Loving the Wrong Lord

by Bethany M. Sefchick

  “What about alerting the other ladies that the tea is canceled?” That did still seem to be a problem as far as Josie could tell. “Shouldn’t someone at least mention that?”

  The other woman shrugged. “My mother is here at the house party. She was resting in her chambers earlier, but I am certain that she is awake by now. Once I inform her that Lady Priscilla has taken ill, along with Lord Fullbridge and you, my mother will be more than happy to step in and run things. She is a duchess, after all, and enjoys organizing people’s lives for them.”

  “But they aren’t…I mean I am not…” Josie trailed off when she realized that Tabby was planning on perpetuating a ruse on the other women. “Oh. I see.”

  Tabby snorted, and just then, Josie liked this woman rather a lot. “This house party is a farce. None of these women will find what they seek here, but it is an excuse to get out of Town for a bit. But the Trew siblings may finally find some measure of peace, and that is something I do not think they ever believed they could find.” She gave Josie a little shove. “Now go. Find Lord Fullbridge. Last I saw him he was wandering toward the edge of the gardens near the lake, probably to avoid the likes of Lady Margaretta.”

  Once more, Josie wondered how this woman knew so very much about very nearly everyone. She doubted that it was because she was simply a keen observer of human nature. Or a perpetual wallflower. However, in the end? It didn’t matter because she was giving Josie both an excuse and permission to sneak off and find Phin again.

  Josie had been with Phin just that morning, but, strangely enough, she wished to see him again. She had fun and enjoyed herself when she was in his company. She had never had that same experience with another man.

  “Thank you, Tabby,” Josie finally replied as she inclined her head. “I am in your debt.”

  “Friends are not in debt to one another,” Tabby replied with another wink. “At least good friends are not, and I think we are on our way to becoming good friends.”

  “As do I.”

  With a jaunty wave, Tabby strolled back toward the portico doors as if she had all the time in the word. Perhaps she did. For all of the stories told about the young woman, Tabby seemed like the most self-possessed and self-assured young woman that Josie had ever met. Nothing appeared to bother her, and she acted as if she was extremely certain of her place in this world.

  Maybe she was. She was an obscenely wealthy duke’s daughter, after all.

  On the other hand, Josie was a poor, disgraced earl’s daughter. She had very little to her name, a cousin she had never met set to inherit her father’s title, and the only real family she had left had run off to Scotland to be married.

  Josie was certain of absolutely nothing.

  Well, that was not exactly true.

  She was certain that she liked Phin. Quite a bit.

  Thanks to Tabby, she also happened to know exactly where to find him.

  Chapter Nine

  From the far edge of the garden where the hedgerow maze began, Phin looked back at Havenhurst, its cream, white, and pale-yellow façade bathed in golden sunlight. He loved his home with all of his heart – everything from the house itself to the grounds and the outbuildings. He even loved the monstrosity of a summer house near the old boathouse that his mother had constructed and then abandoned years ago.

  Well, normally he loved it.

  He just didn’t love any of it right at this very moment.

  Because now his beloved house was filled to the brim with young ladies eager to trap him into a marriage with them. The worst part was, he had invited them here! He was now regretting that decision. Yes, he very much regretted it.

  Especially after that kiss with Josie this morning had given him all of the clarity he required – at least for the moment. Yesterday? Phin would have said that he was fine with a house full of people. That was what he wanted. Now? He wanted them all gone. All except for Josie.

  He should have simply given Cilla what she asked for – a small house party to celebrate her birthday. He should have told her in no uncertain terms that there would not be any talk of betrothals or Snowly or Cleary until after the party.

  However, Phin was weak where his sister was concerned, and, as usual, he had given in to her wishes. He always did, and she knew he would. She also knew he would need to balance the numbers and, thus, would have to invite a bevy of young women he had no interest in marrying to this farce of a house party. Young women who hoped to marry him.

