Reese's Bride (8 page)

“What do you mean?”

“Perhaps you came here to resume your relationship with Reese. Do you intend to lure my nephew back into your clutches?”

“No! I came here because I was desperate. I knew my son was in danger. My family is all gone. Reese was the only person I could trust.”

“Because he is Jared’s father?”

“Because he is a man of honor and strength and I believed he would not turn us away.”

The countess seemed to weigh Elizabeth’s words. “When will you tell him?”

Elizabeth stared off into the distance. She had no idea how to tell Reese a secret so profound. A secret that would turn his dislike of her to hate.

“I need time. I don’t know what he’ll do. I don’t know what will happen to my son once Reese knows the truth.” Tears collected in her eyes. “Jared is already so withdrawn. He is too young yet to understand his true parentage. I’m afraid if the information is handled wrong, it could destroy him completely.”

The dowager said nothing for the longest time. “The boy’s well-being is the most important concern. This wasn’t my business until you came here. Now it is. I’ll give you the time you need. I’ll give you a chance to figure out the best way to handle the matter, but I won’t let you deceive Reese forever.”

Her stomach tightened. She couldn’t imagine the enmity Reese would feel once she told him the truth.

A lump rose in Elizabeth’s throat. “In my heart I knew when I saw them together that sooner or later I would have to tell him. I give you my word that I will. Until then, you have my heartfelt gratitude for giving me the time I need to try to make this right.”

The old woman rose shakily from the bench. “As I said, for now, you may do as you wish. But I warn you, do not test my patience too long.” Leaning heavily on her cane, Lady Tavistock made her way along the gravel path, up the brick steps and across the terrace. She disappeared inside the house and Elizabeth sank back down on the bench.

For now she had the old woman’s cooperation. But dear God, how long would it last?

And how could she explain to a little boy that she had lied to him about the man who was his father?

W
earing only a white lawn shirt and a pair of riding breeches, Reese sat on a wooden bench in the stable, working his injured leg. He and Timothy Daniels had begun to follow the same routine daily.

“Pull harder,” Reese said, ignoring the sharp pain that traveled up his calf and along his thigh. He needed to stretch the stiff muscles, find a way to make them limber and useful again. “Now the other way.”

Timothy pulled and Reese gritted his teeth at the agony screaming up his leg. He could do this, by God. He would learn to walk without his damnable cane. In time, perhaps he would even be able to ride again.

“Harder, dammit. You’re as strong as a bull. Put that strength to use.”

Timothy looked dubiously at the sweat popping out on Reese’s forehead, but he was a soldier and a soldier followed his superior’s commands. “Aye, Major.”

Reese caught hold of the wooden contraption they had constructed above the bench and Timothy threw his weight against the leg.

Pain shot through him. “Keep going.”

Timothy kept pulling until something made a popping sound and Reese hissed in pain. “Dammit!”

Timothy hovered worriedly above him. “How bad is it, Major? What did I do?”

“You did exactly what I told you to do, nothing more.” Very slowly, he forced his knee to bend, which hurt like the very devil. “I’ll be all right. But I think we’ve done enough for today.”

“Yes, sir.”

“That’ll be all, Tim.”

“Maybe I’d better stay and help you back to the—”

“I said that would be all, Corporal Daniels.”

“Aye, sir.” Timothy snapped to attention, turned and left the barn. Reese caught the glint of the young man’s red hair as he passed in front of the window on his way back to the house.

That was when he spotted the boy.

“Jared,” Reese growled, his leg still throbbing. “I thought you were inside with your mother.”

The boy stood frozen, terrified that he had been caught in the barn. Reese frowned. The boy’s shyness went far beyond normal. He couldn’t help wondering what had happened to make him the way he was.

“It’s all right,” he said more gently, pulling his riding boots back on. “My leg is hurting, is all. Makes me grumpy as a bear.”

The boy said nothing, just stood there transfixed, as if he wanted to turn and run but was afraid of what would happen if he did.

“You pet the mare today?”

Jared started shaking his head. “No, sir, I—I didn’t touch her. I swear.”

“It’s all right. You can pet her anytime you want. As long as you don’t go into the stall, you’ll be perfectly safe.”

Jared didn’t move.

“Why don’t you go on over there and give her this?” Reese pulled a lump of sugar out of the pocket of his riding breeches. “Just put it in the flat of your hand and hold it out to her. Come on, I’ll show you.”

Jared inched forward until he came up beside Reese. The two of them made their way to the stall where the mare stood watching.

“Hold out your hand,” Reese said. Jared didn’t hesitate. Clearly he wasn’t afraid of horses, only men.

Reese set the lump of sugar in the middle of the child’s small palm, then lifted him up so that he could feed the sugar to the mare.

She took it with a soft nicker that made the boy grin. “She likes it!”

