The Earl Claims a Bride (22 page)

Angelina wrinkled her nose at him as they started down the lane. “Why? This place is not a secret, is it?”

“No.”

“Then I would like very much for you to tell me why you think I shouldn’t come here to help or for a visit.”

“All right,” he said, continuing to glance at her. “I suppose I should tell you for your own good. Mrs. Vaughan has been a mistress to several wealthy and powerful gentlemen over the past thirty years. She’s no longer in that line of business, but she is not someone who is acceptable for a young lady to associate with.”

“A mistress? Oh, I see,” she whispered. That was the last thing Angelina would have expected to hear.

“Does that shock you?”

Quite a bit.

“No, no,” she fibbed, feeling heat rise up her neck and settle in her cheeks. “I mean of course I’ve heard of mistresses, but I don’t think I’ve ever met one before.”

“You’d have no reason to.”

“It’s just that she seemed like such a nice, lovely woman.”

“Mistresses are nice, lovely women, Angelina. Why would a man pay for the pleasure to share time with a shrew?”

“Of course you’re right.”

“Mrs. Vaughan is beautiful, intelligent, and discreet. She was sought after for many years. She could command any price she wanted and did. Once her beauty started to fade, she turned to other pursuits.”

“That surprises me.”

“What?” He looked at Angelina again and grinned. “That she went from taking care of two-legged animals to four-legged?”

“Of course not.” Angelina huffed and then scoffed. “She is still a very beautiful woman. Her beauty hasn’t faded.”

“I agree with you,” he said. Angelina was quiet while she opened her parasol. Finally she asked, “Was she your mistress?”

He glanced at her and chuckled. “So you are curious about that. I wondered if you would ask.”

“How could I not after what you told me.”

He remained quiet, looking at the horses trotting along the rutted lane.

“Was she?” she asked again.

Harrison’s expression softened. “No, she was never my mistress.”

Angelina believed him. “Then how do you know so much about her?”

“From other gentlemen.”

“So men talk about their mistresses.”

“Somewhat,” he said as calmly as if they were talking about the beautiful weather. “Never in any great detail.”

“Is it true that you once walked down a street in Mayfair with a mistress on each arm?”

He glanced at her. “So you’ve heard about that.”

“It’s true then?”

They left the deserted lane and turned back onto the main roadway. “It was a long time ago. I no longer try to shock people.”

“Is it also true then that you have participated in orgies?”

That got his attention and he jerked his head around. “Where did you hear that?”

“From some ladies in my reading group who swear it’s true.”

“Angelina.” He paused as if trying to decide what he wanted to say. When he’d made up his mind, he continued, “I am quite open with you about many things, most things, but there are some things I’m not willing to discuss with you and that is one of them.”

So she had finally found a subject that rattled him. Thank goodness! She was beginning to think that he was unflappable. Good to know he wasn’t. That tickled her, and she laughed.

His expression told her he didn’t think that was amusing, but a few seconds later she saw the corners of his mouth twitch with laughter, too.

Chapter 19

You kiss by th’ book.

Romeo and Juliet
1.5.110

Harrison sat in his coach dressed in evening attire with his feet propped up on the opposite seat. A tin box of hot coals sat on the floor to keep him warm, and a flask of brandy helped him pass the time while he waited and watched Angelina’s front door. It was the only thing he could do. He’d missed her the past two nights, having no idea which parties she would be attending or at what time she would be there. There was nothing to do but to follow her carriage to her first engagement of the evening.

He’d asked himself a thousand times why he hadn’t kissed her the afternoon they went to see Mrs. Vaughan. It was a perfect opportunity. He’d wanted to. Started to. But he feared that if they’d started kissing on that lonely stretch of road, he might not have stopped until she was completely his. He wanted that, and one day she would want it, too, but she hadn’t yet come to that realization. She needed more time. And as much as he disliked doing it, he had to give her that time to see that Captain Maxwell wasn’t the man for her. Harrison was. He didn’t know how, but he’d known it the moment he first saw her.

He was still thinking about Angelina and the officer. The afternoon she and Harrison had gone to Olivia Vaughan’s house, Angelina said she had a lovely time with Maxwell. Had the officer seen her since then, had he danced with her again? Harrison had wanted to know more but at the time, he decided he wouldn’t ask. He wanted Angelina thinking about him, not the captain. But Harrison couldn’t let it go. He kept wondering if Maxwell had held her hand, if he’d kissed her.

His instinct told him no. He doubted the captain had spent any time alone with her during the afternoon. It was too wet for a ride in the park, and her father and grandmother had been home. Harrison was fairly certain one of them kept Angelina in sight at all times. Mr. Rule had already made it clear he intended Harrison would wed his daughter. But Harrison had to make sure.

