Her Counterfeit Husband (10 page)

“What is that?”
the stranger asked.

Appleton stepped away from Anna.

Anna looked up from the
invitation in her hands as the stranger
entered the drawing room. 
“You’re without your cane?” she asked him.

“I do
n’t need it anymore,” he said.

She glanced at Appleton.  “Will you be so kind as to ask
the footman to get our cloaks
?”

After Appleton no
dded and left, the stranger turned to her.  “You mean I don’t have to ask you to go for a walk with me today?”

“That’s not fair, Your G
race.  We went for a carriage ride yesterday, and that was my idea.”

“Only because you thought I was doing too much walking.”

“Does that matter?”

He shrugged and smiled.  “I suppose not.  It’s actually a compliment that you worry about my health as much as you do.  Will
we be discussing
what you’re holding in your hands during this walk?”

“Yes, I suppose we should.”

“It doesn’t look pleasant.”

She sighed.  “It’s not.”

Appleton returned with
their cloaks
and asked him, “Will Your G
race be going without a hat?”

As they slipped on their cloaks,
he
grinned. 
“I can’t refuse the opportunity to go without one.  I find them bothersome.
”

That was yet another difference between this gentleman and her husband, but she chose not to dwell on it or the possibility that Lord Mason might pick up on the fact that
he
wasn’t really his brother.

“Very well, Your G
race.” Appleton bowed and led them to the front door where the footman wait
ed for them before he opened it and handed her the parasol.

Once Anna and the stranger were outside, she almost didn’t open her parasol right away so she could get an idea of what made him enjoy the sunlight touching his face as much as he did.  But he turned his gaze to her, an action which made her self-conscious enough to open it.  He shot her one of his charming smiles, and she tightened her grip on the handle of the parasol, praying he didn’t detect her uncertainty.  She must keep thinking of him as the stranger she and Appleton found that night they buried her husband.

As long as she thought of him as the stranger, she could keep an emotional distance from him.  Each day, it was getting harder and harder to d
o that, and several times, she had
slipped and almost thought of him as Jason.  But she hadn’t even thought of her hu
sband so intimately.  It was the stranger’s
persistence on calling he
r Anna that made her feel closer
to him than she
wanted to be
.

“Will you escort me to the fount
ain?” He offered his arm
and looked at her with that hopeful expression that made her afraid she’d give him anything he wanted.

She swallowed and debated whether she should take his arm or not.  Up to now, she hadn’t touched him, except when she
had cleaned his healing wounds
.

He took her hand and placed it on his arm.  “There.  Now I can feel like a true gentleman and let you escort me to the fountain.”

Despite her apprehension at being so close to him, she chuckled.  “You’ll let me escort you?  If you were a true gentleman, you’d be the one escorting me.”

“Hmm… You have a good point, though to be honest, I don’t mind it when you take the lead.  As long as you let me come with you, I’m content.”

“At least you’re not hard
to please.”

“I try to be accommodating,” he teased.

“You are.”

After a moment of silence passed between them as they strolled down the path to the fountain, he asked, “Is now a good time to ask about the invitation you received?”

“Yes,” she softly replied, thinking if she was going to do it, it might as well be now.  “You remember Lord Mason?”

He nodded.  “My brother.”

She winced and hoped he didn’t notice since the parasol partially obstructed his view of her face.  “Yes.  He came to visit you shortly after you lost your memory.” She cleared her throat.  “He’s having a dinner party in a week and we’re invited to attend.”

“What happens at dinner parties?”

“Not much, really.  You catch up on the latest gossip, eat, play a few games, and go home.”

“It doesn’t sound like you enjoy them.”

“It depends on
who attends the dinner parties.”

They stopped at the fountain, and she
sat
beside him on the bench.
She fingered the invitation and glanced at him.  Considering the clothing he’d been wearing w
hen she and Appleton found him, she wondered if he could read it.  If he could, then he’d understand
,
by the way Lord Mason worded the invite
,
what kind of gentleman he was.
  Otherwise, it was hard to explain.

“Can you read
?” she asked him.

“I don’t know.
”

As a
duke, he should be able to, and it suddenly occurred to her that if someone were to find out he couldn’t, then problems
might arise, even if he did lose
his memory.  To find out if he needed to be taught to read, she showed him the invitation.  “Can you read this?”

He studied the script and shook his head.  “No.
”

She turned so she could face him.  “This is very important.  You must not let anyone know you can’t read. 
Even if you’ve lost your memory, you don’t want them to
know you
’re
illiterate
.” She took a deep breath and willed the image of Lord Mason’s smirk from her mind.  “Some people don’t care who they hurt.”

“Are you talking about my brother?”

Choosing her words carefully, she replied, “Lord Mason isn’t someone I’d
voluntarily spend time with.”

“Why not?  What has he done?”

Breaking eye contact
with him
, she shrugged and faced the fountain.  “He hasn’t
done
anything, exactly.  I don’t know how
to
explain it, but even though he’s of noble birth, he’s not what a gentleman should be.” And how it pained her to even think of him as a gentleman, but because of his status, she had to.  She cleared her throat.  “As long as you don’t let him get any power over you, you’ll be fine.”

