Avery hadn’t offered him a seat, but Nick moved forward and took one anyway. He was trying to be agreeable but already that seemed impossible. He made himself comfortable in the chair opposite the marquess.
They had to be about the same age, but that didn’t help him much. His life had been hard. Everything about Avery seemed the opposite.
Avery frowned. “I believe your business is done here— ”
“Have we met before?” Nick decided to ask pointedly. “I mean, before the last two months. Had we met sometime in the past?”
“What?” The question seemed to catch the marquess off guard.
“Have we met?” Nick crossed a leg over one knee and leaned back. “Did I knock you on the street? Steal the heart of the woman you loved—”
Avery turned red, anger glowed in his eyes. “I seriously doubt that possible.”
Nick narrowed his eyes. “I’m not challenging you. Perhaps I remind you of someone else.”
“You remind me of no one but yourself, I can assure you.” Avery fisted the miniature in his hand until no part of it could be seen. “Why the questions? Is it too much for my distaste for you to be based on the fact that you’d have killed me had you had the chance?”
“Lady Milly had been shot at.” Nick restrained his tone as the horrors of that night returned to him. “My friend, the duke, was hit in the arm. My other friend, Lord Sirius, was also struck. A bullet flew past my head. I’d be dead had I not moved when I did.” He recalled feeling the quick brush of wind in his hair.
Avery closed his eyes. “I never had any intention of hurting Lord Van Dero or his family.”
“I believe you,” Nick said. “I believe you when you said you didn’t know your brother’s entire plan. His men took your horse. It was evidence enough.”
Avery sighed and opened his eyes. “You had every right to want me dead at the time, but none of that changes anything. I’ve made arrangements for my sister to marry someone else. You’ll have to move on, Lord Nicholas.”
“Move on?” Nick asked. Pain shot through his heart and he waited for the bleeding to begin, was surprised when it didn’t. “Clearly, you’ve never felt for a woman what I feel for your sister.”
“You know nothing about me,” Avery said. “Your statement proves as much.”
Nick wondered what that meant.
Avery wasn’t a terrible-looking man. Nick would suppose women found him attractive. As a man with a title, it was odd for him to have yet to wed, but when one thought of his attitude, Nick could see why no woman wished to chain herself to him.
Avery stood and smiled over Nick’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, but I have a guest coming. We’ll have to cut this meeting short.”
Nick stood and looked over his shoulder just as a footman showed another man into the room.
Nick had never met the gentleman, but he had no doubt that he was Lord Michael Upton.
Dark hair with a tan that said he’d spent a great deal of time in a part of the world with a ton of heat, he greeted Nick warmly before turning his green eyes to Nicholas.
Avery seemed excited to introduce them. “Lord Nicholas Childs, this is Lord Michael Upton, the future Viscount of Highbrook. Nicholas is the son of Lord Venmont.”
“Venmont.” Michael’s eyes widened, and Nick thought the man had likely heard about his father, but instead, Michael inquired about someone else. “Your brother is the current marquess. is he not? Of all the places in England, your family’s seat is a property I would enjoy seeing.”
Venmont Hill had some ancient history, its legends scratched into the stones by the sea. It was a mysterious place.
Nick had hated living there, thinking the legends had led to his father’s premonitions about the end of the world.
But he was glad to see Lord Upton held no hostility toward him, or if he did. he was very good at hiding it.
He wondered how the man would react if Nick told him about his feelings for Elisa and Avery’s plan for her.
And perhaps, that was it. Elisa had said the man didn’t want her—or at least he’d not asked for her hand. Perhaps, his way to Elisa wasn’t through the marquess but through his competition.
Nick smiled. “My brother has given plenty of tours of the property. For those gentlemen who wish to experience life in a more primitive manner, he makes it quite an experience, tracking through the forest and sleeping in the woods.” Many royals had ventured to Venmont Hill just for the experience, sleeping in a wooded area they thought to be dangerous, never knowing that the most dangerous thing around them was Oliver himself. “I could make arrangements for you after the Season.”