  Young women that, up until a few hours ago, he had seriously considered marrying. But not now. Not until he worked through this insanity that had taken hold of him where Josie was concerned.

  He had waited this long to find a wife. He could wait a bit longer. He did still need to marry again. Just maybe not at this precise moment.

  Even though Phin’s plans to find a wife had been met with failure since the moment he had returned to London at the beginning of the Season, he was still certain that it was time he remarried. He believed he knew what he desired in a new wife, but, as it happened, perhaps he hadn’t known, and now? He was being forced to entertain a veritable bevy of chits that held little to no appeal for him.

  Save for one, of course, but that was another matter entirely.

  He also wasn’t the only one with a desire for him to select a new bride.

  Cilla wanted Phin to find another wife, as well. One that was more well suited to him than Faith had been. As for Phin’s son, Philip? At present, the boy was too young to really notice such things, for he spent most of his time with Nanny or Nurse. He knew his mother had gone to Heaven on the day he was born, but he had never asked if his father was going to acquire another mother for him. Not as some, far more precocious young boys did.

  But the time was coming when Philip would begin to ask such questions – probably sooner than Phin wished.

  Phin and Cilla had just had this very discussion not more than an hour ago as she was organizing her afternoon tea while glancing longingly out the window, making it plain she did not wish to be hosting this party any more than he did. Phin had been assisting his sister as he often did, which, of course, Cilla had taken as the perfect time to ambush him about his lack of a wife. Because if Cilla could not put her own life in order, then she was going to make certain Phin’s life was perfect, down to the last detail.

  Cilla was tired of Phin pretending that he wasn’t lonely. She was tired of him pretending that he had all of the time in the world, and that he and Philip were not growing older. She was also tired of him pretending that any young lady of breeding age would do, though it was clear to anyone with eyes that he desired something more than another cold and loveless marriage. In short, she was tired of his stalling.

  And she had told him so. Bluntly. In those very words.

  Phin, of course, could have said the same about her and Snowly. Cilla was a spinster, after all. A spinster who had a gentleman dangling after her. All she had to do was agree to marry him, and she could have her own happy ending if she wished.

  But he didn’t say that. That didn’t mean she was wrong about him, either, however.

  Phin was delaying choosing a bride when there was no good reason to do so. Not when there was a house full of available candidates for the position right under his nose. Logically, Phin should march himself right back up to that house, pick a young woman, and be done with things.

  However, much like his sister could not seem to get Lord Snowly out of her system (much to Phin’s great relief, for he did not trust Lord Cleary in the least), Phin could not seem to get Josie out of his. Phin’s brain, of course, insisted that he did not know the lady well and that she was the daughter of the man who had tried to ruin him. There was no getting around that. There was also the age difference and the fact that she had, until recently, never ventured outside of Cumbria.

  She wasn’t a London sophisticate.

  She was a bit strong-willed.

  She was bold and spoke her mind.

  She was
hardly one to be ordered about.

  In short, she was all wrong for him.

  However, his body had other ideas on the matter, and it insisted that it did like her very much. His head liked her, too, maybe too much.

  As for Phin’s heart? Well, he had no idea what his heart wanted, and that wasn’t a consideration anyway – or at least it shouldn’t be.

  Phin liked Josie well enough, and she could likely bear children. Not to mention that if kissing her was any indication, laying with her would be pure delight. In that fashion, they were compatible. But was it enough? He had thought so with Faith, and look how that had turned out.

  Phin had invited Josie here to get her out of his system, and, after this morning, he feared that he was falling deeper into the clutches of infatuation with her. It wasn’t her fault, really. She was simply too bloody perfect. But she wasn’t for him for any number of reasons. Not to mention that gossip would tear them both to shreds if they were so much as seen at the same ball together.

  And yet, when Josie had offered to allow an “exploration” between then – and what in the bloody hell did that mean anyway? – Phin had agreed like the fool that he was. Why? He still had no idea. Maybe just because he desired her.

