The Perfect Gentleman (Valiant Love) (A Regency Romance Book)
Page 18
Lore’s eyes widened. “You’re here for pleasure?” He was beginning to wonder if she was mad. “You schemed just so I’d take you to bed.”
“And give me your attention once more.” Her eyes grew round. “Don’t you understand, Lore? I’ve never felt more alive than when I was with you.”
“I’ll never touch you again, Helen. It was a mistake the first time.”
“No.” She moved to him. “You can’t mean that. Our time together was magical. Truly, you knew it as well? I didn’t mean for my father to walk in on us.”
Lore took a step back for every step forward she took. He was quite done with this meeting. “You’d have better luck with another man, Helen. Denhollow seems to enjoy you.”
“And I very well might marry him,” she admitted. “But he’s not proposed yet.” She grinned.
Lore decided that she was mad, yet he couldn’t ignore the fact that this madwoman had once again decided she’d rather marry someone besides him.
Lore had actually assumed Helen to be after him for just that, but he’d been wrong. It was only his body that she wanted.
He wondered if this was what any of the women he’d ever shared a dalliance with felt like.
Finally, he saw something move beyond the wall.
Hero and Asher stepped out… along with Mr. Landon.
Valiant was not present, but Lady Everly was, and she looked ten times angrier than anyone else.
She started toward Helen. “You little—”
Asher placed a hand on her shoulder and cut off her words. “Mr. Landon, I would suggest you take your daughter home. It seems the party no longer agrees with her sensibilities.”
“Yes.” Landon looked visibly distraught.
As was Helen. She lowered her head and began to weep. “Father, this… isn’t what it looks like.”
“Enough, Helen,” Landon hissed as he grabbed her arm. “If I’d known your reason for coming here…” He shook his head. “I don’t know you at all.”
Helen gasped and then turned and glared at Lore. “This is all your fault. You did this to me! You ruined everything!”
“Silence.” Her father yanked her toward the door. “We’re leaving.” He turned to Lore and then Asher. “My deepest apologies.”
Everly stepped forward. “I happen to be a patroness at Almack’s. Consider yourself thoroughly ruined, Lady Norton. No house in London will accept you once I’ve ensured it. You’ll never marry a duke. You’ll be lucky if you marry a pig farmer once I’m done.”
“That’s enough, Lady Wycliff,” Asher said.
Helen burst into greater tears as her father carried her from the room and shut the door behind them.
Asher spoke to Everly then. “Thank you for stepping in when my sister could not be found. You may leave.”
Everly glared, but then threw her chin up and stomped from the room.
Hero walked over to Lore and placed a hand on his shoulder. “At least it’s over now.”
It was over, yet if anything, Lore felt more lost than he had before. He hadn’t liked Helen’s answer to what had taken place three years ago. What he had hoped to have heard was that she’d loved him. He’d wanted her to beg for his forgiveness and try to work a proposal out of him. He, of course, would have said no, but it would have made him feel better.
Now he knew she hadn’t loved him. She’d simply used him to fill the void of her father and every other person who’d neglected her. She likely blamed her mother for dying early as well.
She’d been alone. He’d been a gullible fool.
That was that.
He’d not even had the chance to reject her. She, in her own way, had rejected him for a second time!
He started laughing suddenly.
Asher lifted a brow. “Are you all right?”
Lore continued to laugh, because no, he was not all right. Not at all.
∫ ∫ ∫
3 5
Lore looked up from his seat on the couch when Lord Tellock stormed into the parlor.
“What did you do?” Tellock demanded in a voice that would not draw attention. He stood over Lore as he spoke. “What did you say to make her this way?”
Lore continued to play with the paper that he’d folded into a star as he listened. “What are you talking about?”
“Brinley is going to say no,” Tellock hissed. “She won’t marry Sillian!”
“He proposed already?” Lore asked. Sillian had only announced to Lore his intentions to court her yesterday. Sillian was usually a patient man. This meant he really liked Brinley His genius ensured his lands turned great profits every year.
Lore had made it clear he should do as he pleased. His meeting with Sillian had taken place just after his meeting with Helen and, at that moment, Lore didn’t feel like seeing any women.
“Yes, he proposed,” Tellock said. “I told you he would.” Tellock dropped into the seat next to him. “Our arrangement was based on whether Brinley married—”
Lore straightened. “No. You wanted me to flirt with her and make sure she was seen in the right light. I have done that for you. You couldn’t take Jupiter back now even if you wanted to.” Ownership had been returned to Lore on paper.
Tellock frowned. “You’re right, but now my daughter threatens to ruin her future. Please, tell me you made her no false promises or said anything that would make her think to wait on you.”
“I said nothing to cause this.” Yet he couldn’t stop himself from thinking that he should have.
He missed her terribly.
During the last week, Lore had been spending endless hours in the parlor. The room had been reserved for gentlemen only and had been the perfect means to continue to entertain guests while also distancing himself from Brinley.