“Yes, she does,” Reese said gruffly, setting the child back on his feet. He could still feel the imprint of the boy’s small body against his chest, smell the clean soapy fragrance of his hair. There was a time he had yearned for children of his own. Holding the boy stirred all those forgotten emotions.

Silently, he damned Elizabeth to hell for returning to his life and bringing her young son with her.

“Does your mother know you’re out here?” he asked, focusing once more on the boy.

Jared shook his head.

“Then I think you had better go back in.”

Jared just nodded. Turning, the little boy dashed out of the barn and ran like fire all the way back to the manor.

Reese watched him until he disappeared. He looked up at the sound of Timothy’s voice.

“Sorry to bother you, Major, but Mr. Hopkins said to fetch you. He said to tell you your brother and his wife have arrived.”

Reese inwardly groaned. Royal and Lily were there. His brother disliked Elizabeth almost as much as Aunt Aggie. He had known they would come as soon as they discovered Elizabeth’s presence. He had only hoped it wouldn’t be this soon.

Reese made his way into the drawing room where Royal and his wife, Lily, sat on a deep rose velvet sofa. Even without the improvements he and Elizabeth had once planned to make, the room was comfortable and attractive, done in shades of rose and gold, with rosewood furniture, fringed pillows on the sofas, and Persian rugs over the wide-planked wooden floors. A pair of ancient Chinese vases sat on the mahogany mantle above the hearth, which blazed at the far end of the drawing room.

Royal stood and strode toward him as Reese walked through the open door. Hopkins closed the sliders solidly behind them, making them private. An inch taller, not quite so lean, blond-haired and with the tawny eyes of a lion, Royal fixed him with a glare.

“Have you lost your mind, brother?”

“Apparently so. At least that is the way it seems to our beloved aunt.”

Some of Royal’s tension eased. “I heard Aunt Agatha was here. That is one of the reasons we came.”

“I hope that means you’ll be staying for supper at the very least.” He looked to his brother’s pretty blond wife for confirmation. Gowned in sky-blue silk, Lily’s silver-blond hair was far lighter than Royal’s dark gold, her eyes a pale shade of green. Being of a much milder temperament than his domineering brother, a man raised to be a duke, Lily was the perfect match for Royal.

“I told him we should send word ahead,” she said, “see if our visit would be convenient, but he refused to wait.”

“You don’t need an invitation. You’re always welcome here. Besides, Aunt Aggie has been hoping you would stop by. She sent a note to Bransford just this morning. I know she’s eager to see you.”

Lily smiled. “Then of course, we shall stay.”

Royal flicked a glance at the snugly closed doors. “All right, enough of the idle chitchat. What in blazes is Elizabeth Holloway doing in your house?”

Reese’s mouth faintly curved. “She dropped by for a neighborly visit. She’s just here for a couple of weeks, is all. You don’t think it’s a good idea?”

Royal’s eyebrows shot up. “Good idea? The woman jilted you for another man! She deceived you and broke her promise to marry you—to say nothing of your heart. Now she is here? Have you gone mad?”

Reese laughed. He couldn’t help it. Royal heard the sound and looked as if his brother truly had taken leave of his senses. “You’re laughing. You don’t laugh, Reese. At least you haven’t in years.”

He grinned. “I’m sorry. If only you knew how you sounded. Why don’t we all sit down and I’ll explain as best I can why Elizabeth and her son are here. Then we’ll send word up to our aunt to join us.”

As Royal crossed to the sofa and sat down next to Lily, he cast Reese an assessing glance.

Was his laughter really so rare? Perhaps his return to the country had been good for him, as his father had always believed.

Or perhaps it was the challenge he had undertaken, his determination to seduce Elizabeth into his bed.

He remembered their heated kisses, remembered Elizabeth staring up at him in wonder after the kiss was over, and whatever humor remained slipped away. Elizabeth was there in his house until her problems were resolved. In the meantime, he intended to make the best of a bad situation, perhaps gain a bit of justice for the way she had treated him.

But bedding her was as far as it would go. He had no intention of letting the woman get to him the way she had all those years ago.

There wasn’t a chance that would happen.

Not a chance in the world.

“Go ahead,” Royal said, regaining Reese’s attention. “This is a story I can’t wait to hear.”

Reese just sighed. Even he wasn’t sure exactly how best to explain.

Elizabeth suffered through the sumptuous meal served in the dining room that night, six courses that included a haunch of roasted beef accompanied by a robust Yorkshire pudding. Though the food was delicious, she could barely force herself to eat.

All evening, her gaze met hostile stares from around the table. Only Her Grace, Lily Dewar, Duchess of Bransford, was the least bit hospitable. Elizabeth had a feeling
the young woman understood what it was like to be the outcast in the room.

Perhaps that was the reason the duchess had suggested they meet for tea the following afternoon in an intimate drawing room at the back of the manor that overlooked the garden.

