A Spring Deception (Seasons Book 2) (15 page)

“I am sorry you are in this position,” Stalwood said. He rubbed a hand over his face. “I didn’t anticipate it, though I should have. You’re young, your life ahead of you. Of course a beautiful young woman, who by all accounts is lovely inside and out, would appeal to you.”

Clairemont shrugged. “And yet what is there to do?” he sighed at last. “The situation is what it is. The best I can do is get through it quickly. To release her from this strange attraction and let her mourn the death of a man who never existed as swiftly as I can.”

Stalwood nodded. “Yes. Unfortunately, that
is
the best thing for her. To finish what you started and walk away before her heart is fully engaged. Before your own is.”

Clairemont frowned. He feared it was too late for that. He swallowed hard and said, “I know. And I will. I don’t want you to worry about me shirking my duty.”

Stalwood slapped a hand on his back. “Dane…
Clairemont
…I never worried about you doing your duty. After all, I already told you I know you’re a good man. Now, why don’t we have another drink before I leave to prepare for this blasted ball tonight? I think we both earned it.”

Clairemont poured two more drinks. But as they clinked their glasses together, he felt no pleasure. Duty or not, country or not, there was no joy in what he would ultimately do to Celia. Nor in losing her when this was over.

But Stalwood was right. The best thing he could do was make the pain as swift and uncomplicated as possible. Tonight at the ball he would speak to Danford. He would determine the other suspects and dispatch them promptly.

Then he would set Celia free. It was the only way.

Even before he was announced at the door, Celia recognized the moment when Aiden entered the ball. Where before she had been bored and distracted, now there was a crackle of excitement that worked through her. She turned as he swept into the room, all eyes seeking him as hers did.

Beside her, Celia heard her friend Felicity, the Viscountess Barbridge—and Gray and Stenfax’s sister—chuckle. Celia turned to look at her.

“What are you looking so smug about?” she asked.

Felicity shrugged, but there was an impish quality to her quirked lips. “Nothing,” she said in that tone she sometimes used that reminded Celia of her inexperience. Especially next to Felicity’s sophistication.

“Your expression says it’s far more than nothing,” she pressed.

Felicity shook her head, blonde hair shivering prettily. “I was just thinking he is very handsome. And how desperately jealous everyone is of you now that news of his courtship is starting to circulate.”

Celia frowned even though Felicity had said nothing unkind. “Yes, I’ve heard some of their comments, I assure you.”

Felicity’s teasing ended and concern filled her face. “You sound upset when you say that. What did you hear?”

“Oh nothing,” Celia said, waving her hand to dismiss what she’d overheard just this very night. “Just some little comment about how I always stole the most eligible bachelors and a question about whether or not I could ‘land’ this one.”

“Nasty biddies,” Felicity muttered.

“I should have expected it,” Celia said with a shake of her head. “After all, Stenfax was considered a great catch and he has hardly spoken to a woman since our engagement ended.”

Felicity looked out over the crowd toward Stenfax, worry plain in her blue eyes. “Stenfax has his own reasons for that, I fear. I wager it has nothing to do with you.”

Celia pursed her lips. “Well, no one else knows that. And it doesn’t help when Clairemont reappears suddenly in London, sets everything on its head, and here I am being courted by him.”

Felicity faced her with a determined expression. “So you are a bachelor stealer.”

Her deadpan delivery of the line made Celia laugh despite herself. “Yes, you have me caught. I intend to tempt all the men and keep them to myself. Is that a harem?”

“A reverse harem,” Felicity corrected her, and she was laughing now, too. “
Very
different.”

“You are shocking,” Celia said, squeezing Felicity’s arm as thanks for brightening her spirits.

“You have
no
idea,” Felicity said. “But if you’re collecting a harem, you should get ready for the first piece. Here
he
comes.”

Celia straightened and couldn’t help her smile as Aiden came striding through the crowd, his eyes focused on her. This was the first time they’d been together in public since he had asked to court her, though his letters continued to come at regular intervals when they were apart. Still, it felt like half the room was holding their collective breath, watching to see how they interacted.

He reached her and she clenched her fingers, wanting to touch him, to be touched by him. He leaned over her hand, lifting it to his lips before he released her with a wide smile.

“Miss Fitzgilbert,” he said, eyes twinkling as he used her formal address.

She smiled, and suddenly anything anyone said behind her back didn’t matter one bit. “Your Grace.”

He turned toward Felicity. “I don’t believe we’ve met.”

Celia faced her friend and found Felicity was watching him carefully. Before Celia could make the introduction, Felicity thwarted propriety and inclined her head in a cool greeting. “Viscountess Barbridge, Your Grace.”

Aiden’s eyes widened, and Celia knew he’d realized this was Stenfax’s and Gray’s sister. “Ah,” he said, his tone now more neutral. “Well, good evening.” Felicity nodded in acknowledgement of the greeting. “Might I steal your friend for a moment?” he asked. “To dance the next?”

“Of course.”

Felicity smiled at Celia before Aiden offered an arm to her. Celia took it and allowed him to lead her to the dance floor. The music began and Celia shivered as the strains of the waltz filled the air. She couldn’t help but be happy that she could remain in his embrace throughout the song.

They moved into the circling couples and she looked up into his handsome face, which was focused, and she realized he was internally counting once more. She smiled and he caught her gaze, held it and then, suddenly, looked away.

“What thought just came into your head?” she asked with a frown.

He arched a brow as he glanced back at her. “Thought?”

She took a breath. She could easily play off her question, pretend it away so that she wouldn’t have to take a risk by pressing him.

Except he was worth the risk. She knew that as easily as she knew her own mind and heart.

