She took a deep breath and then hurried out of the room. Maybe she shouldn’t seem so eager to see him, but there was no harm in letting him know she was more than willing to accept his proposal.
By the time she made it to the drawing room, he was sitting straight up in the chair, his foot tapping on the floor. Good. He was nervous. Nervous was a promising sign. Nervous meant he was going to ask her to marry him.
“Good afternoon, Corin,” she greeted as she strode into the room.
He jerked up from the chair and faced her.
It took all of her energy not to run up to him and throw her arms around him. Yes, she was eager for his question, but it wouldn’t do to let him know how eager she was.
She glanced at the butler who came over to her. “We’ll have punch and fruit,” she told him.
As the butler headed out, Corin said, “The drink and food won’t be necessary. What I have to say won’t take but a moment.”
The butler paused and looked over at her.
“Go on and get them,” she told him. Though his question wouldn’t take long to ask, they would surely want to discuss their wedding plans, and that could take all afternoon.
The butler indicated he would do as she wished and left the room.
Smiling, she turned her attention back to Corin. “It would be rude of me not to offer you something.” She went to the settee and patted the spot next to her. “Come and sit. You don’t need to rush off as soon as you say what’s on your mind.”
His gaze went to the settee, but he didn’t go over to her. Instead, he blurted out, “I don’t want to marry you.”
Her jaw dropped open. “What?”
“It would never work between us. You need to find someone else.”
Then, before she could say anything, he bolted out of the room. Before she had time to process everything that had just happened, she heard the slam of the front door.
She sat there in stunned silence for a good minute before his words registered in her mind. She shook her head. No. He didn’t mean it. Surely, he didn’t mean it. He’d been put up to it. Someone was making him say those things. That hadn’t been how he truly felt. It couldn’t be. There was no way she could have mistaken the way he looked at her when they were together. She couldn’t have mistaken the twinkle in his eye or the spring in his step or the husky quality in his voice. No. There was something else behind this.
She frowned. Loretta. Maybe Loretta knew something about this. She jumped to her feet just as the butler came into the room with the punch and fruit.
“Take it back,” she told him. “I won’t be needing it after all.”
He scanned the room, as if searching for Corin.
“Lord Durrant had another matter to tend to,” she said. “It was urgent.”
“Very well, Miss Barlow,” he replied. “Is there something else I can do for you?”
“I’ll need the coachman to get the carriage.”
“As you wish.”
He left the room, and she went up to her bedchamber to grab a hat so she could be ready to leave when the carriage came up to the front of the house.
***
Loretta sat in the drawing room, penning a response to Iris’ invitation at the desk. Tad, who was feeling playful, had closed the doors and pulled up a chair beside her so he could be close to her. He tried to be good and let her write the missive, but he was enjoying being near her so much that he couldn’t help but express his enthusiasm. And at the moment, he decided to show that enthusiasm by kissing her neck.
She giggled and gave him a light push away. “I need to get this done, Tad. Iris will think we won’t want to attend her dinner party if I don’t get this out today.”
“I’m not holding your hand. You are free to write,” he whispered in her ear.
She groaned as he kissed her just below the ear. “You know very well how distracting you are. Already, I’ve had to throw out three pieces of parchment.”
With a chuckle, he let his fingers glide across her arm and down to her hand which held the quill. “Am I really that distracting?”
“Tad, the dinner party is next week.”
“Why don’t we just go over and tell her we’ll be there? I know her husband. If he happens to be there, I’ll have a chance to talk to him as well.”
“Neither one of us know them so well that we can see them whenever we want.” She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. “Besides, I think it’s just a ploy so you can get me alone in the carriage with you.”
“Well, there are some fun things we could do on our way there.” Then, with a wiggle of his eyebrows, he brought his hand to her leg and traced the inside of her thigh. “It would get us in the mood for when we return home,” he added with a whisper, thinking she might enjoy being teased before they could finally take each other’s clothes off and make love.
She groaned, and this time, he detected a hint of arousal in it. She had shown a lot of enthusiasm in bed. In fact, they hadn’t left the bedchamber all day yesterday, and they had lingered there until noon today—and then it was only because she was determined to answer Iris’ invitation. He brought his hand further up her thigh until it rested right between her legs. Had the doors been opened, he never would have touched her so intimately, but since they were closed, he was at liberty to fondle her wherever he wanted. And he wasn’t the least bit shy in letting her know he fully intended to tempt her into making love to him in this room.
She let out another groan and dropped the quill. Through the fabric of her gown, he found the sensitive area between her legs and began to stroke it. She shifted in the chair so that he had better access to her body, and taking that as an invitation, he lifted the gown, along with the chemise under it, up her legs and then brought his fingers to the curls between her legs, noting, with pleasure, that she was already wet.
“Oh yes,” she murmured and lifted her hips.
He had just inserted two fingers into her when there was a knock at the door.
At once, they pulled away from each other, and she jumped to her feet, her face flushed with desire as she adjusted her gown.
