“Lady Fallon already entertains in the parlor.” The man motioned toward the study.
If Warren had beaten Hayden here, he couldn’t allow the man to stay long.
“Excuse me, Wilson, but I need to see Your Ladyship immediately. The matter is urgent.”
He walked ahead of the butler before any disagreement could pass the older man’s lips and stormed through the parlor door with the grace of a bull in a museum of artifacts.
“Jez, I thought we could—” He halted mid-step upon entering the room. “And here I thought Mr. Warren was paying you a visit.”
“Hayden.” Jessica came forward, hands out in greeting, which he didn’t hesitate to take. “I wasn’t expecting you for a few hours—for our walk.” She didn’t sound convinced that he’d planned to show up at all. “What a delightful surprise to have you here now. Let me introduce you to Miss Camden.”
So this was the woman Leo had been spending an inordinate amount of time with. Hayden tipped his hat as the lady stood from the settee. “It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” he said. “I must apologize for barging in as I did.”
“Miss Camden,” Jessica said, “this is my dearest friend, the Duke of Alsborough.”
“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, too,” the young woman said with a curtsy. Her eyes were a deep brown, which matched the color of her hair, and her smile was quite charming.
“Where, might I ask, is Leo?”
Miss Camden’s brow wrinkled as she took her seat again. “I haven’t heard from him since he left the Carletons’.” She looked up at Hayden, and the flicker of anger and sadness was nearly enough to floor him. “Please don’t tell him I’m here. I’m not ready to see him. And it’s only fair for him to suffer a while longer for what he’s done.”
“You should join us, Hayden,” Jessica cut in, pulling him farther into the room. “I might as well explain Miss Camden’s presence.”
“I didn’t intend to intrude,” he said, wondering if his and Jessica’s conversation would have to wait till Miss Camden left.
Jessica motioned toward the settee with a smile. “Please, I insist you stay for tea.”
He didn’t argue and took a seat near Miss Camden wondering what trouble the women were brewing.
“I’ve invited Miss Camden to live here for a while. At least until Warren decides to exercise his right as the new earl and remove me from my home once and for all.”
He raised his brow at Jessica, unsure what he could say in front of this woman and not wanting to give away too many of Jessica’s secrets. “About Warren and your time here…”
“Tristan came by this morning. I already know.” She poured out his tea, sliced a thin piece of lemon, and put it in before handing him the cup. “Miss Camden and I have discussed our strategy going forward. We’ve both been shunned, you see, and have decided that misery does love company, especially when we seem to get on so well since our initial introduction.”
“Warren is likely to shorten the time frame in which you reside here,” Hayden felt compelled to remind Jessica. Surely she knew that.
Miss Camden spoke. “We think my presence will keep him from throwing us both out.”
He looked between the two ladies; they were unlikely accomplices: Jessica with her verve for life and scandal, Miss Camden with her past as a respectable chaperone. “Mr. Warren will only be kept from this house for a few days, Miss Camden. He’s rather like a bear with his scent caught on a beehive full of honey when he wants something.”
“While I won’t pretend I’ve not compromised my standing in society, I did always have an amicable relationship with Mr. Warren. I very highly doubt he’ll be able to toss us out without feeling great remorse, especially considering he’s always been kind to me in the past.”
Her attitude toward a man Hayden loathed was somewhat surprising to him. “You think rather highly of him.”
“As I said, we had no reason to be on disagreeing terms before now.”
Hayden crossed his ankle over his knee and looked back and forth between Jessica and Miss Camden. He addressed them both. “Your confidence is inspiring.”
What he did not like was that having Miss Camden around put a dent in his plans for marriage.
“I’ve already made arrangements to visit some houses around Town this week. I would love it if you could join us, Hayden,” Jessica said confidently.
This was not how he envisioned today unfolding.
“Of course, darling.”
“Perfect.” Jessica sipped her tea. “Shall we go for our walk?”
He nodded and stood. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Miss Camden. I’m sure we’ll see each other again in the coming days.”
While Jessica gathered up her shawl he put on his hat. They exited the parlor arm in arm. He was thankful to have her alone for a short while, as there was much to discuss about their future.
“I’ve always known you were crafty, but this takes on a whole new level of deviousness,” he said as they left the house.
“You’ve known me long enough that this shouldn’t surprise you.”
“Have you thought about my proposal, Jess?”
“In all honesty, I haven’t had time to put much thought into it.”
Hayden clenched his jaw. “Are you intentionally insulting me?”
She glanced at him from beneath her hat. “Hayden, you know how much I value our friendship.”
He set his mouth to a grim line. “And what of the latest on-dit to hit the paper?”
“It was inevitable,” she said unapologetically.
“So you aren’t even going to refute it or try to explain how something of this nature found its way into the paper?”
“We both know exactly how this information was leaked. I didn’t want to believe it possible, but I did see Miller that night you walked me home. The night…”
The night he’d slept over. It was odd, but he had the impression that she was trying to push him away now that the truth was out. Did she think that he could turn his back on her? There wasn’t a force in all of nature that could keep him from her side.
