by Hatch, Donna
She remained still. “I told you the last time we were together, I do not hate you. Nor do I resent you any longer.”
As he turned back, hope and despair mingled in his expression. With all the silence and grace of a cat, he slid into the seat next to her. His hand covered hers as his focus moved downward to her mouth. Her breath caught. His eyes darkened with desire and his thumb lightly caressed the back of her hand.
Dangerous.
She longed to throw herself into his arms and press her mouth against his. Quelling such inappropriate thoughts, she withdrew her hand and scooted back to a safer distance.
A wry smile touched his lips.
She had to leave his tempting presence, immediately. She stood. “Forgive me, but I’m a bit tired from the trip.”
He stood. “Then I bid you good night.”
Both disappointed and relieved, she summoned a smile. “Thank you for calling. Shall I tell my husband that you wished to speak with him?”
“No, don’t trouble yourself. I will meet him tomorrow.”
He leaned in and quickly kissed her cheek before she could back away. His sardonic grin flashed and then he was gone.
CHAPTER 22
Cole fairly skipped in the foyer of the baron’s town house. He was foolish to feel such anticipation at seeing Alicia again, but powerless to stop himself. His harebrained scheme to save Alicia had done nothing to cure his yearning for her. She would think him unconscionable, but he would do whatever he must to crumble her resistance and earn a place in her arms.
It wouldn’t be simple, but he could deal with Nicholas if Alicia decided she wanted to be freed from him. After all, Cole’s only reason for bringing in Nicholas was to save her from her other prospects when all of Cole’s attempts to save her honorably had failed. And since no love appeared to be forming within that relationship, there was no reason why he should not court her. He’d know soon enough exactly how to proceed.
He grinned. He couldn’t remember the last time he had actively pursued a lady. Normally, he dodged them and their schemes. The role of predator was invigorating, and he had no doubt that it would prove a thrilling chase. The reward, when he succeeded, would be sweet. And he would succeed sooner or later.
As he waited, he felt a sweet presence behind him. The vision that greeted him nearly brought him to his knees.
Had he ever thought Alicia only pretty? This glorious being gliding down the stairs in an apricot and cream evening gown robbed him of his breath.
And when she smiled at him, he knew he’d never use the word ‘beautiful’ lightly again. Her lustrous hair shone rich honey brown and her skin glowed in flawless perfection. The haunting sorrow that had been her constant companion at their first several meetings had faded. She appeared to have found peace and healing.
“Alicia,” he murmured when he found his voice. “I cannot begin to tell you how exquisitely beautiful you are.”
Her brown and golden-flecked eyes shone, and the color at her cheeks deepened. He felt himself falling further. He made no attempt to save himself. He was hers. He could no longer deny it.
“Glorious,” he whispered. “Breathtaking.”
She laughed softly. “Thank you, but don’t you think that’s overdoing it a bit?”
“Absolutely not. I shall have to come up with better ways to compliment you on your beauty.” He bent over her gloved hand and kissed it, wishing he could feel her skin against his lips instead of her gloves.
Aunt Livy arrived a moment later. “My dear girl, how lovely to see you again!” She drew Alicia into a motherly embrace.
With obvious embarrassment and pleasure, Alicia returned the embrace and murmured her joy at seeing her again and made to move away, but when Aunt Livy continued to hug her, she surrendered and leaned against her with her eyes closed, reveling in the touch that had obviously been long absent in her life. She must be missing her own mother a great deal.
Cole looked away from the longing in Alicia’s countenance. He couldn’t bring back her mother any more than he could bring back his own, but he planned to shower her with all the affection she deserved, whether or not she knew she needed it.
When Aunt Livy released her, Alicia smiled shyly and turned away to let the footman put on her wrap. “Where is Mr. Fitzpatrick?”
“He hates the opera, but he sends his best.”
“I hate the opera, too, but you make me go,” Cole grumbled.
“That’s because I can bully you better than I can bully my own husband.” Aunt Livy winked at Cole as they entered the carriage.