Gowned in a pale green silk gown embroidered with tiny roses, the duchess rose as Elizabeth walked in. “I am so glad you could join me.”

“Thank you for inviting me,” Elizabeth replied. “I’m happy to have a chance for a bit of female companionship. Though I must admit, I’m surprised your husband would approve.”

The duchess smiled. “Royal may be a duke but he doesn’t always get his way.”

Elizabeth found herself smiling in return.

“Why don’t we sit down?” the duchess suggested.

Elizabeth seated herself in a chair upholstered in floral blue chintz across from the matching sofa. The room had white molded ceilings and a mix of blue and white furniture that blended nicely with the garden outside the window.

Lily leaned over and began pouring tea into porcelain cups. “Reese explained why you and your son are here. I know what it’s like to feel as if there is no one you can turn to.”

“Do you?”

“One lump or two?” the duchess asked.

“One is enough, thank you.”

The duchess stirred in a lump and handed the cup and saucer to Elizabeth. “My parents died when I was twelve. If my uncle hadn’t taken me in, I shudder to think what
might have happened. As it was, we had a hard life, but at least I was raised by someone who loved me.”

“My mother died when I was five. My father raised me. He passed away four years ago.”

The duchess stirred her tea. “I’ve heard the stories…I know you and Reese were supposed to wed and that instead you married another man. It must have taken a great deal of courage for you to come to Reese for help.”

Elizabeth carefully rested the saucer in her lap. “As Reese explained, there was no one else I could turn to.”

“No one you could trust. That is what you mean, is it not?”

“Yes.”

“You must think very highly of Lord Reese.”

“I’ve always admired him greatly.”

“Did you love him?”

Her hand shook as she lifted the delicate cup and she almost spilled her tea. She set the cup back down in its saucer. “I loved him. Sometimes things just happen.”

The duchess watched her closely. “Sometimes wrongs have a way of righting themselves.”

Elizabeth smiled sadly. “Not this time, I’m afraid.”

“Why not?”

“Reese feels nothing for me but dislike.”
Except, perhaps, for lust
. “Even if his feelings were different, after what I did to him, he would never be able to trust me again.”

The duchess sipped her tea. She turned to look out the window into the garden. “The weather is pleasant today. Perhaps we should have taken a stroll out of doors.” She continued to gaze in that direction. “The garden is a bit run-down. Lovely though, even as it is.”

Elizabeth followed her gaze, grateful for the change of subject. Talking about the past was painful at best. Unfortunately, the future didn’t look much better.

“There is something about this place,” she said. “It’s always been so warm and inviting. I used to dream of living here with Reese.”

“Did you?”

She wished she hadn’t given away so much. She still knew little of the duchess. “It was a long time ago.”

“Yes…” the duchess agreed. “And yet not so long a’tall.”

No, now that she was staying in the house, those days with Reese seemed as if they had happened only yesterday.

They spoke of mundane things after that and Elizabeth was relieved. Eventually, the hour came to an end and both of them rose from their seats.

“I enjoyed our conversation very much, Your Grace.”

“I have few women friends,” the duchess said. “Those I have I value greatly. I have a feeling we may become good friends. I would like it very much if you called me Lily.”

A tightness swelled in Elizabeth’s chest. Over the years, Edmund had destroyed the friendships she had cherished. Frances was petty and jealous. Elizabeth would dearly love to have the friendship of a woman she admired.

“I would be honored. And I hope you will call me Elizabeth.”

And so the pact was made. The duke might not approve. She knew Reese wouldn’t like it. Still, Lily Dewar didn’t seem to care, and Elizabeth would always be grateful for the effort the woman had made.

If she went to London, she would be free of Mason and Frances, free to begin making a life for herself,
making new friends. Perhaps Lily Dewar would be the first among them.

She almost smiled, might have if she hadn’t thought of Reese and the secret she had to tell him and how he would make her feel.

Dear God, how much longer would she have to suffer for the mistakes she had made as a girl?

Royal and Lily had not yet returned to Bransford Castle. The carriage ride from Briarwood took only a little over an hour, but Reese hadn’t seen his brother in several weeks and he was enjoying the chance to visit.

Besides, Royal and Lily put a buffer between him and Aunt Aggie, and more importantly between him and Elizabeth.

His brother and his wife would be leaving after luncheon, but this morning, another visitor had arrived. Chase Morgan, the investigator Reese had hired, the same man Royal had employed some months back to help him find out who had swindled their father out of the Bransford fortune.

Morgan brought news of Edmund Holloway and since Royal had worked with the investigator before, Reese asked him to join the two of them in the study.

Morgan, a man in his early thirties, tall and dark and whipcord lean, made the appropriate greetings then sat down in the chair Reese indicated next to the one Royal occupied, and Reese took a seat behind his big oak desk.