Upton grinned. “That would be excellent. I confess, I’ve an obsession with history and cultures different from my own.”
“You sound like my friend Dr. Sparrow. He’s traveled and speaks languages I couldn’t begin to decipher.”
“Lord Christian Sparrow?” Upton asked. “I’ve read many of his pamphlets on natural healing. When I travel, I try and discover more about his findings.”
Nick’s grin grew. “I could introduce you if you wish. Tonight, perhaps?”
Upton’s eyes filled with excitement. “That would be—”
“Impossible.” Avery glared at Nick. “Lord Upton is to have dinner at my home tonight.”
Lord Upton turned to him. “Oh, I’m sure your father would enjoy hearing the doctor’s notes on healing as well. Perhaps, Lord Nicholas could arrange for him to come this evening. He could come as well.” Upton turned to Nick. “If you’re available, of course.”
Avery narrowed his eyes at Nick but didn’t retract his friend’s offer. It showed the depth of the relationship. That Upton could invite anyone to the table of the Duke of Reddington meant he was recognized as more family than friend.
Nicholas took note of that.
“I would love nothing more. I’ll speak to Sparrow about it.” He would have Sparrow at this dinner even if he had to drag the man to the table himself. Yet even as Nick thought it, he couldn’t see Sparrow turning down an opportunity to learn whatever it was Lord Upton had to offer. Sparrow might also enjoy seeing to the duke as well, even if there wasn’t much he could do.
“Good day, Lord Nicholas,” Avery said, trying unsuccessfully to hide his irritation.
Nick bowed and left the room.
Elisa stood right around the door. The first thing Nick noticed about her was just how pretty she looked in the morning. The second was that her hair had grown, though most of it was pinned back, the curls by her ears now reached below her chin.
The third thing he spotted was the devious gleam in her brandy eyes.
There was a footman behind him and another behind her so Nick couldn’t touch her the way he wanted, neither could he speak the way she wished. So instead, he said, “Good morning, my lady.”
She laughed. She’d caught his words. “Good morning, my lord.” It seemed she was no longer cross with him from what they discussed the previous night. In fact, her eyes were making him think of highly inappropriate things.
He groaned softly. “What’s that look about?”
“My brother tried to get me to leave the house and go to Vauxhall gardens,” Elisa said. “It is something I’ve been trying to do since my arrival.”
He stepped closer as he moved around her and started toward the foyer. “Yet you didn’t leave?”
She walked beside him and lowered her voice. “I didn’t, because I knew you were here. It is the only reason he’d have dismissed me.”
Her sacrifice meant a great deal to Nicholas. He knew what she’d just given up. A day at England’s greatest pleasure garden for a few minutes near him. If she didn’t already have his heart, he’d have given it to her again.
“When we wed, I shall build you the finest garden the English have ever seen.”
Her eyes widened and then turned to slits again. “I imagine that once we are wed, I’ll have more reasons to wish to stay inside.”
He wante
d to do nothing more than devour her right where she stood. “You’re tempting me to be reckless.”
She laughed.
They walked slowly, a half a step at a time, both working to drag their time together out as far as they could.
And with the way Nick watched her, he’d have not been surprised at all if he’d run into something. He only had eyes for her.
He didn’t know why, but she seemed different from the woman she’d been at his home. Maybe it was her hair. Pinned away, it made her more regal, reserved.
Normal.
He liked it. He’d likely like her no matter what she did, but he struggled to know if he liked it more than her natural style.
“I’m very glad you stayed,” he said. “I know how much you enjoy being outside.”
Her smile lit up his world. “It was worth it, staying inside, even if this moment is all I get.”
He nodded, likely feeling everything she did and more. “I wish to steal you away.”
“It is no longer an option,” she said.
“I know…” He recalled what she’d said about her father. “I know.”
