by Trisha Telep
“True. But they had higher expectations for you than a military man.”
Tessa shook her head in disbelief. Could her parents have been so deceitful? In her heart, she knew they could. All they had wanted for her was a wealthy peer who would marry her and take her out of their home.
A knock scraped the door and Grace’s butler peered into the room. “Lady Townson, you have a caller.”
Tessa frowned. “Who is it?”
“Lord Haverhill, ma’am. Shall I inform him that you are not at home?”
“No, show him to the receiving salon. I shall be there presently,” Tessa replied, as nervous energy filled her.
As the door shut, Tessa looked back at Grace. “What am I to do now?”
Grace smiled sympathetically. “Talk to him and find out where your letters crossed.”
Tessa nodded. With a breath for strength, she walked to the receiving parlour. And there he was. He rose to his full height upon her entry. Could she really have forgotten what a handsome man he was?
His black hair was longer than he used to wear it, but still just as striking. His green eyes were the lightest she had ever seen, almost the colour of a peridot. His square face, straight nose and brilliant smile made him hard to resist. And resist him was exactly what she should have done five years ago. Today, those intense eyes burned her as she walked slowly into the room.
“Lady Townson,” he said with a quick bow.
“Lord Haverhill.” She took a seat as far from him as possible.
“I believe we should talk about what happened last night.” The stiffness in his voice carried through to his body. He crossed his arms over his chest as he waited for her to speak.
Tessa’s heart pounded. “I am not sure there is any more to discuss.”
“You told me you received a letter from my brother stating I had died. I find it difficult to believe my brother would have done such a thing. He knew how I felt about you at the time.”
She blinked in surprise. “You don’t believe me?”
“I said, ‘I find it difficult to believe’. Not impossible.”
His cold tone sent a shiver through her. “I still have the letter,” she whispered. She had kept all of Garrett’s letters. She had reread them every night after Townson left her bed.
He closed his eyes and blew out a long sigh. “Might I see it?”
Tessa hated the tension this discussion brought. The two of them used to be able to talk about everything. Now, he could barely stand being in the same room as her. “It is in my bedchamber. I will ask a footman to retrieve it for me.” She rose and walked to the door. After speaking to the footman, she returned.
“You never received another letter from me after the one from my brother?” he asked quietly.
“No. What was in it?”
“Nothing of importance,” he muttered then swore under his breath. He rose with the assistance of his cane and walked to the fireplace. “Are you lying to me, Tessa?”
She watched him limp to the fireplace and her heart went out to him. He had been a brilliant horseman before the war and now he looked as if he could never ride again. She wondered if the wound pained him.
“Tessa, are you lying to me?”
“Of course not,” she snapped. “What purpose would I have in lying to you?”
He turned at her outburst. “Excuse me?”
“Your letter broke my heart, Garrett.”
His smile turned nasty. “I’m certain you were so heartbroken that you let your parents marry you off to old Townson. Of course, he was a much better catch, being a viscount.”
“Get out of this house,” she said, pointing towards the door.
“Not until I see this supposed letter you received.” He walked towards her, leaning heavily on his cane.
Each step brought him closer, until she could smell the aroma of his sandalwood soap. She shouldn’t feel this attraction to him. This desire to run her hand down his cheek, just to feel the rough stubble there.
“Why did you marry him?”
“I thought you were dead,” she whispered. “I didn’t care who I married after I had lost you.”
He closed his eyes. “I see.”
“I don’t think you do.” She should tell him the real reason for her marriage, but that news would only cause him more pain.
“Did your parents force the marriage?” He opened his eyes again and stared at her.
Tessa nodded. “They felt it was the best for me. My reputation was in ruins. I had no prospects for a decent marriage.”
“Excuse me, ma’am,” a footman paused at the threshold. “Here are the letters you asked me to fetch for you.” He handed them to her before disappearing.
Tessa stared down at the bundle of letters tied together with a blue ribbon. She pulled out the top letter that she had read hundreds of times. In it, he had expressed his love for her and his sorrow at losing her so soon. Slowly, she held out the worn paper to him.
“This is your letter.” She then sorted through the other letters until she found the one from his brother. “And this is your brother’s note.”
He opened the first note and stared down at it. For a long moment he said nothing, and then he handed the papers back to her. “I am dreadfully sorry, Tessa. That note was not supposed to go to you unless I died. I can only assume that Laurence decided he wanted you out of my life and this was the best way to do it. Unfortunately, we will never know for certain.”
He retrieved his cane and walked towards the door.
He was leaving? She couldn’t let him go just yet. There was more they had to discuss, wasn’t there?
“How were you injured?” she asked.
“I was shot in the hip.” He continued to shuffle to the door. His limp was much more pronounced than it had been yesterday.
She bit down on her lip and tried not to cry. He could have lost his leg to an injury like that or, worse, died from an infection. Had things worked out between them, she could have been the one to help him recover, or rub his hip when it pained him. Now he was walking out the door, and if she didn’t try to stop him, she might not see him again.