  The problem was, he couldn’t keep her. Not in that way. Not as his wife. It simply wouldn’t work.

  Phin required a woman that he did not love and could not twist him into knots with a crook of her finger as Faith had in the beginning. Phin had doted upon Faith – for a few weeks, at any rate, until she showed him her true self. Phin also required a woman who didn’t love him and could function perfectly well on her own. While Faith hadn’t loved him, she had depended upon him for her happiness. When Faith was miserable – which was most of the time – she had made Phin’s life miserable as well.

  He also needed a woman who was amenable to bearing another child or more, was content with a life split between London and the country, and had no objection to Phin spending most of his time attending to the dukedom rather than dancing attendance upon her.

  The Fullbridge dukedom was quite extensive and took up almost all of his time. In his youth, he’d pursued gentlemanly passions, and he did still love to ride and enjoyed a good spot of fishing when the mood struck. He’d even like to make a trip back to the Continent someday, if time permitted.

  However, frivolous pursuits had given way to duty years ago. He hosted house parties now because it was necessary. Not because it was fun. Well, at least that’s what he told himself anyway. Was it true? He no longer bloody knew and decided that it would be better if he didn’t ask himself those sorts of questions.

  He was as he was meant to be, and that was that.

  So perhaps it would be wiser to simply choose a woman he did not care for, wasn’t attracted to, but could tolerate well enough to get a child on her. Then again, what sort of life was that? For either of them? For Philip?

  Would Phin find peace if he never managed to get Josie out of his mind? Or would she haunt him for the rest of his life? Or would indulging with her, just a bit but not enough to ruin her, cure him of this peculiar obsession he had developed with her?

  And why couldn’t Phin figure out the answers to any of those questions? Such things had never been a problem for him before. Then again, he’d never had to choose a bride before. Or worry about ruining the reputation of an innocent. His marriage to Faith had been planned since the time she was in the cradle and he in leading strings, and despite what her father had believed, Faith had not come to the marriage bed a virgin.

  Maybe there was no answer. At least not at the moment.

  Phin was considering making his way back to the house, having meandered about and neglected his guests for long enough, when he spotted a figure coming through the gardens toward him. A figure clad in pink muslin and looking like something out of his deepest, darkest fantasies.

  “Josie. What are you doing here?” Phin asked as she drew closer so he did not have to raise his voice. “I thought you were at tea with my sister and the other ladies.”

  She flicked her eyes to a pathway that led off toward one of the cottages on the far side of the property. “I believe your sister is otherwise occupied. With Lord Snowly.”

  Phin took a moment to digest that bit of news. “And the tea?”

  “In the more-than-capable hands of the Duchess of Averill.”

  “Lady Tabitha’s mother?” Phin was incredulous.

  “She is a duchess,” Josie pointed out as if he was mad to even question such a thing. “She also believes you and your sister have taken ill so someone must take over as hostess.”

  “Do I wish to know why she believes this?”

  “Probably not.” Josie was looking anything but contrite as she delivered this news.

  “I see.” Actually, Phin didn’t see, but it didn’t matter. For the moment, he was free of responsibilities. That the chits that filled his home. “And you are not at the tea because?”

  “Because I am ill as well.” Josie’s lips twitched, and once more, Phin saw a hint of the mischievous pixie he had first encountered at Lady Chillton’s.

  He nodded gravely in agreement. “I must say, you do look quite terrible. Very nearly at death’s door, I fear. Perhaps a stroll around the lake might help? I really don’t wish to have you keel over on me. I’ve no physician on hand, you see.”

  This time, when Josie laughed, it was the same laugh Phin remembered from that night they had first met. It was uninhibited, free and just a bit too loud. It was also unquestionably the way she naturally laughed, as opposed to those polite titters and chuckles she had been making ever since she arrived at Havenhurst. Those were her “Polite Society” laughs. This? Well, this laugh was all her.