They were only yards away from the foyer now. Soon he’d be at the door.
He wasn’t ready to leave her.
He looked around and counted the servants, those with them and those at each end of the hall. Could he fight his way through and steal her away?
“Oh!” Something hit the floor, and the chiming of metal filled the air. “I dropped my purse.”
Coins flew everywhere.
Nick began to kneel to get them, but the footmen moved in to assist their lady. With their heads down, Elisa grabbed Nick’s hand. That devious gleam was in her gaze again.
The touch was good, but it wasn’t enough.
He glanced around and snuck a kiss in. Her lips were warm and smooth, ready and waiting for him.
He meant to pull away, but her hand went to the back of his head. Her fingers fisted his hair and Nick’s blood scalded him as need built.
Then Elisa snatched her hand back and leaned away.
And just in time.
“Have you lost your way, my lord?” Avery was storming down the hall.
Elisa turned toward her brother. “I dropped my purse.”
“I thought you wanted to go to the garden.” Avery stopped at her side and grabbed her arm. “Either way, I’m glad I found you. It’s time for tea. Good day, Lord Nicholas.” He began to drag Elisa away.
“Until this evening,” Nick said at his back.
Elisa stopped. “What’s happening this evening?”
“I’ll be joining your family for dinner.”
Her grin was wide.
“Come. Elisa,” Avery called. “We’ve a guest we can’t keep waiting.”
Elisa walked away, but her eyes stayed with him until she was gone.
∫ ∫ ∫
4 0
* * *
“You’ll take your meal in your room tonight.”
“What?” Elisa’s eyes widened as she looked at her brother. “Avery, you can’t be serious. You can’t do this to me.”
“I can and I will.” Since he held her arm. he also made it impossible to stop. “I don’t want you around Lord Nicholas. I was serious about that.”
Elisa didn’t know what to say. Panic overtook her. Just seconds ago, she’d had something to look forward to. Now, her brother was taking that away from her. She hadn’t spent any time with Nicholas in a fortnight, at least not of the quality she’d grown to expect while living with him.
While at the castle, they saw one another day and night. Seeing him, breathing in his air, it had become just as vital to her as anything else. Sleeping and eating were not enough.
“Avery, don’t do this.” Her voice was shaking.
He stopped them and grabbed her shoulders. “Elisa, I need you to calm down. We’re about to go into the drawing-room to have tea with Lord Upton. I need you to make an impression on him before I ask him to take your hand in marriage.”
“But I don’t want to—”
“Elisa.” Her brother’s voice and eyes grew cold. “I will not allow you to marry that murderer, much less be near him.”
“He didn’t murder you,” she hissed. “You told me so yourself. Therefore, you are a liar. You simply don’t want me to be happy and care for no one but yourself. You have no evidence—”
“I do!” His voice broke like thunder, letting her go.
Elisa stiffened. Her brother rarely shouted at her. “Do you?”
Avery paced away and ran his hand through his hair. He didn’t look at her as he spoke. “It’s in his nature, isn’t it? Every man who works for the duke must be capable of anything.”
“Are you capable of anything?” she asked, recalling the bargain Nicholas had mentioned to her.
He looked at her. “What do you mean?”
“You made a vow to Lord Van Dero,” she reminded him. “You told him you’d do anything if I were set free.”
“I did that for you.” His blue eyes looked pained. “I’d do anything for you. Can you not do the same for me?”
She approached him. “Avery, we speak about my life, do you understand?”
He grabbed her face. “I know that, Elisa. I am the one who saved you, the one who will risk becoming a monster just so I could see you set free. Can you now, not make a sacrifice for me?”
Elisa felt conflicted by his words. He had saved her. He’d saved her from more treatments at the hands of doctors, from a marriage to Lord Alguire. Could she now sacrifice her heart for him?
She had one question. “Why Upton? Is it because he’ll take me far from here and make your life easier?”
Her brother shook his head. “As my dearest friend, I know he would care for you as I would.”