“Would you like to stay for some tea?”
He stopped and slowly turned to face her. “Tessa, I believe it would be best for both of us to continue with our lives as usual. What happened is in the past. Nothing can change it. Good day.” Then he was gone.
She couldn’t move as he walked out of her life again. Dropping to a chair, she stared at the low fire glowing in the fireplace. While she still had feelings for him, perhaps he felt nothing for her? Perhaps he was right – they should continue as if they had never found each other again.
A burning flame of anger lit her. Standing up, she walked across the room to the window. Pulling back the heavy velvet curtain, she watched as he clambered up to his coach. Something was keeping him from letting her back into his life. And she did not believe it was her marriage or the deception of his brother, or her parents.
She was determined to find the true cause of his reluctance.
Four
As his coach eased away from Tessa’s home, Garrett stared up at the window where she stood watching him. This was for the best, he told himself. The last thing she needed was to be burdened with a cripple.
He leaned his head back against the squabs. Dammit! Why did she have to come back to town? She should have stayed in the country and found a homely squire to marry and give her babies. She shouldn’t have returned where he would see her every time he attended a ball. Just being in the same room with her had been torture. It had taken all of his resolve and military training to walk away from her.
When she had asked him to stay for tea, he’d wanted to say yes. Wanted to spend more time in her company. Wanted to kiss her until she moaned with pleasure. Not that he understood why she would want to spend a second longer in his company than needed. He had discovered quickly that his injury frightened many of the young ladies away. They wanted a whole ma
n, not someone who could not even dance with them.
The best course of action was to stay away from her. After he’d been wounded, he decided he would never subject a woman to marrying half a man. His younger brother Robert, or one of Robert’s sons, could inherit the title and estates when the time came. For now, he would continue on, rebuilding the fortune that Laurence had lost over the years. And he would not think about Tessa.
Garrett almost laughed at the thought.
He had thought about Tessa almost every day for the past five years. Seeing her had only relit the flame of his desire. Knowing that tonight he would most likely run into her again, only made him want her more.
Somehow, he would fight his feelings for her.
Garrett scanned the audience, determined to find her. The opera would be starting soon and he knew if he didn’t see her before it started he would never be able to watch the performance. Remembering her favourite colour was sapphire, he examined every woman dressed in any shade of blue. As the orchestra started, he moved to violet gowns, another of her favourites. Again, he didn’t find her.
Finally, as the curtain started to rise, he found her sitting in the back of a box with her cousin Grace Billings. Tessa looked pale and uncomfortable as she shifted in her seat. Perhaps she had noticed his gaze, but her eyes remained focused on the stage.
Now that he knew she was there, he could ignore her and watch the opera.
And yet, not five minutes later, he found himself staring at her again. This obsession was maddening.
“So, who exactly are you staring at?”
Garrett turned to his friend, David Harris, sitting next to him. If it weren’t for David, Garrett would be dead. It was David who had pulled him to safety after he was shot in the hip. “No one,” he replied with a scowl.
“Indeed?”
Garrett moved his gaze back to the stage and attempted to watch the performance. Nonetheless, his eyes slid to the side, where he could just make out Tessa.
“He’s doing it again,” David said to his wife Anne, who was sitting in front of them with her younger sister.
Both women glanced back at him with a smile.
“Leave him alone,” Anne said with a compassionate smile to Garrett.
He shook his head and forced himself to concentrate on the opera. During the intermission, he walked the corridors to loosen the tightness in his hip. Sitting for long periods always caused him pain.
“Good evening, Lord Haverhill.”
Garrett halted his hobbling stride and looked over at Tessa. She sipped her lemonade with a smile. A damned seductive smile. “Good evening, Lady Townson. I hope you are enjoying the performance tonight.”
“Not particularly,” she replied with a little shrug.
Seeing her up close was far worse than from across the expanse of the opera house. Her jonquil dress was cut low enough to display her full, rounded breasts to perfection. Damn his unruly desire. Just standing this close to her was enough to make him hard. He had to get his mind off her.
“So where would you prefer to be, then?” he asked.
Her smile deepened until two small dimples appeared in her cheeks. “At home. In bed.”
Not the words he needed to hear when his imagination had already placed her in a bed with him on top of her. “Oh?” was his only insipid response.
“Do you plan to attend the dinner party at the Byingtons’?”
“Yes,” he muttered, before realizing he should have said no and avoided her.
“Excellent,” she said with a smile. “I shall see you there.”
Her cousin approached them slowly. “There you are, Tessa. It is time to go back to our seats.”
Garrett almost laughed as Tessa rolled her eyes. Something about her look made him wish he could rescue her. But he didn’t have that option now. Nor would he ever.
Five
Garrett watched Tessa as she assessed the salon with a hint of a smile on her face. His heart raced just seeing her standing on the edge of the crowd in her yellow gown. How he wished he could ask to escort her into the dining room. But he couldn’t. Keeping his distance was the only option. The woman was young and vibrant and didn’t need a cripple for a husband.