He told himself in the beginning that he wasn’t bothered by the sight of her with other men, but that was proven to be a lie when Sillian had asked after Lore’s intentions toward Brinley. Sillian was a good man and didn’t wish to ruin their friendship, but he made it clear that he more than liked Brinley.
And who was Lore to stop him?
Sillian was an accomplished man. Lore was only beginning to establish himself as anything more than a dandy.
He was growing the horse farm. While Chesterhill already held some of the best horses in England, Lore planned to increase his efforts. There had been piles of letters from men who wished to bring their mares to Chesterhill, and while Lore hadn’t been bothered to respond to more than a few in the past, he was responding now.
He was waiting for the first mare to be brought, one whose owner promised she could mate well into late summer.
The expansion was reason enough to have Brinley return. Mr. Ross liked her and so did Lore.
“Fix this,” Tellock demanded.
“I owe you nothing.” And he owed Brinley happiness. He wanted her to have that. He enjoyed her smile and the look of peace that came over her whenever she was on his lands. She would have her peace even if he would never get his.
“Please,” Tellock said. “All I care for is Brinley’s wellbeing. It is why I’ve done any of this.”
Lore was surprised. “If you want her to be happy, then perhaps you should allow her to make her own decisions. Perhaps, you should ask her what she wants.”
“But could you speak with her? Charm her into seeing that Sillian’s suit is best for her?” Tellock suggested.
Lore glared. “You want me to charm her into doing something she doesn’t want to do?”
“She’ll want to be married once she is married,” her father reasoned. “It's every woman’s wish to be a wife.”
Was it? If Brinley was willing to turn down Sillian—who was handsome, smart, and clearly infatuated with her—then perhaps Lore had been wrong about Brinley as well. Perhaps, Brinley truly did know exactly what she wanted in life.
A small cottage on his land.
“Will you speak to her?” Tellock asked.
“Why don’t you
just make her do it?” Lore asked, even while the very notion angered him.
But he was loath to get involved again. He didn’t know if he could handle being around Brinley with the way he felt.
“I would, but I don’t believe Sillian would take her if he thought she’d gone to him by force. After all, he asked her first, not me. Therefore, it is up to her. Besides, she’s past the age where she must do as I instruct,” Tellock said. “I believe she’d be more agreeable if she thought it was her idea. Just… speak with her but not in front of Sillian. Privately. Encourage her to marry him. I don’t want her to ruin her life.”
Lore closed his eyes to think. Then he looked at Tellock. “What if I asked for her hand? Would that appease you?”
“No,” Tellock said without hesitation. “You made it clear at Lady Wycliff’s party that you didn’t want her. Sillian does.”
“What if I’ve changed my mind?” Lore asked while wondering if he’d lost his mind.
He now knew that what had bothered him most about Brinley’s words on the day she’d come to the castle. Brinley’s certainty that she’d never marry him had been similar to the rejection he’d faced with Mr. Landon and Helen only days ago.
But could he change Brinley’s mind?
Tellock chuckled. “I understand that you Curbains have some sense of honor but understand when I say that I no longer wish that of you. There is a viscount who wishes to marry my daughter. I will have her as Lady Sillian.”
The words nicely knocked Lore to a humbler state of being. A third son had once upon a time been good enough for Tellock, but no more. The man was not after his daughter’s happiness but his own. He saw the earl for what he was, a man driven by the win.
Honor never need play a part.
It was likely for the best that Lord Tellock didn’t entertain his idea.
Lore recalled once again Brinley’s words when he’d suggested a marriage between them over a month ago. She’d warned him that it would never happen and that time would not change her heart.
And she was nearly ready to buy land from him.
So Sillian would likely find himself rejected as well.
But Lore thought it best he at least try to convince Brinley to marry Sillian before her father tried to push her with someone who would not treat her kindly. Besides, he was desperate to get her alone and her father had just given him permission to do so. “I’ll speak to her, but I’m doing this for her and not you.”
“Thank you, my lord.” Tellock smiled.
∫ ∫ ∫
3 6
Brinley stared down at the letter in her hand as she stepped out of the woodlands and approached Chesterhill.
She was winded, but the sight of the home calmed her as nothing else could. The day would be a gray one, but she still found comfort in the pale stone manor, more comfort than she ever found in her father’s house.
She thought it odd that a place she didn’t know well would make her feel as though she’d come home.
She thought that perhaps it had something to do with the fact that she’d been instrumental in redesigning the stables. There was a piece of her there now, laid into the foundation as it were.
Yet a large part of her knew it was because of the man who was likely already inside.
“I thought we’d never return,” Sarah said as she made it to Brinley’s side. She was the only servant Brinley had ever met who seemed inclined to make her presence known often. Robert usually chastened her, but today he also wore a pleased expression.
Brinley had also thought she’d never return again and wouldn’t have had she not received an invitation.
Lore had caught her in the hall last evening and passed her a note before continuing on. The action had been just as mysterious as the note itself.
Meet me at my home.
