Chuckling, Phin offered Josie his arm so that he might escort her to the buffet. As her hands were empty, he doubted she’d eaten yet, not to mention that he doubted she knew many people here – if any at all. She had only been in London for a short time.
“You are a wonder, Lady Josie.” Phin nodded at Lord Harlow, who had all but begged for an invitation to this house party, though Phin had been determined to leave him off the guest list.
After all, Lord Harlow had been the man thrown over when Josie’s cousin had taken off for Gretna. Not that Phin blamed the lady in the least. Harlow was a true rogue and cared for little more than his hunting dogs and his mistresses. He would make a miserable husband, and just about everyone knew it. That did not stop him from trying to snare a bride to manage both his household and his pack of unruly children, however.
“I speak the truth,” Josie replied, giving Harlow a hard stare until he slunk away.
The day after Harlow had been informed that he would not be marrying Lady Penny Marshwood, the man had gone knocking on the Duke of Radcliffe’s door, asking if he might wed Josie instead, since he’d gone to all the trouble of coming to London after being promised a willing bride.
That request had been met with a resounding “no,” but that hadn’t stopped the man from trying to change Josie’s mind on more than one occasion. Phin had deliberately crossed the man’s name off the guest list after Cilla had included him, so he had no idea how the man had come to be here anyway. Likely Cilla being contrary, Phin supposed. Not that it mattered in the end, for Phin wasn’t about to allow that reprobate within ten feet of Josie.
“So, if that is the case, tell me the truth as well. Are you enjoying the house party so far?” Phin handed Josie a plate and, while she held it, he proceeded to pile it high with whatever he thought she might wish to eat. Doing so was probably overkill, but this was her first house party, and he wanted her to enjoy herself.
He also didn’t want another gentleman, say a man like Lord Harlow, attempting to do these sorts of things for her. Actually, he would prefer no man come near her, but that sort of defeated the purpose of her presence here. She could not find a husband if Phin didn’t allow gentlemen to speak with her. He would have to think about that conundrum later, he supposed.
Once Phin had filled a plate for himself, he directed Josie toward an empty table on the far side of the room. On any other evening, his failure to play host and his dancing attendance upon only one woman would be noted. However, tonight, the liquor had been flowing freely since the middle of the afternoon, the mood was more relaxed than normal, and couples were already beginning to pair up – if not for the entire house party then for the evening at least.
And, of course, there was Lord Warwick making calf-eyes at Miss Hadley by the hearth while Lord Cleary stalked around the room like a caged beast as he searched for Cilla. Lady Tabitha was holding court on the opposite side of the room, a bevy of young women standing guard around her like sentries while Lord Sutton seemed to be trying to figure out how close he could come to Lady Tabitha before one of her friends chased him off by poking a fan in his general direction.
In short, everyone was far too preoccupied in their own little words to much care what Phin and Josie were about. Especially since they were only sitting and eating rather than engaging in any sort of scandalous behavior. Actually, they were being downright boring in comparison to some of the others present, Phin noted, as one young woman took a swipe at Lord Sutton with her heavily-laden reticule.
Delicately dabbing at her mouth with a napkin after taking a bite, Phin wasn’t surprised to see Josie look around the room. She hadn’t answered his question, and he hadn’t pressed her. He had the feeling that she would answer him when she was ready. She gave thought to her responses. She didn’t immediately react. He liked that about her. So few young ladies thought before they spoke these days.
“I am enjoying myself, actually, though not in the way I had imagined.” Once more, her eyes scanned the room. “The guests here are...different than they are in London. More relaxed, I should say. More as it was that night at Lady Chillton’s.”
“Which is the point of a house party,” Phin countered. “It is also why I suggested you attend. And not just to find a husband, though I imagine that would be to your benefit.”
Phin wanted Josie here so that he could spend time with her. She had to know that, and from the glint in her eyes, she did.
“May I speak plainly, your grace?” She tacked on the “your grace” part when a few guests wandered by, curious as to what Phin was doing but not curious enough to linger. “I have something that I think is of great importance that must be said. The sooner, the better. Before circumstances change.”
“Of course, Lady Josie.” He wondered if the chit knew how to speak otherwise. From what he had learned of her, she was not the deceptive sort.
“Not here. There are too many ears and too many eyes. What I wish to say should not have an audience.” Once more, Josie scanned the room as if she was looking for someone. Or perhaps she was simply being cautious.
She was right, and Phin knew it as he took in the scene spread out before him, his gaze following hers.
Josie continued to look around, her eyes drinking in every detail of the scene before her, and Phin knew what she was seeing. She saw the glittering chandelier overhead, the curtains swaying in the breeze from the open windows as the warm spring air spilled into the over-crowded and over-heated room.
She likely also saw the women in their glittering jewels, not caring that there was no ball this evening and instead concentrating only on catching the eye of a gentleman – preferably a titled one – with a mind toward marriage. Or at the very least, an open spot in their bed that evening.
Like Phin, Josie also probably saw the gentlemen fawning all over the women they hoped would loosen their morals enough to allow themselves to be tumbled – if not fully naked then at least undressed enough so that a man might suckle at her breasts while he dreamed of doing so much more to her delectable body.
