by Ava Stone
“But he’s escorting me, whether I like it or not.”
Annie nodded, a pained expression on her face. “I am sorry, Lady Felicity. Crawford tried his hardest to put his lordship off.”
“But Lord Carraway is most determined. And stubborn.”
Her maid nodded once more. “He is that, my lady.”
Finally resigned to her fate, Lissy pushed away from the edge of the bed. “Then you’d better get your wrap, Annie. He’ll insist you play chaperone.” As though she could ever be in danger in Fin’s staid presence. “I’ll meet you downstairs.”
Fin paced Prestwick House’s pink parlor. The room was an atrocity, something Juliet had designed years ago to thwart unwanted fortune hunters from calling on her. Why she’d never redecorated the room was a mystery. Not that Fin generally cared one way or the other about Juliet’s decorating tastes, but this evening it gave him something to focus his frustrations on. Well, something other than Felicity.
All afternoon, thanks to his debauched cousin, he’d imagined pressing his lips to Lissy’s. He’d wondered what it would feel like to pull her into his arms, have her lithe form pressed against his. And then he’d imagined more. How soft her skin was, the scent of her hair spread across him in his bed, the taste of her on his tongue, the gasp she would make and the look in her eyes as he thrust inside her.
Damn it all. It had been too long since he’d bedded a woman. Sebastian had been right about that. But how was Fin to know it would just take his cousin’s flippant suggestion to start his imagination down a path he’d never traveled before?
He shouldn’t even be here. He’d told himself it was to make certain Lissy was safe from the lecherous men of the ton and her own flighty ways. But who was going to keep her safe from him?
“Uncle Fin!” The waspish sound of her voice from the threshold made him stop mid-pace.
“I’m not your uncle,” he repeated the words he’d said a million times over throughout the years. With all the thoughts darting in and out of his mind all day, thank God he wasn’t her uncle. He was, apparently, depraved enough as it was. At least they didn’t share any blood.
Fin turned on his heel to find her standing just inside the parlor, her slender arms folded across her middle, lifting her bodice and putting her charms on display. Damn it all, Sebastian had been right. Felicity was most definitely not a child. Her décolletage made him lick his lips, and would, no doubt be the cause of more than one sleepless night in Fin’s future.
“Lissy.” He cleared his throat, like a green lad might upon seeing his first pretty girl. Good God, he sounded like a dolt.
She heaved a sigh, looking more than a bit petulant. “What are you doing here?”
Hoping that she wouldn’t be as radiant as she’d been in his daydreams, and failing miserably. “I—um—Well, I thought it would be nice to escort you to the Rotherbys’.”
“Meaning you don’t trust me not to get into trouble on my own.”
Right now, he didn’t trust himself.
“It’s just a soiree, Fin.”
Somewhere he found his voice. “You’re the one forever telling me I should be more social.”
She rolled her eyes, but her lips quirked up to a charming smile, the combination of which Fin found more than endearing. Dear God. His mouth went dry as he stared at her. Had she always been so lovely, right beneath his nose? If so, how the devil had he ever been so blind? Was it because he’d seen her so frequently over the years that he’d never noticed that she had, in fact, become a woman? A strikingly beautiful one at that?
Guilt and a bit of shame washed over him. Was he really lusting after Lissy? In the same home he and Georgie had made love? Damn it all, he was destined for hell.
“Fin?” Her voice was softer this time, laced with concern as she crossed the floor to stand before him. “Are you all right?” she asked, touching a hand to his cheek as though to determine if he was ill.
There was no need for her to check his temperature. He was nearly on fire, just standing there with her delicate hand on his face, her pretty blue eyes staring up at him. “I’m fine,” he said, though he didn’t shake her hand off, as he should.
“I think we should call for Doctor Watts.” She frowned. “You don’t look at all like yourself.”
He didn’t feel at all like himself, but the last thing he should do was make her aware of the fact. Fin stepped back from her and shook his head, hoping to find the bantering partner she so naturally was most days. “You don’t think I’ll fall for that, do you, Lissy?”
She blinked at him, looking completely bewildered. “Fall for what?”