“Tell whoever it is to go away,” he told her, sure she could detect how aroused he was by the husky quality in his voice.
“I have to see who it is first,” she replied.
He watched as she went to the doors, noting the swing in her hips. He had to force his gaze away from her. He wasn’t going to get rid of his erection as long as he was enjoying what he was seeing. Being with her was immensely more satisfying than being with any of the other ladies had been, and it was proving to be a difficult task to stop himself from touching and kissing her. He’d never experienced such urgency with the others. Making love was so different with her, and he had no doubt it was because they loved each other. He had no idea that love could heighten the pleasure of lovemaking.
Loretta opened the doors, and all at once his thoughts came to a screeching halt when he saw Celia barge into the room.
“Did you order Corin to tell me that he doesn’t want to be with me?” Celia asked Loretta.
“No,” Loretta replied. “I would never tell Corin to do something like that.”
“Then why would Corin come over to my townhouse and say he isn’t interested in me?” Celia demanded.
Well, if Tad needed something to kill his erection, this confrontation was it. He stood up from the chair and hurried over to the two ladies.
“Corin told you that because it’s the truth,” Tad told Celia before Loretta could answer her. “As much as I hate to tell you this, I talked with Corin at White’s. I asked him if he had any intention of being with you, and he said he didn’t. So I suggested he go directly to you and make his feelings known.”
Celia turned her gaze to Loretta. “Did you know Tad told him to do that?”
Tad pressed his hand to the small of Loretta’s back to offer her support then said, “It doesn’t matter what Loretta knew or didn’t know. It doesn’t change an
ything. Corin’s feelings for you are not the same as what you have for him.”
“So you did know,” Celia told Loretta, her eyes narrowed at her.
“I asked Tad to speak with Corin,” Loretta replied. “Celia, you have to believe me. I was trying to help you.”
“Help me?” Celia gestured to Tad. “Because of him, Corin’s no longer interested in me.”
“Corin was never interested in you,” Tad argued, keeping his voice calm in an attempt to soften the truth.
It was obvious Celia honestly thought Corin was in love with her, but she had to come to grips with how he really felt. The sooner she did that, the better.
“In the past,” he continued, “I was well-known for my many affairs. At the very beginning, I let each lady know that I was only looking for a few pleasurable evenings with her. I was only using them. What I did was wrong, and I don’t make any excuses for it.”
He swallowed. Though Loretta was aware of the kind of person he used to be, it wasn’t easy saying that in front of her. It was going to be even worse admitting what he had to say next. But if there was any chance Celia was going to understand why she must not pursue this matter with Corin, he was going to have to mention Ellen.
“There was one lady who wouldn’t abide to our agreement. Her name was Ellen,” he said, opting not to reveal her husband’s title in case he inadvertently caused the gentleman shame. “She was betrothed when we met, and she told me that it would mean nothing if we were together. She said she was looking for a little diversion…a little fun before she had to get married. I took her at her word, and we spent some time together. Later, I found out she hadn’t wanted to marry the gentleman. She had decided she wanted to be with me instead and had hoped that I would grow to love her.”
He paused for a moment to consider how to carefully word what he had to say next. “But despite what she hoped, I didn’t return her feelings, and one evening she tried to trap me. I knew what she was doing, and I stopped her before she could go through with the plan. She ended up marrying the other gentleman, and two weeks later, she wrote to me and told me she was going to kill herself because she couldn’t live without me. I rushed over to her townhouse to stop her, but by the time I got there, it was too late.
“Celia, what you are trying to do could lead to some painful consequences. Corin did you a favor by being honest with you. Now that you know how he feels, you don’t need to try to trap him into a marriage he doesn’t want, and you are free to find someone who will love you.”
Celia’s gaze went to Loretta. “Can you believe this?”
“I think you should listen to what he’s saying,” Loretta replied.
Celia glanced from one to the other, and instead of realizing they were trying to prevent her from getting hurt, she was looking at them as if they were trying to ruin her future.
“You weren’t like this before you married him,” Celia told Loretta. “You used to want me to be happy, and now you’re telling me you want me to give up on the one gentleman I’ll ever love. Well, I’m not going to do it.” She turned her gaze back to Tad. “Corin does want to be with me. I know it deep in my heart. You have no right to force him to look elsewhere for a wife.”
“I’m not forcing him to do anything,” Tad said, knowing even as he did so that she wouldn’t listen. Just like Ellen, she wasn’t going to accept what he had to say.
Celia shook her head and turned to leave the room.
“Celia, you need to hear him,” Loretta called out as she followed her. “Corin doesn’t love you. It’s why I had Damara stop your brother from hosting the ball. If you go through with the scandal, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”
Celia gasped and spun around to face her. “So you did put Damara up to that!”
“For your own good,” Loretta said.
“No. It wasn’t for my good. You just couldn’t stand it because you couldn’t be with my brother, so you want to prevent me from being with the gentleman I love. Then I’ll be forced to pay someone to marry me so I won’t ruin my standing in Lady’s Eloise’s group. But I’m not like you Loretta. I’m not afraid to do whatever it takes to have a love match. I’m going to get Corin. One way or another, I’m going to make it happen, and there’s no one that’s going to stop me.”