He’d not signed it. There’d been no need.
And he’d made it terribly hard for her to speak with him again. She’d wanted to inform him that there would be no way for her to break from the group and walk to his house.
Yet as it would happen, Lore had devised his own plan.
There was a race to be held at Newmarket the following day, Lady Valiant announced with great enthusiasm, but if anyone wished to attend, they’d have to leave before daybreak.
Somehow, Brinley had known the race to be Lore’s idea even though when asked by those around he’d neither denied nor committed himself to the event.
The entire party had decided to go.
Sillian had been one of the first, along with Denhollow.
She’d spoken to Sillian very little since his proposal and he did not push. He was giving her time to come to a decision.
And so she was here, wondering why Lore had invited her and if she’d find the right answer to Sillian’s proposal.
She found him in the kitchen.
Here, at his home, he seemed different to her. He seemed more relaxed, his smile more genuine. He was without a jacket even though the cool weather called for one. She’d been slightly cold while outdoors, but the sight of his grin melted her from the inside out.
He led her out the door and once away from the eyes of servants, he took her hand.
Heat touched her cheeks again, and she told herself not to lean into his embrace.
He stopped behind a tree and positioned her with her back to the bark.
Lore hovered over her and touched her temples before slipping the cap from her head. “That’s better.”
“I forgot,” she whispered.
He stuffed the cap into his pocket and held her eyes. “I didn’t.” His words seemed to imply more than the simple matter of a cap, but Brinley forbid herself from thinking it. She recalled Helen’s warning about reading too much into Lore’s kindness.
Was it kindness that made him flirt with her now? Pity?
“Why am I here?” she suddenly asked.
“I need your help. Come.” He held out his arm and she took it.
“What do you need help with?” she asked.
“You’ll soon find out.” He smiled down at her. “I didn’t expect you to walk here.”
“How else did you expect me to get here?” she asked. “I’m certainly not taking Jupiter.”
He made an unintelligible sound as he led her to the stables.
“What’s wrong with the stables?” Brinley asked upon entering.
“Nothing. I love them but now I need to extend them. I need your help,” he said.
Her eyes widened. “You’re making it larger? Why?”
“I’m expanding the breeding business here.” He went on to explain the future of Chesterhill Manor, and Brinley grew excited with his every word. She could tell that as he spoke he was happy with the decision he’d made. She recalled how hard he’d been working in his office.
“I’m good with horses,” he said. “And I know everything there is to know about breeding. It is likely the reason my father gave me this land. Perhaps, I’ve found my purpose, as you call it.”
She smiled. “I’m so very glad for you, Lore, and have every faith that all of this will work out wonderfully for you. I can’t imagine what this place will look like a year from now or more.”
“You won’t have to imagine it,” he said. “You’ll be my neighbor, after all.”
“Yes.” She’d nearly forgotten about their deal. They’d hardly spoken for over a week. She’d thought he would take back his offer. She should have known he wouldn’t. “The money should be here by the end of the week.”
“Excellent, though I’m surprised that you still intend on living here.” He let her go and leaned against one of the empty gates in the stable then crossed his arms. “I’d thought you’d have changed your mind.”
“Why?” she asked. “I told you it was what I wanted. Have you changed your mind about giving me the cottage?”
“Not at all. It is yours, but I’d assumed that with the attention you’ve been getting that someone would have proposed by now.”
He seemed to grow stiffer as he said, “And you plan to reject this man?”
“Let us not play as though you do not know who it is.” She approached him and watched him closely even while she wondered what she was looking for. A sign that the idea of her with someone else disturbed him. “Gideon has asked me to become his wife.”
Neither his eyes nor his limbs so much as shifted. Only his lips moved. “He’s a good choice for you.”
She made herself as stiff as him so as not to give away the pain that struck her heart. Was Sillian a good choice or her only choice? Was Lore not a choice at all? “Do you truly believe I should marry?”
“I do. You’d make a good mother and a good wife. It is not fair that you are unwilling to share yourself.”
She glared and saw around his flattery. “Is this about Jupiter?” There was that last ray of hope. There was a chance that he was not speaking from the heart. “Does my father wish me engaged before he returns the horse to you?”
“Jupiter is in my possession,” Lore said without emotion. “Your father signed him over to me a week ago.”
She turned away since she was no longer able to hide her reactions.
No wonder he’d become less attentive as the days wore on. She’d never have known unless she’d asked. He was finished with her. Utterly.
But then why invite her here?
Righting her shoulders, she turned to him and found that he’d still not moved. “You didn’t have to drag me here for this. You could have asked me at the castle, though I don’t understand why you feel the need to ask. I’ve told you what I want.”
“So… time has not changed your mind on the matter of marriage?” he asked.
“No,” she said quickly. She was quite tired of hearing his efforts to push her onto another man. “I must go.”
“But I need you here,” he said. “I want your help to expand the stables.”
She shook her head. “There isn’t much to it. Simply extend whatever is already here.”