He forced a smile to his face. “Trying to make me think I’m ill so I’ll abandon you tonight. You’ll have to do better than that.”
Confusion flashed across Lissy’s face, a frown settling on her brow, and Fin ached to take her hand in his and soothe away her worry. But that would be the worst possible thing he could do.
“Are you sure you’re all right?” She stepped closer to him; her lilac scent swirled around him like a dream. “You don’t seem like yourself either. Have you been imbibing?”
No, but that wasn’t a bad suggestion. Perhaps a little whisky, or more than a little, would erase all the improper images Fin had floating about his head. He gestured to the doorway. “And you’ll have to do better than that. Come along, your coach awaits, Felicity.” There, perhaps thinking of her in a more formal way would help. Unlikely, but it was worth a shot.
“Very well,” she said tentatively. “But if you start feeling strangely, I think we should call for the doctor.”
Fin resisted the urge to snort. Feeling strangely, indeed. If he thought talking to old Doctor Watts would make him feel like himself again, he’d head straight for the man’s home and plant himself on the front stoop ‘til the doctor agreed to treat him. But there was nothing in Watts’ black bag that would magically fix this problem.
He offered his arm to escort her and tried to ignore the warmth that coursed through his blood when she slid her arm around his. Lissy held him a little tighter than she had earlier in the day and his loins responded in kind. Hopefully, the short carriage ride would be long enough for his damned body to get itself back under control.
Something was most definitely wrong with Fin. Lissy stared up at him as they crossed the threshold into the Rotherby’s drawing room. The entire carriage ride here he’d called her Felicity at every turn, and he’d shifted in his seat more than Edmund had on their last journey home to Derbyshire as though ants had taken up residence in his trousers.
Even Annie had noticed and cast Lissy more than one questioning glance along the way. All Lissy could do was shrug, however, as she had no idea what was wrong with the viscount. Perhaps some vote didn’t have the support it needed to pass the Lords. Or perhaps he was anxious about some appointment. It could be anything, she supposed. After all, he very rarely spent time being social. Perhaps he just wasn’t comfortable visiting one drawing room after another.
Across the room, Lissy spotted Mrs. Phoebe Avery and Olivia, the Duchess of Kelfield, standing near the grate, their auburn heads tipped together in deep conversation. Hmm… Her friends might have an idea about which gentleman owed Clayworth a debt. Phoebe and Cordie were sisters-in-law, and Olivia and Cordie had known each other since birth, after all. One or both of them might know the answer.
Lissy released her hold on Fin, but he snatched her hand back, holding on to it. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, Fin! I’m just going to speak with Phoebe and Olivia.” Then she yanked her hand back from him again and started across the floor toward her friends.
Upon seeing her, Phoebe frowned and reached out her hand to Lissy. “Why in the world did you run away from me last night?” she asked, concern shining in her blue eyes. “Didn’t you hear me calling you?”
Mr. Heaton. The image of the man, whoever he was, from the previous night flashed once again in Lissy’s mind and her stomach plummeted. Blast it all. She’d
forgotten about him as soon as Bella had relayed her story about the Count of Hellsburg. “I—um—” She looked from Phoebe to Olivia and back. They were her friends. Two of her dearest friends, but she couldn’t tell them the truth. They’d never understand. No one would. “Well, I didn’t feel well, Phoeb. I am sorry.”
The concern in Phoebe’s eyes darkened a bit more. “But you’re doing better now?”
Lissy’s gaze darted around the drawing room. Mr. Heaton, or his double, was nowhere to be seen. So she smiled and nodded. “Much.”
“Oh!” Olivia glanced toward the entrance. “Lord Carraway’s here? That is a surprise. Don’t know the last time I saw him.”
Lissy’s smile vanished. “He’s decided I need a keeper, and he’s been following me everywhere. Quite frustrating, actually.”
“A keeper?” Olivia echoed.
“Uncle Fin?” Phoebe added, amusement now lining her voice.
Lissy rolled her eyes. “He’s not my uncle.”