“Then I shall warn Corin so he can take measures to protect himself,” Tad spoke up.
She glared at him before she stormed out of the room, slamming the drawing room doors behind her.
Chapter Twenty-Three
After Celia left the townhouse, Tad turned to Loretta. “Are you going to be all right?” he asked.
“I’ll be fine,” she said after a long moment. “I had no idea she was so stubborn that she won’t even listen to Corin. If Anthony had come to me and told me he didn’t want to marry me, I would have stopped pursuing him.” She shook her head as she went back to the desk. “I don’t know what to do. She’s going to ruin her life.”
Noting the tears in her voice, he hurried to reassure her, “No, she won’t. I meant what I told Celia. I’m going to warn Corin. As long as he doesn’t get into a position where he gets too close to her or where he’s alone with her, he’ll be safe.” He returned to the chair and sat next to her. “You don’t think Celia will kill herself because she can’t be with him, do you?”
“No. Celia would never do that.”
He hoped she was right. He really did. But he supposed either way, it was beyond their control. They had done all they could. It was now going to be up to Celia to decide how things would play out from here.
“We did the right thing,” he assured Loretta. “There is nothing else we can do.”
“I know.” Her gaze went to the parchment and quill in front of her, but she didn’t make a move to continue writing the missive. “What she does now is up to her.”
“It is.” He squeezed her hand. “I don’t want you to live with any guilt if she makes the wrong decision.”
She smiled at him. “I won’t. I realize I have nothing to feel guilty for. I would have only been guilty if I hadn’t told her the truth.”
Detecting the sincerity in her voice, he relaxed. “Good. I don’t want you to ever go through what I did with Ellen.”
She turned to face him. “That must have been awful to go through.”
“It was.”
He hesitated to say more, but considering everything that had just happened, he didn’t know if there would ever be a better time to confide everything with her so that there wasn’t anything else between them.
“I was afraid if you knew about Ellen,” he slowly began, “you would think less of me.”
“I could never think less of you, Tad. I know you didn’t make Ellen think you were going to marry her. That isn’t your way. You don’t lead people into thinking you’re going to do one thing and then do another. You couldn’t predict how things would have ended up with her anymore than I can talk Celia out of anything foolish she might try.”
“I understand that now, but it took a long time for me to reach that conclusion.”
Since she didn’t ask him more about Ellen, he decided he would let the matter go. Perhaps it was for the best that they leave it in the past where it belonged. There was no going back and changing any of it. They had a new life together, and it was something he was looking forward to. For the first time in his life, he was happy. Really happy. It wasn’t the superficial happiness he had while he was a rake. This kind was real and sustaining.
He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. “I love you. I am going to strive every day to be the kind of gentleman who’s worthy of you.”
“You already are.” She smiled then turned her attention back to the missive in front of her. “I’m tired of letting fear hold me back from doing things I want. I’m going to stop worrying about what the Ton thinks, and I’m going to start taking some risks.”
“Oh?”
“I hate to admit it, but one of the reasons I delayed in answer
ing Iris’ dinner party invitation is because she’s not favorably looked upon by most of London. People think she’s a wallflower. To associate with her is to risk disfavor with certain prominent members of the Ton.”
“Prominent members like Lady Eloise?”
Clearing her throat, she straightened up in her chair. “Yes. I hate to admit it, but I let her dictate too many things I did and didn’t do. But now that I’m no longer in the group, I have a new start, and I’m going to take it. That’s why I need to go to Iris’ dinner party. I need to see if she and I could be friends.”
“Warren speaks well of his wife. I have no reason to think his praises about her are undeserved.”
“Iris is a nice and gracious person. I just worry she won’t want to be friends with me.”
“What’s there not to like? You’re a wonderful person.”
She chuckled. “You say that because you’re my husband.”
“No. I married you because you were wonderful.” He kissed her hand again. “All our marriage has done is prove how right I was.”
She gave him a kiss to thank him and then turned to the missive, and this time, he didn’t interrupt her as she penned her reply.
***
At Iris’ dinner party, Loretta was able to get better acquainted with Iris, and she found Iris to be very much deserving of Damara’s friendship. Damara, being as sweet as she was, would not be friends with someone unless they were just as kind as she was. Damara, however, wasn’t in attendance at the dinner party, and Loretta suspected that was because Iris knew of Loretta’s broken engagement with Anthony and wished to spare Loretta the discomfort of sharing a dinner with him. It was another act of kindness on Iris’ part, and Loretta was glad for it. Though she no longer harbored any feelings for Anthony, she still wasn’t ready to be at the same dinner with him. That was going to take more time.
But Iris had invited another couple to the dinner party. Mr. Malcolm Jasper and his wife, Regan, were in attendance. And Warren’s sister, Opal, who was only one year away from entering her first Season, was there as well. From her initial meeting with Regan and Opal, Loretta liked them as much as she liked Iris.
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