She pulled him to a stop before they entered the park and searched his eyes with worry evident in her gaze. “Does the truth bother you?”
“I’ve seen you in your darkest moment and didn’t for one second think I should run from it. There is nothing in this world that could change how I feel about you.”
Jessica nibbled on her lip, as she was wont to do.
“I had Miller dispatched from London,” Hayden continued, “and you failed to tell me the most important piece of information he held against you. You should have told me before now; I’d never have judged you for it.”
“It’s not as though I’m going to shout from the rafters of the theater that I’m the product of my father’s indiscretion. In fact, it’s a very long, convoluted story I’ll share with you one day, because it’s possible those details will also slip into the rags for further consumption. I’m to be made a laughingstock, it seems.”
Hayden clasped one of her hands between his. “You could have been honest with me. You’re the one so focused on our friendship, and you couldn’t tell me this one piece of information? Just think for a moment about how I felt having to read it in the paper.”
“What would you have done with the information, Hayden? Stopped the Mayfair Chronicler? Pressed your suit for marriage?” She pulled her hand from his. “It was my secret, and I would have taken this one to my grave, had I been given the opportunity. But apparently, I’m not given my fair say in anything that is personal in my life.”
Hayden looked around them. Unwanted glances swung their way. This conversation was far too animated and intense to be having outdoors. He’d have had this conversation in her parlor had Miss Camden not been present, but it looked as though the woman was going to be a constant companion to Jessica now. He wasn’t sure how he felt about having someone wedged between them. Perhaps that was another reason Je
ssica had asked the woman to live with her, no matter how temporary the situation might prove to be: not only would they keep Warren at arm’s length but him, too.
He’d given her too much space. He should have hied her off to the church and had them married instead of giving her time to think through the changes in their relationship.
“Why are you avoiding answering me?” he asked.
“I can’t be occupied with thoughts of fancy, Hayden. You should understand better than everyone that I have to focus on fixing the damage that’s been done. I refuse to let society run over me with any additional ammunition.”
“You are treating this as a game.”
“It is a game, Hayden.” Her gaze was deadpan serious and brooked no argument. “But they forget that I hold far more secrets than the Mayfair Chronicler.”
“You’ll lose fighting the battle out with society that way.”
There was a flash of defeat in her eyes, and he didn’t think he was the one to put it there. And then he realized she just wasn’t ready to admit that defeat.
“If there was something I could do to change this, I would.” Hayden rubbed his hand along his jaw.
She shook her head as she grabbed his arm so they could continue walking through the park. “Our focus should be on Miss Camden, not us; she’s in a far worse situation than me.”
“And what are your plans for the young woman?”
“I haven’t any plans for her. While she may yet prove to be a buffer to stop Warren from removing me from my house, she’ll also play my companion until Leo comes looking for her. It appears they’ve formed an attachment that could be … life lasting.”
“Leo mentioned her to me some time ago.”
Jessica looked at him with so many questions in her expression. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It wasn’t my place to tell his secrets.”
“Point taken,” she said, though the tone of her voice indicated that she wasn’t happy to be left in the dark on this tidbit of knowledge. “I can’t imagine she’ll be here more than a week. In fact, Leo is bound to be searching for her as we speak.”
A deadline. It might not be Hayden’s, but he’d use it to his advantage.
“Then that’s all the time I’m giving you, Jess. Once Miss Camden is on her way to wedded bliss with our friend, I’ll come for you and I won’t take no for an answer. You’re not fool enough to choose social ruin over marriage to me.”
Jessica merely sighed and took a seat next to him on a bench that faced the Serpentine. She leaned in to say something to him. “When the time comes, we’ll discuss my options in greater detail. But I will not muddy your name with the scandal that has flooded into my life. You might think you’re invincible now, but once doors start shutting you out … I could never forgive myself for putting you in that situation.”
He pressed his back against the bench and turned to watch a flock of geese land in the water. “That you even think you have more than one option is laughable at this stage in the game.”
“I’m not fooling myself in anything, Hayden. Let me come to terms with this on my own.”
He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and stared out over the water. “Let me ask you this: will you deny all the accusations printed in the Chronicles?”
“That you would even ask me that…”
“Just answer the question.”
“True or not, it cannot be proved.”
“How do you know?”
“My parents and Fallon are dead. Warren may have heard it from Fallon’s lips, but what proof does the Chronicler have? Miller? His word is hardly credible, considering his gambling debts.”
Hayden had every intention of finding Miller and ensuring the weasel of a man said no more. The valet’s life, as Hayden had previously promised, was forfeit the moment Miller stepped on English soil.
“How did Fallon ever learn the truth?” Hayden asked.