  Seeing her like this, so free and uninhibited, made his gut clench. They should not be doing this. Hadn’t he just been silently berating himself over this very issue? Over and over again?

  And, yet, when Phin saw Josie, the world changed and shifted, and he couldn’t quite remember why spending time with her was such a bad idea. If he did this? If he indulged with her, even a little bit? Certainly, he would grow bored with her in time. He always did with women. There had never been one capable of holding his attention for long. In time, Josie would prove no different.

  “There is also the hedgerow maze to explore if that would make you feel better,” Phin offered. “It is a wonderful place to become lost and not found. If one wishes to be lost, that is. There is a fountain and a small gazebo in the center. I’m not certain most of my guests are clever enough to find it, but I could show you the way if you like. I built the thing so it’s rather easy for me.”

  Josie nodded, her eyes aglow with delight. “That sounds intriguing.”

  “Shall we?” Phin sounded extremely eager to be away from the house, but Josie wasn’t quite certain why. Oh, how she wished she was more sophisticated in these matters!

  “Or we could return to the house for tea. I doubt Lady Averill has cleared the services yet, and Miss Forsythe is playing the pianoforte.” Josie gave Phin a wide-eyed-but-not-so-innocent stare. “Quite badly, really, but she does have a certain passion for the craft.”

  Phin shuddered. “If Lady Barbara Forsythe is at the pianoforte, then I shall have a house full of guests with bleeding ears in no time. Sweet girl, but utterly tone deaf.” He shuddered again. “No, thank you.”

  “Then about that walk?” Josie seemed more than a little hopeful. “It is a lovely day, and I should hate to waste it.”

  “Then by all means.” Phin offered Josie his arm. “I think a stroll about the lake would be just the thing.”

  Phin had no particular plan for this walk. Though he rarely courted young ladies, when he had hosted his house party last month, he had spent a considerable amount of time plotting out just how long walks through certain parts of the estate would take. From there, he calculated what young women would be best suited to which paths, dependent, of course, on how well he wished to get to know t
hem.

  Such planning was yet another part of Phin’s admittedly complex personality. His mother had long ago despaired of him ever behaving “normally,” after so many years under his father’s influence. At times Phin was stiff and proper and at others? Propriety could be dammed.

  His mother had called him fickle and insisted that he bored easily. She had also insisted that Phin not allow his father – who was an extremely religious man – to dictate how he lived his life. Not even if all he was doing was being rebellious against his father’s strict ways.

  Phin didn’t view himself as rebellious. Or any of those things that his mother had so worried over before she passed away only a few years ago.

  Rather, Phin preferred to think of himself as adaptable to whatever the situation required. His personality could become whatever was necessary at the time. However, he might be easily bored, particularly given his track record with the fairer sex. He would concede that point to his mother; God rest her soul.

  However, today? Phin had no plan and no desire to figure out what Josie most desired and adapt himself to fill that role. He was simply enjoying Josie’s company and if she wished to stop to smell a flower or examine the old ruins of an ancient building half-hidden in some trees? He was more than amenable to doing so. Today he was simply a man enjoying the company of a lovely woman. Nothing more and nothing less.

  Nor was he bored. Not in the slightest. That, more than anything, surprised him.

  Actually, Phin was fascinated by the way Josie’s mind worked. He had known, of course, that she was wise beyond her years, but he hadn’t realized that she was so well-educated. He supposed it was a consequence of being essentially locked away in the small hamlet of Sharpe-on-Edgecombe all of her life.

  Other young women might have whiled away their hours learning how to paint or do needlepoint or take up an instrument – and Josie had done all of those things. However, she had also enjoyed a seemingly endless parade of governesses and tutors along with the requisite dancing masters and whatnot. She also had been granted access to her father’s library and, as the small village was not exactly known for its entertainments, she had read every book in her father’s library. Most of them twice.