Nick would do the same, but Avery didn’t trust Nick.
And Avery still believed Elisa needed more care than the average woman, which meant one thing.
If she wished to be free of this match, she would have to prove Lord Alguire a murderer.
“Now, can we go have tea?” Avery asked. “Can you use the charm I know you possess and impress Upton?”
Elisa nodded. She would be kind to Upton because he’d done nothing wrong, but he could not have her heart and she could not guarantee her hand either.
Hours after Upton left, Elisa was pacing in her private receiving room. She’d written to Belle and had been informed her friend was on her way. She sighed when Belle swept into the room sometime later.
“What I’m about to tell you, you can never tell Avery.” Elisa’s emotions moved like a wild current between anger, sadness, and frustration. She felt as though she were in a dark room with many doors. The door she wished to walk through could lead to terrible things, but if she survived… “Swear, you’ll say nothing to Avery.”
Belle frowned as she brushed past Elisa and moved to sit on the couch. “As though I’d inform Avery of the weather, much less anything you tell me.” She sighed and settled her dark gaze on Elisa. “All right, now tell me what’s going on?”
Elisa closed the door, grinning at the footman as she completely shut him out. She needed privacy for this discussion.
She moved over to Belle and sat. “Have you heard about what the duke did for me at the ball?”
Belle nodded. “Everyone knows, at least everyone in the organization.” She smiled. “So, you are free of Lord Alguire forever, are you?”
“Yes, but not completely.”
Belle blinked. “I don’t understand.”
“I must prove Lord Alguire is a murderer,” Elisa said. “I must.”
Belle knew the story. Anyone close to her family did, even Upton.
He’d been a gentleman during tea. Never once had he given her the impression that he considered her mind afflicted in any way, but Elisa thought it lingered in the air. She was the girl who accused a man of murder just to get out of a marriage contract.
It had been easy to smile dur
ing tea, since she’d barely been asked to speak. Michael had done all the talking. He’d spoken about his trip and then he and Avery had reminisced on the past. They’d spoken about their dearly departed friend, Lord Benjamin Lock.
Avery hated to speak about Benjamin, the friend he’d failed to save, and had changed the subject quickly.
Elisa sometimes wondered if Ben’s death were the reason Avery had become so overbearing or if it were simply a duke’s way. Her father wasn’t much different.
“Why?” Belle asked. “Why must you involve yourself with Lord Alguire?”
“It is the only way I can be… me,” she said, realizing that this was about more than just getting her family’s approval. “I need everyone to know that what I witnessed happened. I cannot continue to live this way, Belle.”
“And what happens if your brother decides you should be locked away again?” Belle took her hand, looking worried. “He could have you declared insane and then there would be nothing anyone could do. Even if Van Dero found a way to get you out again, you’d have to live the rest of your life in hiding. Is that what you want?”
“Belle, I am already imprisoned. So long as people think me mentally unstable, I will never be able to flourish.” Elisa swallowed. “You’re the only person I trust to tell.”
Belle leaned in. “You’re not going to tell Nick?”
“Nick hardly thinks any better of my mental capabilities.” Elisa closed her eyes. “I love him, truly I do, but it’s not enough.” She opened her eyes to find Belle nodding.
“I’ll help,” Belle said. “I’ll do whatever I can for you.”
Elisa sighed and then hugged her friend. “I thought you’d tell me I was crazy.”
“You just may be,” Belle said. “But no matter. If we fall, we fall together.” Belle set her away and said, “I shall never lose you again, my friend.”
Elisa realized it may be a while before there came a day when she didn’t find herself weeping over everyone she knew. “Bless you, Belle.”
Belle’s smile displayed her great beauty, but Elisa knew the great mind behind it all. Just how much trouble had the two caused in their youth? “Where do we start?”
A Knight of Vengeance: (The Valiant Love Regency Romance) (A Historical Romance Book) Page 19