They made small talk, Livy providing her usual charming, dry humor as she gossiped about mutual acquaintances. Then, she waved her hands. “Oh, and I simply must introduce you to my niece Mary.”
“Mary is here?” Cole asked with mingled delight and dread.
She nodded, sending her ostrich feathers bobbing furiously. “She will be simply mad about you, my dear.”
“Another cousin?” Alicia asked, her eyes moving to Cole.
“My father has six brothers and his father had nine. There are Amesburys everywhere.”
“Mary and Cole were kissing cousins, if I recall correctly,” Livy said with a gleam.
Cole groaned. “Don’t remind me.”
“Kissing cousins?” Alicia echoed with a delighted smile.
“Please do not give her more ammunition to use against me, Aunt,” Cole pled. “She already thinks I have no redeeming qualities.”
“I caught them in the music room,” Livy continued with cruel glee as if Cole were not merely a few feet away. “She is four years his senior, you know.”
“She begged me to do it,” Cole interjected. “She said she didn’t want to appear foolish when her suitor kissed her, so she wanted to learn how to do it first. What could I do but let her practice on me?” He winced when he realized he’d said too much.
“Oh, Cole, how shameful,” Alicia scolded with mock severity, a smile curving at such a delicious tale.
Cole turned imploring eyes upon Aunt Livy. “Aunt, please, I’m trying to give her hope that I may not be a complete reprobate.”
Livy only waved her folded fan in the air. “Too late, my dear. She knows you already.”
“Did you teach her anything useful?” Alicia asked Cole with a daring smile.
“I—” Realizing he would never survive this gracefully, he snapped his mouth shut and glared at Aunt Livy. “I can see now that agreeing to ride with you was a dreadful mistake.”
Both ladies laughed and Cole forced a straight face. Livy mopped her face with her handkerchief and began fanning herself. “Oh dear, it’s a bit warm, isn’t it?”
“I hadn’t noticed,” Alicia said.
After the carriage pulled up in front of the opera house, Cole escorted the ladies inside to his private balcony. Before the performance began, he felt the eyes of the ton in attendance upon them, whispering, speculating, but Alicia’s eyes, dazzled by the theater and the excitement, remained thankfully unaware of the sensation she stirred simply by being an unknown and beautiful lady at his side. Aunt Livy nodded with queenly grace, and Cole was glad he had invited her to keep Alicia’s reputation pure.
“Oh, Mrs. Fitzpatrick, this is so grand.”
“Please, my dear, call me Aunt Livy. After all, you are married to my nephew.”
She started and then flushed. “Oh, yes. Of course. My husband is a nephew of yours as well.”
“Great nephew, actually. His father and Cole’s father are a generation apart.”
“First cousins once-removed, I believe it’s called,” Cole added.
The Marquis of Trimbull, an old friend of his father’s, stopped by their box. “Amesbury, glad to see you back in Town.” Lord Trimbull’s gaze settled on Alicia, curious, assessing, but he turned to Aunt Livy. “Dear Olivia. It has been too long. You are lovely as ever.”
Aunt Livy took out her fan and began to wave it furiously. “You are a silver-tongued rogue, Lucius,” she repli
ed with a disapproving frown, but pleasure gleamed in her eyes. “Lady Amesbury, may I present Lord Trimbull? My lord, Lady Amesbury is one of my many nieces by marriage.”
Poised and gracious, the marquis bent over her. “Your servant, my lady.”
She fixed her eyes upon him, a genuinely warm smile curving her mouth. “My lord.”
Though his expression remained carefully schooled, his eyes unmistakably approved of Alicia as he smiled.
The marquis and Aunt Livy exchanged a few polite pleasantries and asked after each other’s families before the gentleman moved on.
Cole managed to evade explanation to others who stopped by their box until the lights dimmed and the curtain rose. The music was lovely, and the costumes, set, and acting better than normal, but his eyes strayed to Alicia so often that he finally gave up and simply watched her watch the performance. The performance enthralled her.
She enthralled him.