The point of this house party wasn’t some raucous bacchanal. Or at least it hadn’t been when Phin had first planned the event. Instead, it had been to stop his head-strong sister from making a terrible mistake by placing a man she could not seem to resist directly in her path. And yet, somehow, this entire event had strayed from that path. Well, not entirely strayed, Phin supposed, as neither Cilla nor Snowly were anywhere to be seen at the moment, and it was Lord Cleary who now sulked in a corner.
The rest of this raucous affair, though? This wasn’t his intention, and yet, he was not inclined to stop the house party either. For if he did? Josie would leave and, if this coming conversation went the way he was anticipating? It would be well worth his time to have her remain. Even if Havenhurst was turned into more of a den of iniquity than a proper house party.
“Come.” Phin stood and offered Josie his arm. “I know where we might retreat to so that we may speak in private.”
Phin noticed that Josie unfolded her fan and made every attempt to appear as if the two of them were simply taking a turn around the ballroom. Instead, he was slowly leading her toward his mother’s old morning room, which was certain to be empty at this hour.
Aside from the fact that it wasn’t morning, the morning room was also in one of the wings of the houses that neither he nor Cilla used very often these days. His sister had her own way of doing things, and that did not include using a room she considered “fussy” and “outdated.”
The morning room was also on the opposite side of the house from the ballroom. Other than making the trek to one of the cottages on the far edge of the property, which Phin had no desire to do with night having fallen so quickly as clouds had moved in just before dusk, it was also one of the few places he could be reasonably certain they would not be disturbed.
Together, he and Josie wound their way back and forth through the guests, no one even bothering to comment that Phin hadn’t paid att
ention to another guest all evening. Most of them were likely too foxed to care and the ones that weren’t? Had other things on their mind.
Finally, Phin managed to maneuver Josie into a dimly lit hallway. Here, there were no other footfalls and no echo of other voices. Not even distant ones. There was only the sound of their combined breathing.
Sliding his hand down to link with hers, Phin and Josie walked hand in hand toward the old morning room, pausing only long enough for him to snatch a branch of softly-glowing candles from a nearby table that had likely been lit only for safety reasons.
Finally, when Phin was certain that they were alone inside the room and the door firmly locked behind them, he turned to Josie and inclined his head.
“You wished to speak?” He hoped she still wished to, anyway.
Crossing her arms over her chest, Josie pinned him with that light blue gaze of hers that reminded him of a painting of a garden fairy he had seen at an art gallery once. “Why am I here, Phin?”
He frowned. “I thought we covered that back at Lady Darby’s ball. You are here to find a husband. I am assisting you with that. We also spoke of it earlier. Didn’t we?”
Josie inclined her head back toward the ballroom. “And yet when I arrived at the opening reception this evening, you did not direct me towards any particular gentleman. I would assume that, had you selected a gentleman that you felt might suit me, you would have pointed him out already. We have five days, Phin. That is scarcely enough time for such matchmaking.”
She had him there. Actually, Phin hadn’t given much thought to finding Josie a proper husband. Rather, he had been attempting to not find her one. Though it was only just now that he would allow himself to admit as much.
All of the rest of his attention had been focused on keeping his sister and Cleary apart. Well, that and trying to figure out how he might get Josie alone for a bit, which went back to that whole “not finding her a husband” business.
When he looked at it that way, Phin supposed he was doing a rather abysmal job at finding Josie a husband. Actually, worse than abysmal. He hadn’t even made an attempt. And he had promised her that he would try. Sort of.
“I’m sorry?” Phin wasn’t really sorry in the least, but he did feel as if he should apologize. “This day has not exactly gone as I had planned. That is my only excuse.”
“It seems as if that was the case for many of us,” Josie replied, not seeming all that put out with his lack of effort.
When Phin looked at Josie askance, she shrugged.
“To begin with, I have lost my companion as of a few hours ago. Miss Hadley was moved into a proper guest room.” Josie arched an eyebrow in clear confusion. “At the direction of Lord Warwick and wholly supported by your sister, from what I gather.” She surprised him by laughing a bit. “Though I do understand, at least in a fashion. I spoke with Miss Hadley a little while ago, and it seems she and Lord Warwick share a rather tangled history. One far deeper than I suspect anyone knew.”
That was surprising – but not completely unexpected – news. Phin also knew that Cilla had a soft spot for ill-fated lovers, so it wasn’t a surprise that she had done what she could to aid the pair by treating Miss Hadley as an invited guest rather than a companion.
Still, that left Josie without a proper chaperone.
And suddenly, the impact of that changed everything. Not just for her but for him as well. Or it could change everything. If she allowed it to. If he did nothing to stop it.
“Does this mean you are leaving?” Phin sincerely hoped that was not the case. “I had thought, well, it is only that…” Once more, words failed him.
Phin was a duke. Well-bred and well educated. He spoke often in the House of Lords, for God’s sake! And yet, around this woman he barely knew? He seemed incapable of rational thought or creating a proper sentence. His brain simply turned to mush around Josie, and he had no idea why.