“Why don’t you stop staring at her and ask her to take a turn around the room with you?”
Garrett glared over at David. “She is the last woman I would ask.”
“Of course,” David replied with a light chuckle. “That explains why you couldn’t keep your eyes off her during the opera.”
“She means nothing to me,” he lied. “I have been over her since I discovered her deception years ago.”
“Deception? Or forced marriage?”
“It matters not either way.” She could have refused her parents’ wishes. This wasn’t the Middle Ages where a woman was forced to marry a man against her will.
“Then why are you still staring at her?” David asked and then walked away.
Why was he staring at her? Because he knew she would never disobey her parents. And as she told him, she thought he was dead. As he watched her, her lips moved upwards until she smiled fully . . . at him. She strolled over.
“Good evening, Lord Haverhill.”
“Good evening, Lady Townson,” he replied stiffly. “Are you enjoying the dinner party?”
She sipped her sherry and glanced over at him. “Oh, I think you know where my preferences lie tonight.”
At home. In bed. How could he have forgotten? “Still, it must be enjoyable to be back in town?”
Her face drew into a frown. “For most people it would be.”
“But not you?”
“The majority of society would prefer I go back to the country.”
A thought he’d had only yesterday. “There is no reason you should not be here.”
“Indeed? Do you want me here?” she whispered.
He closed his eyes for a moment but that only brought thoughts of her lying naked in his arms. He blinked quickly and focused on the question. “What I want is of no importance.”
“Still, I would be very interested in knowing what you want,” she said in a seductive tone.
Thankfully, Lady Byington announced that dinner would be served in the dining room. Saving him from venturing a reply to her flirtatious words.
“Garrett,” she whispered. “Will you escort me? I am quite certain no one else will.”
He couldn’t ignore the pleading tone, no matter how much he knew he should. “Yes.”
“Thank you,” she said, then slowly licked that luscious lower lip.
As seductive as she looked, he remembered it was only a nervous reaction that caused her to do that. She had done it many times when he courted her. Unfortunately, he still reacted in the same manner, as he felt himself stiffen.
She looped her arm with his and a shock of awareness raced up his arm. He had to find a way to distance himself from her. He could not become involved again.
Walking into the dining room, he quickly found her seat . . . right next to his. Could she have planned this? Did she specifically ask Lady Byington to seat her next to him?
“Well, this is convenient,” she said with a smile. “I am seated with you.”
“A little too convenient,” he muttered.
“At least sitting here, I know someone will converse with me. Had I been seated next to another man, I might have been ignored.”
Bloody hell, he thought. Who could ever ignore Tessa? He would have no choice but to include her in any conversations. It would take every ounce of control he had to survive this dinner.
Tessa sat next to Garrett with a secret smile. Very few people knew Lady Byington was her godmother. When Tessa asked her to seat Garrett next to her, Lady Byington thought it was a splendid plan. If only Tessa knew what to do now that she was next to him.
While she had found flirting with Garrett easy years ago, now he was a different man. Harder. Far more in control of himself. She wondered if her efforts would be i
n vain. But remembering his reaction to her comment about wanting to be home and in bed, she believed she might have a chance.
She placed her hand on Garrett’s forearm and leaned in close. “Lord Haverhill, do tell me what you have been doing with yourself since your return from Belgium.”
He tightened his muscles under her hand and grimaced. “I have spent the past year attempting to sort through the mess my brother left me with the estate.”
“And before that?”
“Recovering.”
Tessa removed her hand and picked up her wine glass. It would not be easy to break through the wall he had around him. She brushed her leg against his, savouring his hard muscles. “Tell me about the estate.”
He clenched his fist around his own glass before drinking a long draught. “I believe I told you about it several years ago. Nothing else has changed.”
“Very well,” she whispered. After wiping her mouth with her napkin, she placed it back in her lap. Slowly, under the cover of the tablecloth, she skimmed her hand up his thigh.
Suddenly, a hard hand caught hers and abruptly stopped her caress. Garrett leaned in close to her and whispered, “Stop now or I shall make you look like a fool in front of everyone. Do you understand?”
Embarrassment heated her cheeks as she nodded. She understood perfectly. Garrett wanted no part of her flirtations. Once again, she had made an error in judgment.
Six
For a week, Tessa tried to ignore the feelings she had for Garrett. She had only seen him once since that dreadful miscalculation at the Byingtons’ dinner party. But he would be at the Seatons’ ball tonight. She inhaled deeply and entered the ballroom.
Tessa scanned the room for Garrett. Where was he? Grace had said he would be here, but as she searched the room, she could not find him. She casually strolled to the gaming room. And there he sat, playing faro with his friend Mr Harris. For a moment, she could only watch him. But her yearning to be close to him brought her nearer.
“Are you winning?” she asked softly.
Both men stood and bowed towards her. Mr Harris looked over at her with a slight frown. “Good evening, Lady Townson.”