He was lost. And happier than he’d ever been.
At intermission, Cole’s cousin Mary, a buxom beauty, came to their box, and Aunt Livy, waving her fan frantically, introduced the ladies.
Mary greeted Alicia cordially, calling her Cousin, and directed a smile toward Cole. “My husband just left for his club, Cole. Perhaps you will join him there?”
“I regret, Mary, that these two ladies would not forgive me if I abandoned them without seeing them safely home first.”
Mary raised her eyebrows, but said nothing.
“Charleston, go fetch me some lemonade, there’s a good lad,” Aunt Livy said to her footman.
He leaped to his feet and bounded away. She pressed a hand to her forehead, her fan flapping furiously, as a sheen glistened on her flushed face.
Mary leaned in. “Aunt Livy, are you unwell?”
“I am afraid I’m not feeling well. It seems terribly warm in here, but no one else appears to be suffering from the heat.”
Cole half-rose. “Shall I escort you home, Aunt?”
She waved him away. “No, dear, don’t trouble yourself.” The footman reappeared with the lemonade, but it failed to refresh her.
Mary sent her footman for her carriage. “I will take you home, Aunt.”
“Do you wish us to accompany you?” Cole offered.
Mary shook her head. “Not necessary, Cole. You and Alicia remain here and enjoy the performance. I will see to her.” She turned to Alicia. “I hope to see more of you later, Cousin.”
“I do, as well.” Alicia cast a teasing, sideways glance at Cole.
He inwardly groaned. The stories Mary could tell about him made him shudder. If he ever hoped to redeem himself in Alicia’s eyes, her association with his cousin Mary certainly would undermine his efforts.
“I hope you feel better, Aunt Livy.” Alicia took her hand.
“Nothing to fret about. Something I ate, no doubt.”
After the performance ended, Cole guided Alicia to the carriage. Riding in the carriage alone with her pushed the edge of propriety, and might cause tongues to wag. He had done it in the country and had enjoyed it immensely but looking back he realized how careless that had been. It had probably saved her life, still, he never wanted it said that Alicia was anything less than a perfect lady. He’d spent most of his life sneering at convention and shrugging at the tales told about him, but he wanted no scandal to touch Alicia.
Inside the carriage, Cole forcibly kept his thoughts on neutral matters to avoid drawing her into his arms. His best defense was humor. He kept her laughing with the contents of his brother Jared’s latest letter which outlined a harrowing flight during a visit to a tiny island. They’d encountered hungry natives who invited him and his crew to stay for dinner. As the main course. He also hinted at lovely native girls who offered themselves as his bride the night before the feast.
“Does he live a life of debauchery, then?”
“Undoubtedly. I think it’s in our blood.”
“You value a woman’s virtue so little, then?”
Cole softened his voice. “I have never robbed a woman of her virtue. The first virgin I make love to will be my wife. And it will be with her consent. Not only her consent—her desire.”
She turned to him, astonishment clear in her expression. “Then you will marry someday?”
He laughed. “Of course. Don’t look so surprised. We discussed this the first time we met, remember? I must, sooner or later, produce an heir, which requires that I be married to his mother at the time.”
“Then it will be a business match.” Her face fell in obvious disenchantment.
“Good heavens, I hope not. I am not so foolish as to think that everyone marries for love as my parents did, but I hope to be at least fond of my wife.” He watched her, falling further under her spell. “I entertain hopes that I might actually love my wife. Whoever she might be.”
“I dreamed of marrying for love once,” she murmured, her eyes far away.
He remained silent to allow her time to her thoughts, and only admired her. And desired her. And plotted how to make her dream come true. And his.
She hugged herself, staring out of the window. She spoke so softly he had to lean forward to hear her. “Of course you should marry. Your family is counting on you.”
Cole wasn’t sure what to make of her words. She appeared sad, disappointed. In him? He wished he could truly divine her thoughts. She used to be easier to read, but with his emotions so strongly overshadowing his judgment, his perceptiveness regarding her had dimmed.
