quick for her. His hand reached her shoulder before she was able to take another step, and he pushed her back to lean against the tree, and as she gasped Moses felt a shiver of pleasure in taking control of the situation … and of Miss Chloe Vaughn.
“You have brought back my appetite for living,” he growled, “and given me an appetite for you.”
Bending down, he kissed her passionately, his hands on her hips keeping her pushed up against the tree. Her lips were warm and wet, and though her hands initially pushed against his shoulders, resisting him at first, as soon as he slipped his tongue into her welcoming mouth, she melted under his touch.
Her hands, now wrapped around his neck and keeping him close, were driving Moses wild as they scratched against his skin, desperate for more pleasure, and it was all he could do to stop himself pushing himself up against her, pinned deliciously against the tree as she was.
&nbs
p; Chloe moaned in his mouth, and Moses broke the kiss, panting slightly but keeping his head lowered to hers.
“I-I love you,” Chloe managed in soft but panting breaths. “With such a passion – oh, Moses, I did not even believe such devotion was possible!”
Moses stroked her cheek with a finger. “And I love you, Chloe. More than I have loved before, more than should be possible in such a short time. Hell, twenty four hours ago I did not know you, and yet I would lay down my life for you should it be necessary. Where is the sense in that?”
He dipped down once more and this time met her hungry and welcoming lips with his own, his hands now clutching her bottom and tightening his grip with every moment.
“It doesn’t make sense,” Chloe managed as they broke apart once more. “You are an engaged man, Moses, engaged to that woman, and it hurts me immeasurably to think that you cannot feel for me what you feel for her. Why are you here?”
Moses smiled gently at the concern and jealously tinging her cheeks pink. “Olivia and Anthony – that is, the Count of Stratham – are childhood friends of mine, Chloe. I have known the Strathams since we were babes, and it has been a jest of our parents that one day we would wed.”
Chloe’s eyelashes fluttered slightly as she tried to take in his words. “Childhood friends?”
He nodded. “It would be as disgusting as considering one’s own sister if I thought of Olivia in that way. We have never truly thought that marriage would be the end of our friendship. In fact, the very reason of their visit was to inform me of her betrothal – and you gave me no chance to explain before you tore yourself away from me.”
Ravishing Regencies: The Complete Series: A Steamy Regency Romance Boxset Page 51