For a long while, Josie said nothing, occasionally staring out the window into the darkness. She was waging a war within herself. Phin could tell, for he did much the same when he was debating something. Do what he desired or what was proper? Often times, there was no correct answer.
The silence stretched on and on, but he would not be the first to break it. This was her decision.
Still…he could perhaps urge her to make a decision that would make them both happy.
For if Josie left Havenhurst? There would never be a chance for them to be alone together again, and right then, Phin was certain that was exactly what he wished for. Before he took a wife and found a new mother for his son, he wanted time alone with this woman. Intimate time, if he could manage it.
He required time to get her out of his system and time to figure out how to make his brain function normally once more. If Josie walked out of here before he could do that? She would consume his thoughts, just as she had after that night at Lady Chillton’s.
Phin didn’t want that. He wanted his life back. And he couldn’t have it until he understood and tamed this madness that came over him whenever he thought of this fairy-like woman standing before him.
“I have no chaperone.” Josie’s voice was barely a whisper, as if she, too, understood the impact her decision would have. Then, an expression much like regret flickered across her face. “I should not be here without one. It’s not proper. Any more scandal, and I will never find a husband.”
“Could we not make other arrangements?” It seemed a simple matter to Phin, but she didn’t seem as certain.
Reaching out, he took her hand in his once more, allowing his thumb to trace slow, circling patterns over the back of her gloved hand. It was bold, to be sure, but he was not above playing dirty to get what he wanted.
“Perhaps.” Josie’s voice caught, and he could hear her hesitation. She was weakening. “Though if nothing has changed by tomorrow, I fear that I must return to London. To remain without a chaperone would cause a scandal.” Now he was certain he saw regret beginning to haunt her eyes.
“Don’t go. I don’t want you to leave.” Where had that clarity of word come from? Phin had no idea, but he meant that sentiment. Very much. “Stay. I shall work something out and find you a chaperone. I am a duke, after all.”
“I shouldn’t. There is too much risk.” However, she wished to remain. He could tell.
“Stay.” One word that meant so much more.
In the dark, Josie’s eyes seemed to sparkle, and when she spoke, her voice was soft and melodious. He knew the moment she made her decision because her shoulders relaxed. “Very well. If you wish me to stay, I will. So long as you can find me a suitable chaperone, even if it is in name only.”
Phin felt the air crackle between them, just as he had that night at Lady Chillton’s. He should back away. He should turn away from her and walk as quickly as he could back to his guests. He should speak to Cilla about finding Josie a chaperone.
This wasn’t proper, and it wasn’t right. He needed a wife of a certain age. One without a hint of scandal and proper pedigree. Philip needed a mother who was beyond reproach. A woman that could help guide him as he learned how to be an occasionally stiff and proper duke like his father.
But Phin wasn’t really stiff, and he was far from proper. He hadn’t ever been. It was an illusion.
What Phin was, however, was a man. He was a man insanely attracted to a woman who was all wrong for him in every possible way. A woman he barely knew and shouldn’t even like considering who her father was and what the man had done.
But Phin did like Josie. He liked her a lot. More than he should. More than was wise.
Worse, he desired her.
And that desire? Well, it was taking on a life of its own. A life that Phin wasn’t sure he would be able to stop even if he wanted to. Which right at the moment? He didn’t.
“Phin.” Josie had spoken his Christian names many times before, but it had never sounded quite like it did now. Tinged with hope and desperation and something that he hoped and pray
ed was desire.
“Shhh.” Phin drew Josie closer to him, pulling her so close that she was pressed against his body. She had to feel the evidence of his desire, but he didn’t care. He should care. Gentlemen didn’t announce their body’s lust to a woman in that fashion. But this was Josie. And she needed to know that she aroused him that much. “Do not talk.”
“Then what…”
She never asked her question, and Phin never answered it. Before she could, he drew her into the circle of his arms, lowered his head to hers and took her lips in a passionate, soul-searing kiss. And just then, Phin understood that he had made the worst mistake of his life.
Because kissing Josie wasn’t going to solve any of his problems or help him get her out of his system.
Rather, this kiss was only going to make things worse. But in the best possible way.
Chapter Seven
Town Tattler
(Far Too Early Morning Edition)
So close and yet so far! If you want the latest on-dit from the Fullbridge house party, dear readers, I’m afraid you’ll have to make certain you receive our extremely early edition for the foreseeable future. It simply takes that long to get the news back to London because at present? That house party is all anyone wishes to discuss!
I am told that the coaches lining the drive of Havenhurst yesterday afternoon were oftentimes two and three deep. It seems as if anyone who is anyone is at this little fete, and yet for what reason? Other than Lady Priscilla’s (I simply refuse to refer to the woman as “Cilla”) birthday, I can think of no other reason why the Duke of Fullbridge would be hosting another house party so soon after his last one. After all, that one didn’t result in a marriage proposal, so why on earth would he assume this one will be any different? Other than the addition of a handful of young ladies, the guest list is much the same as last time.
Also, there is still the matter of the lady he chooses meeting his son, which, I am told, will take place elsewhere. Private and alone, as it should be.
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