A Scandalous Deception (26 page)

“How are you?” Juliet asked as soon as they
were alone.

An embarrassed laugh escaped Lissy. “I should
be asking you that. I’m so sorry I was no help at all to you. I’m
the worst sister alive.” She lifted her gaze to meet Juliet’s. “If
you never want to see me again…”

Her sister scoffed in response. “Always so
dramatic. You
fainted
, Felicity. I don’t think you had
control over that.”

“No,” she agreed. “But I was hardly any
help.”

“Luckily, I’ve done this before. I didn’t
need help. I just need to make certain you’re all right.”

Lissy nodded quickly. “I’m fine now.
Fin—”

“Yes, Fin,” Juliet interrupted. “What exactly
is going on with Fin?”

“Everything.” Lissy’s cheeks heated anew. Was
she so easily seen through? She supposed it didn’t matter, not with
Juliet. “Everything is going on with Fin. I’m not even certain how
it started, but I am most in love with him. And he is quite in love
with me.”

The broadest smile Juliet had ever worn
stretched across her face. “I had wondered how long it would take
for the two of you to come to your senses.”

Lissy’s mouth fell open. “I beg your
pardon?”

“Oh, don’t make me laugh,” her sister said on
a chuckle. “It hurts to do so.”

“What do you mean you wondered how long it
would take us to come to our senses?” She got the feeling all of a
sudden that something else was going on that she didn’t know a
thing about.

Juliet’s brown eyes twinkled happily. “You’ve
bickered like a married couple forever, Lissy. He’s always trying
to protect you from whatever scheme you’ve concocted and that’s
exactly what he needs to bring a little excitement and levity to
his life. And while you have complained endlessly about his staid
and steady nature, you’ll never let anyone else utter an unkind
word about him. You are the opposites of each other, but you
balance each other out perfectly. You always have.”

Lissy could only stare at her sister.

“Why do you think I urged you to attend this
season alone?” Juliet asked. “We thought…Well, truly,
Caroline
Staveley
gets the credit for the plan. She—”

“Caroline Staveley?” Lissy breathed out. “I
barely even saw her in London.” The famed matchmaker couldn’t have
plotted this all out. She just couldn’t have. Wouldn’t Lissy have
realized if Caroline Staveley was behind all of this?

“I’m sure Fin did. You don’t think he’d
suddenly start showing up at social functions on his own, did
you?”

An uneasiness washed over Lissy. “You all
played us.”

Juliet shook her head. “We eased the way for
the two of you to see each other in a new light. The rest was up to
you.” Then her brown eyes twinkled once again. “Do tell me
everything, Lissy. He is such a wonderful man. Do tell me you’re
happy.”

And she was happy. Happier than she’d ever
been. But she was annoyed with her sister and Luke and Caroline and
anyone else who sought to interfere in her life too. There was,
after all, a rather large reason she’d never sought another match.
And that reason had yet to be dealt with. “There’s something I
should tell you, Jules,” she began, not certain how much she would
tell her sister in the end. She certainly didn’t have it in her to
tell her everything, not for the second time in one day.

“What is it?” The twinkle in her eyes dulled
a bit and her brow furrowed.

But there was one thing she would learn
anyway at this point. “You’ll find out one way or the other. And
I’d rather you hear it from me, than from someone else.”

“I don’t like the way you said that.”

Lissy looked back down at little Georgina,
asleep in her arms. Such a sweet little girl. She was much easier
to look at just now than at her sister. “I’m not widowed,” she
admitted. It was a bit easier to say that now that she’d told Fin
everything. “My husband is an awful man. Three years away from him
and I still have nightmares.”

“You’re not widowed?” Juliet breathed
out.

“He is quite alive.” Lissy shook her head.
“Fin says he can do something, I’m not sure what. But something to
gain me a divorce or dissolve the marriage somehow. I don’t hold
out a lot of hope for that, but I am willing to let him try.”

“How are you
not
widowed?” her sister
asked, shock and uneasiness lacing her voice.

“It’s a very long story and I truly don’t
want to dwell on the facts at the moment. Someday I’ll tell you all
of it, but for now, please believe me when I say that if I didn’t
escape when I did I would most likely be dead now.”

“He hurt you?” Indignation seemed to rise up
inside Juliet. “I’ll kill him myself.”

Lissy couldn’t help but smile. “You don’t
know how often I wished for your bravery, Jules.” She shook her
head. “But that’s all in the past.” She heaved a sigh. “If Fin
isn’t able to free me from this marriage, I’ll have to let him go.
It wouldn’t be fair to him otherwise. And when that time comes, I’m
going to need your bravado then.” If she wasn’t holding her niece,
she’d have swiped at a tear that trailed down her cheek. “He’s so
honorable, he’ll never leave me; but I couldn’t live with myself if
my past foolishness stole his future.”

She lifted her gaze to meet her sister’s once
more just in time to see Juliet swipe at a tear of her own. “Why
don’t we cross that bridge when we come to it, Lissy? If Fin says
he can free you from this marriage, then he can. I would never bet
against him.”

Lissy nodded in response. “But if he can’t,
I’m going to need your support, more than I’ve ever needed it.”

A sad smile settled on her sister’s face.
“Lissy, you have always had my support. There is nothing I wouldn’t
do for you. But don’t count Fin out.”

“I have a daughter.” Luke Beckford’s face was
slightly pale as he stepped just inside the nursery.

Fin glanced toward the threshold from his
spot in one of the chintz chairs and said, “And a son.” He gestured
to Ben, stacking a pile of blocks on the floor at his feet.