“My father’s health is poor,” he finally said. “Soon he will leave me with his title. Much is expected of an earl.”
“You never speak of your father.”
“He lives in Bath with my brother, Christian. We hope the healing waters will improve his health. Since my mother’s death two years ago, his health has steadily declined. They were desperately in love. Some of his friends tried to convince him to take a mistress in the hopes that it would restore his vitality, but he refused.”
“It is my understanding that many men keep mistresses. Even while still wed.”
“That doesn’t make it right, does it?”
Her golden eyes appeared luminous so near his face, and his eyes were drawn downward to her lips. It took all of his self-control not to move nearer and capture them with his mouth.
“Then you would not do the same?” she asked.
He forced lightheartedness into his voice. “Take a mistress? Absolutely not. If a lady were mad enough to marry me, the least I could do is be faithful to her.”
A smile touched her lips. “You surprise me, Cole.”
He swallowed at the sound of his name on her tongue, and his voice was husky when he finally found it. “How so?”
“I thought you a man of loose principles and morals.”
“Perhaps you were wrong about me,” he whispered.
“Perhaps,” she whispered back.
Her light fragrance taunted him, her lovely face tormented him and their conversation had taken an unexpected turn. This was getting too serious.
Turning on a flippant grin, he leaned back lazily and stretched out his legs. “No, you were right the first time; I am an unprincipled, incorrigible cad.”
“Oh, good. Glad to hear I was right about you all along, then.” Though she attempted to use levity, she sounded strained.
He admired the fine lines of her face, the soft ringlets brushing against her neck, the fullness of her lips. “Astonishing.”
She blinked at him.
“Mesmerizing. Exquisite.”
“Pardon?”
He grinned. “I am thinking up new words to describe your beauty. Remember, I promised to compliment you more often.”
“Oh.” A smile began at her mouth and found its way to her eyes. “Do you flirt this brazenly with everyone, or only married women?”
“I haven’t earned the reputation of a shameless philanderer by accident,” he quipped.
She frowned. “Did I say incorrigible? I
meant impossible.”
“Thank you.”
“You said earlier you have three brothers, but you’ve only mentioned Jared. Tell me of the others.”
Cole grinned again at her obvious attempt to introduce a new topic. “Grant is younger than Jared. He’s friends with some Bow Street Runners and often helps them on their more interesting cases. He likes skulking about the streets going after the most dangerous criminals. He once tracked a fleeing murderer all the way to Scotland.”
“An odd pastime for the son of an earl,” Alicia mused.
“Like the rest of us, he’s always sneered at convention. But he came back from the war positively hardened. I can’t decide if he’s that dedicated to making London a safer place, or if he’s trying to get himself killed. Maybe he just likes scrabbling in the streets with ruffians. I never understood Grant.”
“Poor man. He must be protecting a wounded heart.”
Cole uttered a sharp laugh. “You wouldn’t say that if you met the lout.”
“And the youngest?”
A surge of mingled protectiveness battled with old resentment. “Christian. The favorite. He, unlike the rest of us, plays the piano with admirable skill and he’s one of the finest amateur painters I’ve ever seen. Women adore him, but he’s a bit shy around them.”
“How refreshing.” She smiled wryly.
Cole ignored the barb. “He fences, boxes, and hunts with the best of them. He’s also mad about the steeplechase. It has been the plan all along for him to become a clergyman, but he hasn’t seemed to be in any hurry to do so. He frequently buries himself in his art. Still, he’s young, only three and twenty. There’s time to decide. Of late, he’s doing all he can to help Father. They’re in Bath, now.”
“You mentioned sisters?”
“Two, both older. Rachel is with Christian and Father in Bath. Margaret is here in Town. I hope to introduce you to her soon.”
The carriage stopped in front of the house on Pall Mall and he saw her to the door. Formally, he bent over her hand and stepped back. He clenched his hands behind his back to avoid touching her. A soft light entered her eyes and she gazed into his eyes with affection. Encouraged, he returned to the carriage grinning like the fool he knew he was.