“As I’m well aware,” Phoebe replied, her amusement still in full force. “But you do delight in tormenting him with that moniker. Has he changed it around on you? If you insist like behaving like a wayward niece, then he’ll be forced to behave like a concerned uncle? That sort of thing?”
There was probably more truth to that than Lissy would like to admit. She snorted in response, however. “I do not need a keeper, and most certainly not Phineas Granard.”
“No?” Phoebe teased.
“He is handsome though,” Olivia tossed in, unnecessarily, as though Fin’s handsomeness was supposed to mean something.
“Who is handsome?” the Duke of Kelfield asked, appearing at his wife’s back as though summoned there. Truthfully, the two were very rarely separated.
“Why my husband, of course.” Olivia tipped her head to the side to better see the one-time dangerous duke.
A roguish grin settled on Kelfield’s handsome face. “Flatterer.”
Olivia giggled. “But I was speaking about Lord Carraway at the moment, Your Grace.”
Kelfield shook his head. “Well, then I must be doing something wrong if Carraway has drawn your notice.”
In an instant, Lissy’s protective instinct nearly bubbled over in her chest. The scandalous Duke of Kelfield was the last fellow who should disparage Fin. “Well, his lordship is quite noticeable, Your Grace,” she returned tartly.
She ignored the twin looks of surprise that Olivia and Phoebe exchanged. Just because she wouldn’t let Kelfield mock Fin, didn’t mean anything. They could save their meaningful glances for someone else.
“My apologies. I certainly didn’t mean to offend, Lady Felicity,” Kelfield said smoothly, his arm now draped across Olivia’s shoulder.
Kelfield always meant to offend, it was part of his nature, part of his charm, if one asked Olivia. And while Lissy had once found His Grace to be wildly attractive, that was a long time ago and she wasn’t quite the same girl she’d been immediately after her return from Boston. In those early days, she would have gone down any road that made her forget what she’d just gone through. The more dangerous the man, the more scandalous the scheme, the better. But that dust had since settled and she had come more into the woman she was these days, a woman who truly didn’t need a keeper. No matter how handsome Phineas Granard might or might not be.
Her eyes flashed across the room, landing on Fin, who was staring quite focusedly at her. Lissy narrowed her eyes on the viscount. Honestly, did he think she couldn’t even be trusted to engage in a simple conversation with her friends?
“I saw Cordie today,” Olivia said, drawing Lissy’s attention back to her friends.
Lissy nodded. “I saw her as well.”
Olivia smiled, her genuine sweetness twinkling in her hazel depths. “She told me. She was glad to see you.”
Guilt washed over Lissy anew. “I should have visited before now. I’m a horrible friend.”
Phoebe rolled her eyes. “You’re a wonderful friend, and you know it. Where would I have been without your counsel?”
Olivia giggled. “Unhappily married to Russell Avery, instead of happily married to his brother?”
“Most likely.” Phoebe shivered.
“Anyway,” Olivia continued, “I am glad you saw her today. Whatever scheme the two of you are plotting has rejuvenated her spirits.”
“You’re plotting a scheme?” Phoebe’s blue eyes focused on Lissy. “Do tell.”
Lissy couldn’t divulge the details about Bella’s situation, not even to her dear friends. Everyone would need to believe Bella was truly betrothed to whomever Cordie had in mind. “It’s not my scheme to reveal.”
“Exactly what Cordie said,” Olivia added. “And honestly, I don’t care. I’m just glad to see the sparkle back in her eyes. So thank you for that.”
Lissy breathed a slight sigh of relief. Even though she could have been a better friend to Cordie in the recent past, if her plan for Bella also helped Cordie get past a bit of her heartache, at least she’d done something good. She leaned a little closer to Olivia and Kelfield. “Have you ever heard talk of a gentleman who owes Clayworth a debt?”
“Which gentleman?” Olivia asked.
Lissy shook her head. “That’s just it. I’m not sure who, if anyone. I thought you might have an idea.”
“The man owes me a debt,” Kelfield grumbled.
All eyes shot to the duke.
“Alex,” Olivia warned under her breath. “That’s not what she was asking.”
What was all this about? Lissy looked from Olivia to her duke and back.