“I don’t understand.  How could he get power over me?  Did he manage that in the past?”

“No.  You’ve never given him
the opportunity.” At least, h
er husband
hadn’t.  “
Try not to show him your weaknesses.” He furrowed his eyebrows, and she knew he wasn’t sure how to follow her advice.  “If he makes you uneasy at all, leave the room.”

After a moment, he nodded.  “All right.  I can do that.”

She really hated to
go to the dinner party.  It was akin to sending him to the wolves since there would be times when he’d be
alone
with the gentlemen
while she would
be with the ladies, but she didn’t know what else she could do without arousing Lord Mason’s suspicions.

“Do you worry I won’t be able to handle him like I did in the past?” he softly asked.

She couldn’t tell if he was hurt by the possibility she might think that or if he was worried about it, too.  She opened her mouth to assure him that she was confident he could
handle it
, but it would be a lie. 
And ironically, despite the many lies she’d already told him, this was the one lie she couldn’t.  With a sigh, she admitted, “You’re nothing like the Duke of Watkins I used to know.  You’re gentle and kind.  You’re much better in ways I don’t think you’ll ever appreciate.” Her voice trailed off and
she closed her eyes before her voice wavered.  God help her, but it was hard to keep t
hinking of him as
the stranger
.

“You
worry my brother will take advantage of who I am now because I’m not as hard as I used to be,” he finished for her.

She took a deep breath to steady her emotions and nodded.  Yes, he was so gentle and kind, he might not be able to stand up to Lord Mason.

“I can do it, Anna,” he whispered, resting his hand on her shoulder.

Startled by his touch, her eyes flew open and she looked at him.
  Her heart leapt in excitement
.  She didn’t want to enjoy it, but no matter how much she willed herself to scoot away from him, she couldn’t.
 
He released her shoulder, and though she knew she should be relieved, she also felt disappointed.  A lady could g
et used to the kind of touch he’d just blessed her with.  Apparently, years of coldness and rejection left her more vulnerable to gentleness than she cared to admit.

“Since you warned me, I’ll be prepared and act accordingly,” he told her.

She nodded, hoping he was right, but the only way
either one of them would know was for
him to try it.

“Would you do me a favor?” he asked.

“What is it?”

“If you can’t refer to me as Jason, would you please call me
Watkins?  I don’t want to be ‘Your G
race’ all the time.”

She winced before she could stop the reaction.
  He didn’t ask her an easy thing.  If he had any idea how difficult it was, he wouldn’t ask it at all.  “There’s nothing wron
g with me referring to you as ‘Your G
race’.  It’s your due as a duke.”

“But it feels unnatural to do that every time.  I suppose if you were a stranger or an acquaintance, it would suit, but I’m your husband.”

“I don’t know if I can.”

“Sure you can.  Open your mouth and say Watkins.”

She got ready to shake her head, to deny she could even do that much, but he leaned forward and kissed her cheek.  His lips were soft and warm, just as gentle as his touch, and despite her better judgment, her resolve weakened.  “All right.  I’ll call you Watkins.” Per
haps if she stuck with that
, it wouldn’t be so bad.  Perhaps she could
still keep enough distance from him so she wouldn’t get
too
attached.

He smiled and wrapped her hand in his.  “Thank you.”

He turned his attention to the fountain, but she couldn’t think of anything but the terrifying prospect of what calling him Watkins and allowing him to touch her so intimately might mean.  It seemed to her she was quic
kly approaching a bridge—
one that she’d not only cross but
one that
might possibly be her undoing.

***

Jason couldn’t help but notice the way Anna kept fidgeting next to him in the carria
ge, and it got worse as they got closer to Lord Mason’s estate.  He considered holding her hand or putting his arm around her shoulders to offer her some kind of comfort, but he sensed she didn’t want him touching her so he refrained.

He turned his attention to the window, his mind wandering to nothing in particular.  When the estate came
in
to view, he straightened in his seat.  F
rom the other carriages pulling up to the front, he estimated that Lord Maso
n had invited five other couples.

Beside him, Anna rubbed her forehead and sighed.

“At
least it’s only for three hours,” he said.

“Three hours can seem like an eternity when all you want to do is go home,”
she replied, her hand falling to
her lap.

He reached over and clasped her
hand in his.  “You said if we came here, then he wouldn’t
feel the need to come out to Camden, correct?”

She nodded.

“Then think of it as three hours spent
to avoid having to see more of him.”

A smile crossed her face.  “That’s a better way of thinking about it.”

He wondered just how dreadful his brother was. 
With a shrug, he figured he’d find out soon enough.  For sure, fretting over the evening wasn’t going to change the outcome.  Whatever was going to happen was going to happen.  All he could do was as Anna suggested and not let Mason bother him.

The carriage came
to a stop, and he waited for
Mason’s footman
to open the door before he left the carriage and held his hand
out
to help
Anna down. 
Her
grip tightened
around his hand
to the point where he thought she might cut off his circulation.  His eyes widened but he gave no other indication that he was surprised by the fierceness of her anxiety.