“My father was easily trusting and too kind for his own good. At least he wasn’t stupid enough to commit those truths in writing.” She closed her parasol and leaned it against the bench next to her knee. “Thinking Fallon decent, my father told him the truth shortly after we were married. He thought Fallon should know that I was the only child he could beget from his mistress because his wife was barren. My father had hoped our union to be fruitfully blessed with swarms of children to keep me occupied, unlike my other mother.…”
Other mother? She must mean stepmother.
“So why did Fallon not petition for divorce years ago?” Something wasn’t adding up here.
“I don’t know. Maybe he liked tormenting and punishing me for my lies.”
“So you always knew who your mother was?”
“I always knew my father loved his mistress as much as he loved his wife. I don’t wish to discuss this right now.”
“But your father’s wife, how did she treat you?”
“She was kind to me, but so often sad. I remember her crying all the time. She truly did think herself barren. And then, when I was around eight, she grew fat with child. I can’t recall a time she was happier than in those months.”
“But you have no siblings.”
Jessica looked away from him and stared after the ducks waddling along the bank at the edge of the water. “No, I haven’t. Both she and the babe died after four days of labor.”
He took her hand, not caring that they were being watched. “It’s a tragedy that your life wasn’t happier.”
“I had plenty of happy times. My father adored me. His wife was never unkind, though I think she might have resented me at times because she couldn’t have children of her own. The only fault my father had was his trusting nature—especially with Fallon.”
“I’ll not argue that he was a fool in that regard.”
“Fallon couldn’t divorce me then, because my fortune was doled out annually from a trust my father set up. My father hoped that I could persuade Fallon over time that I could be the perfect wife when really the only thing he cared about was the money going into his entailment.”
“Fallon was despicable on so many levels. I wish I could have done more to free you from that marriage.”
“There was nothing you could have done, Hayden.” She squeezed his hand in return.
“You should have been spared the life you had with Fallon.”
“I’ve never been one to dwell too long on the past.”
There was no arguing that Jess was a fighter. That she trudged ahead no matter how dour her situation.
Their time alone was too short for Hayden’s liking, but it would be the height of rudeness to leave Miss Camden alone for much longer.
“I have a small dinner party to attend this evening, and would be honored if you joined me.”
“And who is hosting this dinner party?”
“The Duke and Duchess of Randall.”
Her gaze snapped up and held to his. He could see her working out the particulars of how she could attend one of their dinner parties. “They despise me, Hayden. It would be bad form to show up at one of their hosted events, considering how my visit to their ball ended. And especially considering the rumors printed about me.”
“There will be a select few attending tonight.” He wasn’t listening to her protests. “I’ve already responded that you will be attending with me.”
“You make it nigh impossible to say no.” Her response was sarcastic, of course.
“I’m glad you think so. I’ll be by with the carriage at eight this evening.”
She stammered for an excuse, to argue, he wasn’t sure which, for she pinched her lips shut for a moment before settling on, “I haven’t said yes.”
“The Randalls are exactly the types of friends you need. I’ve known them my whole life, Jess. I wouldn’t lead you wrong in this. Besides, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how understanding they can be about your situation.”
“You think one night of good behavior will convince them of
my worth?”
“You are charming when you choose to be.”
“Charming?” Jess laughed softly.
He patted her hand. “Choose to be so tonight and you’ll win over not only the Randalls but all their guests, too.”
Jessica paused a minute on the stairs of her townhouse, turned around on the spot to take in the sights around them. She let out a heavy sigh as her gaze lingered on the park across the bustling road they’d just crossed and the passersby who didn’t acknowledge either of them.
He didn’t need to ask why she stalled to take in the scene around them. He knew perfectly well she would miss living here. Even though it had few good memories for her while her husband was alive. Now was not the time to mention that she’d live only just down the street once they married.
“Why are you grinning?” she asked.
He hadn’t realized he was doing any such thing. “Was I?”
She took his hand with a shake of her head and pulled him toward the door. “Come in for luncheon before you leave. You’ll find Miss Camden as lovely as I do.”
He couldn’t refuse.
She had him wait in her drawing room while she changed out of her walking dress. Miss Camden joined him before long. The lavender-striped dress she wore was recognizable as something Jessica had once worn.
“You look lovely, Miss Camden.”
Miss Camden’s gaze dropped and she ran her hand over both sides of her skirts. “Lady Fallon had her maid dress me.”
Which told Hayden Miss Camden had few clothes with her and Jess wanted the other woman properly attired—probably in the event that Mr. Warren stopped by.
“She’s only magnified your beauty.”
Miss Camden poured Hayden a glass of lemonade and gave him a winning smile when she handed it to him.
“I hope you are getting on well,” Hayden said.
“I am, thank you.” She sat across from him on the yellow brocade settee, her hand resting on the arm as she looked over the grand parlor. “I didn’t ever imagine myself in a position quite like this.”
“And what position would that be?”
Her gaze slammed into his.
“Shunned,” was her blunt answer. “Though I suppose that predicament is my own fault.”
The Scandalous Duke Takes a Bride Page 17