“She stayed with us some time ago when things were difficult for Clayworth,” Olivia explained quietly. “Alex hasn’t quite forgiven him for the turmoil Cordie went through during those days.” Then she stood tall and said, “But everything has worked out, and there’s no reason for any of us to hold a grudge.”
“Of course not,” her husband agreed, though he didn’t sound as though he was in whole-hearted agreement.
Damn the Duke of Kelfield straight to hell. Fin narrowed his eyes on the so-called reformed scapegrace. A man of his ilk could never be truly reformed, could he? Not that Fin thought Kelfield had designs on Lissy – by all accounts, the man was desperately in love with his own wife – but the duke was one of Haversham’s closest friends. And that situation could not be considered good. If Lissy was engaging Kelfield’s assistance with her little plan…
A hand clapped to Fin’s back, and he turned his head to see the aged Earl of Rotherby at his side. “Evening, my boy.”
“Good evening, sir.”
The old man winced a bit. “I am glad you accepted our invitation tonight, Phineas. I was hoping to get the chance to talk with you in my study.”
As the old earl had been a friend of Fin’s late-father and a man he’d known most of his days, he could hardly refuse such a request. “Of course, sir.” His eyes strayed back across the room to Lissy. If only she wasn’t in Kelfield’s company, he’d feel much better about escaping to Rotherby’s study for a chat.
“Prestwick’s pretty daughter will still be there when we get back,” the old earl said with a chuckle.
Dear God. Was Fin truly that transparent? “I—Well, I’m just keeping an eye on her.”
“Aye, I can see that.” Rotherby gestured toward the entrance behind Fin. “But she’s not going anywhere, and we won’t be gone long.” Then he hobbled, leaning heavily on his cane toward the corridor.
No, Lissy wasn’t going anywhere; but that meant very little where she was concerned. She could get into quite a bit of trouble with just her words alone. He took one last glance back at the lady in question. She’d be all right for just the few minutes he’d be gone, wouldn’t she? She would, or he’d have Kelfield’s head.
As Rotherby was already disappearing from sight, Fin pushed through the crowd into the corridor to follow the old man. The earl turned right towards his study and then entered his private domain.
Fin follo
wed suit, stepping over the threshold.
Rotherby cocked his head toward his sideboard. “If you want a drink, help yourself.”
Though a bit of liquor might ease Fin’s nerves, he rather thought he might need his wits about him, if he was truly to keep a watchful eye on Lissy that evening. “I’m fine, sir. Thank you.”
“I wish I could say the same.” Rotherby leaned his frail form against the edge of his desk.
“Sir?” Fin frowned at his father’s old friend.
The man seemed to force a smile to his face. “I’m dying, Phineas.”
The air whooshed out of Fin’s lungs. He knew Rotherby wasn’t in the best of health, but… “Dying?”
“And I haven’t secured Eliza’s future yet,” Rotherby said quietly. “I had hoped my nephew might find her pleasing, that my passing wouldn’t leave her vulnerable…”
“But?” Fin prodded when it seemed the old man wouldn’t say anything else about his daughter, a young girl Fin had known all of her life.
“I haven’t laid eyes on him in years, and no one has heard from Stephen in months.” He heaved a sigh. “When he does return to England, I’ll most likely be gone. I know I don’t have a right to ask you, but…”
“What do you need, sir?” Fin asked. Whatever Rotherby needed, he’d do. The man had, after all, always been there for Fin.
“I just need to you to keep an eye on them. Make sure Helen is all right, that Eliza is taken care of. And when my nephew returns from wherever he’s been, remind him that he’d promised to do his duty by Eliza.”
What duty exactly? “Did he sign a marriage contract?” If so—
“I wish I could say yes to that.” A sad laugh escaped Rotherby. “All I can hope for is that he is as honorable as his father was. And I’d like for you to ensure that he is.”
Fin nodded, wishing he could do more. “Of course. What exactly did he promise to do, sir?”
“To marry her. My brother had just passed. We’d taken Stephen in. The boy was distraught at the time. Helen was past her childbearing years. I knew he was my heir, you see, and even then I needed to secure my daughter’s future.”
