A Scandalous Deception (13 page)

“Fin?” Lissy lifted her head to spear him
with her azure gaze. “Are you all right?”

He blinked at her. “Beg your pardon?”

She shrugged slightly. “You just seem a
bit…tortured. Is everything all right?”

Certainly, she couldn’t hear his thoughts.
“Of course. Of course. I’m simply woolgathering.”

Her pretty pink lips tilted downward in a
frown. “You must have things you’ve left undone to accompany me. I
am sorry. I shouldn’t have asked—”

Fin placed his finger over her lips, halting
her from speaking another word. “You didn’t ask, Lissy. I offered.
And there’s no where else in the world I’d rather be.” Even if
thoughts of her did plague him and even if her mere existence did
tempt him beyond measure. He brushed his hand across her soft cheek
and added, “So don’t worry about me. All right?”

Her eyes fluttered shut at his caress as
though she was starved for affection, and Fin’s heart squeezed.
Lieutenant Avery’s words from the night before echoed once more in
his ears. Lissy had endured an unhappy marriage. But had she
endured more than just unhappiness? How he would love to know the
answer to that question. Broaching the topic of Captain Pierce had
never ended well for him, however. She was beyond evasive whenever
his name arose. How would he ever find out the truth?

A soft snore sounded across the carriage, and
Fin’s gaze shot to Annie on the opposite bench. The maid’s head
rested against the side of the coach and she looked rather
peaceful, sleeping so soundly. Damn her. Couldn’t she be counted on
to stay awake longer than five minutes?

Lissy giggled softly. “I should have warned
you that Annie snores.”

Some chaperone Annie was turning out to
be...Then again, perhaps Fin might encourage Lissy to talk to him
if her maid wasn’t listening in. “Felicity,” he began.

When Lissy’s blue eyes stared up into his,
Fin’s mouth went slightly dry. Damn it all, it was almost as though
she could stare straight into his soul. When had she started
looking at him like that?

Fin shook his head, trying to regain his
composure. “Lissy, I…”

“What is it, Fin?” she asked.

Tell me Captain Pierce treated you well, he
wanted to say; but, “I saw Edmund,” flew out of his mouth
instead.

“You did?”

Well, he
had
. So Fin nodded. “A few
weeks ago, I visited him at Eton.”

“And?” she asked.

And nothing. It was just a usual visit. Fin
generally saw his nephew every couple of weeks, ensuring the boy
took his studies seriously, making certain he behaved in a ducal
manner. But he had started this conversation. He had to say
something, especially since she was frowning at him. “He was doing
well,” he finally said.

“Is that all?”

Fin nodded, as there really wasn’t anything
else to add. Edmund had been perfectly happy, after all.

“Glad to hear it,” she said, though her frown
deepened as though she was trying to sort him out. “You don’t think
Luke sent a note to Edmund, do you? I’d hate for him to worry.
There’s nothing he could do.”

Perfect. Mentioning her brother had only made
her think of her sister, which was the last thing Fin wanted to
remind her of. He was a damned idiot. Well, there was one topic
that wouldn’t lead back to Juliet. “I—um—Well, I owe you an
apology, Lissy.”

At that her brow rose in surprise? “You?” she
laughed softly. “Phineas Granard, I don’t recall ever hearing you
apologize to anyone. Pray tell, what are you apologizing for?”

Fin heaved a sigh. He did owe her an apology,
he supposed, even if he wasn’t sorry for his actions. Under the
same circumstances, he might very well do the same thing again, but
she wouldn’t want to hear that. So instead he said, “I shouldn’t
have punched Haversham last night.”

“No, you shouldn’t have,” she agreed. “You
made quite the fool of me. I’m certain I’m the talk of the Town
this morning.”

“He’s a dangerous man, Lissy. I don’t want to
see you get hurt.” And the man had given his word that very
afternoon to stay away from her. Disingenuous blackguard. He
deserved to be leveled again, honestly.

“And you don’t think I can sort out a
dangerous man from a benign one?”

After listening to Lieutenant Avery the night
before, Fin wasn’t certain what to think. “Can you?” he asked
softly, wanting more than anything to know the answer to that
question.

“I beg your pardon?” Her back straightened a
bit, almost as though he’d affronted her.

But he pressed on, needing the truth once and
for all. “I rarely see you interact with men, and that is my fault
as I’ve stayed so far away from society. But it’s true nonetheless.
I don’t know how well you can size up a man. I don’t know the first
thing about Captain Pierce, since you never speak of him. Was he a
dangerous man, or a benign one, as you put it?”

A bit of panic flashed in her eyes, and at
once she reminded him of a skittish mare. If they hadn’t been
inside a coach, he wouldn’t have been surprised to see her bolt
from him as fast as her legs would carry her. “I can’t even imagine
what would make you ask me such a thing,” she evaded.

But it didn’t matter what she said. He could
see the truth in her haunted expression, it mirrored the one
Georgie had worn all those years ago whenever Teynham’s name was
mentioned. Damn it all, how had Fin not noticed it earlier? Because
he wasn’t looking for it? Because he didn’t want to know? Because
he’d been too focused on his own heartache to notice much else? But
he noticed it now and he would never forget it. “It’s a very good
thing he’s dead,” he muttered under his breath, balling his hand
into a fist.

The quick intake of air from Lissy made it
quite clear, however, that she’d heard him. “Fin!”

He grasped her hands in his and said, “Death
has been kinder to him than I would ever be.”