Luke glared at Fin as though he was most
inept. “A
daughter
, Phineas.” He stressed the word as though
there was some sort of secret meaning in it.

“Yes,” Fin agreed, not knowing what was
suddenly wrong with the man.

“A daughter who is going to grow up and…And
there are men like
me
out there.” Luke scrubbed a hand
across his brow, then crossed the floor in just a few strides. “I
have no idea how I’ll protect her.”

Ah, now it made sense. A reformed rake might
be a bit terrified at the prospect of raising a daughter versus a
son. “That is a long time off, my friend.”

“Not long enough.” Luke raked a hand through
his hair and then dropped into the chair across from Fin.

“I’m sure when the time comes, you’ll be
prepared.”

“I wanted a boy.” Ben dropped his block and
scrambled over to his father’s chair.

Luke tousled his son’s hair. “That would have
made things easier,” he muttered, but then he plucked the boy off
the ground and settled him on his lap. “But girls can be
delightful, Ben. Mama’s a girl, you know?”

“And Aunt Lissy,” Fin tossed in.

At that, Luke’s gaze shot to Fin’s. “Speaking
of Aunt Lissy…” he began; his ever-knowing green eyes seemed to
assess him. “She seemed well, just now.”

He couldn’t help but grin widely in return.
“We had a productive conversation today.”

“And?” Luke prodded.

“And,” Fin continued, “I’ll leave for London
tomorrow. She’s in a bit of a predicament, but once I untangle her
from all of that…”

“Then you’ll be Ben’s Uncle Fin in more than
just name?”

Fin chuckled. Who would have guessed Luke
Beckford was as much of a matchmaker as his sister? “I am hopeful
she’ll agree to that, but it may take some time, and perhaps a fair
amount of convincing.”

“Still, that sounds more promising than it
did this morning.”

So much had changed since that morning. Lissy
had finally confided in him. He’d learned about the awful existence
she’d suffered in Boston, which was worse than anything he could
have ever imagined. And he’d vowed to help her in any way he could.
It felt like much more than just one day had passed. “Our path
isn’t without its pitfalls, but I am more confident than I was at
breakfast that things will turn out like I hope.”

A genuine smile lit Luke’s face. “I am glad,
Fin. You deserve happiness. You both do. And while a St. Claire
girl can drive you to distraction, they are worth it.”

But that Fin already knew.

Lissy smiled as Fin’s hand landed on the
small of her back as she ascended the staircase, headed to the
family wing. Spending the day with him, with Juliet, Luke, Ben and
little Georgina had been the balm her soul had needed. But the
small pressure from his fingers warmed her from the inside out and
her sister’s words rushed to her mind once more. She’d always loved
Fin, but had she been
in love
with him for longer than she’d
realized?

She reached the top of the stairs and spun
around to face him. With him a step lower than her, she was almost
his height, as close as eye-to-eye as they could be. Surprise lit
his dark eyes and Lissy’s heart overflowed with love for him. “You
are
the
most remarkable man. Do you know that?”

His lips tipped up to a most charming smile
and his hands slid around her waist pulling her to him. “Flattery
will get you everywhere, Lissy.” Then, ever so gently, he pressed
his lips to hers.

Her eyes fluttered closed and her hands
settled on his shoulders. It was so hard to believe that her life
was turning out so well, better than she could have possibly
imagined. But she was starting to believe it, starting to picture a
future with Fin, starting to hope that ugly shadow of Aaron Pierce
would vanish forever.

She pulled back slightly from him. “Will you
stay with me tonight?”

He looked rather smug all of a sudden, but
then he was still a member of the male of the species. “Can’t live
without me now, hmm?

She quirked him a smile and said, “I’m
certain I can hold out longer than you, Uncle Fin. Shall we put it
to a contest?”

His dark eyes narrowed perceptibly.
“Felicity, if you ever call me that again…”

“Yes?” she prodded. “What will you do,
Uncle Fin
?”

“I will tickle you mercilessly, until you beg
me to stop and even then I won’t. Not until I secure your promise
to never call me that again.”

Well that hardly sounded so bad, especially
when it was such a simple way to get under his skin. Besides, she
had the upper hand, at least right now. Lissy stepped slightly away
from him, shot him what she hoped was her most impish smile and
said, “You’ll have to catch me first, Uncle Fin.” And then she
turned on her heel and bolted down the corridor towards her
room.

She almost made it. But just as she reached
for her handle, Fin caught her about the waist and rasped against
her ear, “You are in trouble now, my little minx.”

He pushed the door open and scooped her up
into his arms. Lissy squealed as he kicked the door closed behind
them and then dropped her into the middle of her bed.

His brown eyes flashed playfully as he yanked
at his cravat. “I will show you no mercy, Lissy.”

She giggled in response. “You don’t like
‘Uncle Fin’, is that what you’re saying?”

“You’re only going to make it worse for
yourself.” He tossed his jacket onto the floor.

“It’s not formal enough, is it?” she teased.
“You prefer Uncle Phineas, don’t you? Honestly, you should have
mentioned that long before now. I am quite embarrassed.”

A smile played about his lips but he said
nothing else as he dropped his waistcoat onto the floor and tugged
his shirt over his head.

The sight of Fin’s bare torso made Lissy’s
breath catch in her throat. He was handsome. His straight nose and
strong jaw. His broad shoulders, his strong muscles and the light
dusting of brown hair across his chest. Much more handsome than
Michelangelo’s David. Much more handsome than any man in the world,
she was most certain. “I love you, Fin,” she said softly, and she’d
never meant anything as assuredly as she did those words.