“You were smiling and then suddenly you looked upset,” she explained softly. “I wondered what in the world could have inspired such a shift.”

His lips pressed together. “You
are
attentive.”

Those words should have been a compliment, but they didn’t sound like one.

“Do you want a lady who is not?” she asked.

He shook his head. “A lady who wasn’t would likely be boring, indeed. Your intellect and your knack at observation are both bewitching, I assure you.”

“And yet you don’t sound happy,” she continued. “Do you want to talk to me about why?”

“You are also singular,” he accused with a laugh that didn’t exactly sound jovial. Then he lowered his voice slightly. “The thought that went through my head is that I may not be the man you hope me to be. The man you
deserve
, Celia. I will hate to let you down.”

She wrinkled her brow. “So you think you aren’t worthy of
me
?”

She almost laughed at the notion. After all, she and Rosalinde were the granddaughters of a gentleman, but he wasn’t titled. And no one save Stenfax, Felicity and Gray knew the truth about their real father. If Clairemont knew the facts of their parentage, perhaps he wouldn’t be addressing his own worthiness, but hers.

She frowned at the idea.

“Now you are the one scowling,” he said. “Perhaps I’ve struck on a topic you never considered.”

The music was building toward the final notes, and she took a long breath. “Aiden, I assure you, I have never and would never consider you unworthy. Your title and whatever comes with it aside, I
like
you. I like being with you. I like the way I feel when you’re near me. Now maybe those aren’t ladylike things to admit, but they are entirely true. Nothing would change that. Not now, not in the future.”

The music ended with her words and he stopped moving, staring intently into her eyes even as he held her a moment too long. Then he shook his head.

“None of us can predict the future, Celia. As much as we wish we could, it is not possible.” He released her and guided her from the dance floor. “I should go talk to Danford now, as I have matters to discuss with him. Perhaps we can dance again later.”

She nodded as he bowed and walked away, but it was a reflexive motion, not one born from what was inside of her. Right now she was a boiling cauldron of confusion. This man was meant to be courting her, which meant he was contemplating a future with her. She felt connected to him and she knew he felt the same with her.

So they should have been happy. And yet again she felt this disconnect between them. As if the closer he came to happiness, the more he built a wall between it and his heart. A wall that blocked her out, even as he drew her closer in public…in private.

Aiden was weaving his way through the crowd now, making a beeline for Gray and Rosalinde, who were about to take the dance floor for the allemande. She turned away from their intense smiles for each other, their connection that was so obvious even across the room.

She wanted that same connection so badly. And yet she sometimes wasn’t certain that Aiden intended to allow it. With a sigh, she walked through the ballroom and outside onto the wide stone terrace. She needed air now, needed to get away from the crowd and her confusing emotions.

The night was warm for spring and the terrace was crowded, so she maneuvered her way to the stone staircase that led to the garden below. When she was hidden in the shadows, out of the prying eyes of those above, she stopped. She clung to the railing and stared up into the dark night. The comet Aiden had shown her just a week ago still lit up the darkness, and she smiled up at it.

“Making a wish?”

She turned toward the voice that had interrupted her reverie and smiled as the Earl of Stenfax came down the stairs toward her. Her former fiancé returned the expression as he held out an arm to her.

“Come, we could both use a walk,” he said.

She laughed and took his offer, letting him guide her to the garden where they began to walk down a winding path to a gazebo in the distance. “How do you know I could use a walk?” she asked.

In the dimness she didn’t see his smile as much as hear it in his voice when he said, “Standing there wishing on comets gave you away.”

“I wasn’t wishing on the comet—I don’t think it works that way,” Celia said with another laugh.

It was funny. When she had been engaged to the tall, handsome earl she had not been connected to him at all. They had struggled whenever they were forced to speak and she’d felt awkward and odd in his presence.

Now, with their engagement at an end, with him being the only person outside of Gray and Rosalinde who knew any of the truth about her past, that discomfort was gone. She actually
liked
Stenfax, even if she had no desire to be his bride.

“I’m not sure wishing on anything works very well,” he said, taking them up the short set of stairs to the gazebo. Lanterns had been lit around its perimeter, casting a soft light into the building.

She sat on the bench that had been placed encircling the inside of the structure, and he took a place next to her. “Do you have something you need to wish for, Stenfax?” she asked.

He turned his face toward hers with a half-smile. “Is this your way of asking about Elise? Are you a spy for Gray and Felicity?”

She examined his face closely. Stenfax had been engaged to a young woman named Elise long before Celia had even met him. When Elise threw him over for a better title, it had crushed the man. But recently the lady’s husband had died, leaving her, the Duchess of Kirkford, free.

“Your sister and brother worry, you know that,” Celia said softly. “They love you.”

“Yes.” Stenfax sighed. “I suppose Gray, especially, fears I will entangle myself in Elise—
that woman’s
web again. That I’ll be hurt as I was before.”

“And
is
that your intention?” Celia pressed, truly interested and concerned herself. The last thing she wanted was for Stenfax to be hurt. He didn’t deserve that. He’d never been anything but kind to her and never kinder than when they ended their engagement.

“She hasn’t returned to Society as of yet,” Stenfax said, staring straight ahead. His jaw flexed. “Her mourning period isn’t even over until the fall. But when it is, I have no intention of seeing her. You may report that back if you’d like.”

“I wasn’t asking for your siblings’ interest, but my own,” Celia said. “You and I may not have married, but since our engagement ended I have begun to think of you as a friend.”

He smiled at her. “A friend. I’d like to be your friend, Celia. Sincerely. And I appreciate your worry, as well as that of Gray and Felicity. But it is all misplaced. The Duchess of Kirkford holds no sway over me. She never will again.”