Lissy could only blink at Fin. Panic seized
her heart and she tried desperately to calm it. Could he see
through her? Did he know everything? No. No, he didn’t…he couldn’t
know everything.

He
thought
Aaron was dead. He just
said that very thing, hadn’t he? There was nothing for her to worry
about, not really. Fin didn’t know anything. He just thought he did
for some reason. Though why he should suddenly take an interest in
such a thing made no sense at all.

“Phineas Granard,” she finally said, “I have
no idea what has gotten into you.”

His dark eyes bore into hers, and for a
moment, she thought it quite likely he did know everything. The
intensity of his gaze, the anguish across his brow, the sincerity
splashed across his face. “You know I would do anything for you,
Lissy?”

He would try, she had no doubt. It was in his
nature, his upstanding, honorable, honest nature. Fin would have
made the perfect knight in shinning armor during an earlier age.
Courtly and noble to a fault. But there was nothing he could do
about her present situation. He couldn’t dissolve her marriage. He
couldn’t erase the past or her poor decisions. So it was better
just to leave things as they were. Sleeping dogs and all that. “I
know,” she said, because there was nothing else she could say.

He stared at her for the longest while, an
enigmatic expression in his eyes that made something reverberate
within her.

Tingles rippled across Lissy’s skin and for
the first time in her life she was quite jealous of Georgie. Staid,
even, boring Georgie who never did anything wrong, who never did
anything exciting, who never had any fun at all. But Georgie’d had
this
man’s love, she still did, and that was more than Lissy
could ever hope for. What would it be like to have an honest, kind,
gentle man love her? What would it be like to have
Phineas
Granard’s
love and undying devotion? It must be the most
wonderful thing in all the world, but she would never know that for
certain. Her own foolishness, her own recklessness had decided her
fate long ago. And there was nothing for it now. What was done was
done.

Sadness gripped her, and Lissy turned away
from the intensity of Fin’s gaze. “If you don’t mind,” she said
with more cheer in her voice then she felt, “I’d like to try and
finish my novel.” And she reached for the traveling valise at her
feet, hoping Annie had packed a book for the journey.

“Of course,” he replied, his voice so smooth
it was almost a caress. “Whatever you want, Lissy.”

But she could never have what it was she
truly wanted. And she had no one to blame but herself. Her fingers
touched a leather binding and she breathed a sigh of relief. At
least she would have something to distract her from Fin.

After two days of traveling, focusing on the
second volume of
Emma
was rather difficult. Probably because
Lissy could relate to Emma Woodhouse’s desire to see her friend
Harriett properly situated, much in the same way Lissy had wanted
to help Bella. Hopefully her friend was fairing well under Cordie’s
guidance. Emma could have used a Cordie. Of course, Lissy’s
opinions on marriage differed to that of Emma Woodhouse’s. Marriage
was not the answer to a woman’s problems, sometimes it
was
the problem. None of that was neither here nor there, however, and
not the true reason focusing on the book was more than difficult.
Mainly, Lissy’s distraction stemmed from the fact that the longer
she sat beside Fin on this journey, the more she realized that he
reminded her a bit of Mr. Knightley and the way he scolded Emma
time and time again that reverberated though Lissy’s soul. It was
difficult trying to put Fin from her mind when Mr. Knightley
embodied him so well. And having Fin at her side, while she read
about Mr. Knightley, was a bit surreal, to be honest.

She cast him a sidelong glance to find
him—

“Agh!” Lissy cried out as the carriage
suddenly lurched in the air and then landed back on the road with a
thud. The book flew from her grasp and she would have fallen from
the bench, but Fin’s hand caught her about the waist and tugged her
onto his lap, holding her securely against him.

“Are you all right?” he rasped against her
ear.

She thought she was and she nodded, but then
the carriage listed forward and she nearly slid from his lap to the
floor.

The carriage jerked to a stop. Across the
coach, Annie woke with a scream; and from his box, the coachman
cursed loudly.

“Good God,” Fin complained. He squeezed
Lissy’s waist tightly in his hands. “Still good, sweetheart?”

She nodded once more.

“Good.” Fin slid her from his lap and reached
for the door. “Stay here,” he said, as he pushed the door open and
climbed out of the coach. “You all right, Chivers?” he called to
his driver.

Annie patted the spot on the opposite bench
beside her. “Easier to sit here, my lady.”

That was probably true. She wouldn’t have to
struggle to stay upright next to Annie since the coach was listing
to that side. Lissy slid forward on the coach floor and then
settled onto the bench beside her maid.

At once, her heart clenched as she looked at
her servant. “Annie,” she whispered, “you’re bleeding.”

“I am?” The servant girl’s eyes rounded in
surprise.

Lissy nodded. “Your head,” she said, riffling
through her traveling valise at her feet for a handkerchief.
Finding it quickly, she pressed the linen against Annie’s temple.
“You must have fallen against the wall when we hit that bump.”

Annie held the handkerchief in place. “Are
you all right, my lady?”

“Yes.” She smiled reassuringly. “I’m just
going to check on Lord Carraway.” What if Fin needed help? He’d be
too stubborn to ask for it.

“But,” Annie began as Lissy reached for the
coach door, “he said to stay here.”

“Heaven’s sake,” Lissy returned. “We hit a
root in the road or something. There isn’t a band of highwaymen out
there.” At least she hoped not, but even if there were villains
about, sitting inside a downed carriage was hardly the safest place
to hide from such men.