The front door opened and Harrison sat up. He reached up and knocked his fist twice on the top of the coach, giving his driver the prearranged signal to follow.

Less than ten minutes later Harrison’s carriage stopped in front of Viscount Thistlebury’s house. Harrison stayed inside the coach until he saw they had entered.

He left his hat, gloves, and cloak with the servant at the front door. On both sides of the vestibule were rooms filled with people. At a glance Harrison didn’t see Angelina in either of them. He walked down the corridor to see if there were other rooms where people might have gathered, but the dining room and book room were empty. The kitchen was filled with servants. It appeared the two front rooms were the only ones with guests.

He strode back to the vestibule and entered the drawing room. For a time he chatted with the Lord Mayor, but all the while he discreetly let his gaze search the packed room for Angelina. Not finding her, he soon left and entered the doorway on the other side. Lord Thistlebury immediately cornered him to let him know he’d heard about the rebuilding of Thornwick. Harrison remembered that the viscount was one of the gentlemen at the duel that morning who’d said that Harrison wouldn’t take care of the place. Harrison smiled and told the man he’d invite him to a house party once the place was finished. In fact, he would invite all the men who’d doubted his ability to change from a carefree scoundrel to being a trustworthy earl for Thornwick.

Harrison soon spotted Angelina and set his gaze on her while he continued to keep Lord Thistlebury happy with news from the building project. Harrison had no doubt the man would be eager to spread the word. Just when he thought he was going to have to approach Angelina to get her attention, she caught sight of him. For a moment he would have sworn to anyone that she was glad to see him.

He remained a little while longer with the viscount and then excused himself from his host and moved to the doorway. As he’d hoped, Angelina’s gaze followed him. He inclined his head toward the corridor. She wrinkled her brow and lifted her shoulders a little to indicate she didn’t understand him. He took two steps backward, motioned with his head again toward the corridor, and walked out. There was no way she wouldn’t understand that, he thought. He waited at the far end of the corridor and within a couple of minutes she walked out and looked straight at him.

Harrison felt that now familiar tightness in his chest and stomach. She looked stunning in a low-cut, high-waisted gown made from a flimsy, frothy-looking fabric that clung to her legs and outlined her shapely figure as she walked toward him. Three strands of pearls hung around her neck, a short single strand at her throat and a longer double strand on the enticing swell of her breasts. He was struck by an intense and immediate desire to possess her and make her his.

“Good evening, Angelina,” he said as she came up to him.

“My lord, is something wrong?”

He had hoped for a sweet smile from her but he’d settle for less at the moment. “No. Should there be?”

“You were acting strange.”

“Was I? I wanted to talk to you without being in the middle of the crush.”

“Good. This gives me the opportunity to thank you again for taking me to see Mrs. Vaughan.”

“And it gives me the opportunity to ask you more about your afternoon with Captain Maxwell.”

Her eyes searched his cautiously. “Yes, but why would you want to?”

She was being evasive. She had to know that would irritate him. He thought he could live without knowing, but he was dying to find out if he had touched her, kissed her, and held her in his arms.

“I suppose you had many things to catch up on since he’s been gone over a year.”

“We are getting to know each other, it’s true.” She moistened her lips. “I told you, we never spent a lot of time with each other before he left. Remember, I hadn’t had my debut so our time together was extremely limited.”

“That’s right,” he agreed. “Captain Maxwell is more than a few years older than you, isn’t he?”

She raised her eyebrows and seemed to ponder his question. “I don’t know how old he is.”

“I’d guess about twenty years older than you.”

“Probably not quite that much, but age matters not to me,” she assured him quietly.

“Tell me, did he talk about his injury and how it happened with you?”

She frowned and glanced behind her as if to assure herself no one was watching them talking alone in the dimly lit corridor. “No. I didn’t expect him to. In fact, I’m sure it would be very difficult for him to talk about that horrifying time with anyone. Why do you ask? Why are you asking me these questions about the captain?”

Did she really not know that he was jealous and that it was eating at him day and night?

“I thought perhaps he might have told you how it happened. That you might have asked. Isn’t it natural to be curious as to exactly what happened to him?”

“Yes, and I suppose I am,” she admitted, then qualified by adding, “Somewhat. But that is being meddlesome, my lord. I would never ask him about it. How would you like it if I or someone else asked about your injuries?”

He gave her a puzzled grin. That was the hell of it. He had participated in all kinds of dangerous escapades for years and had never had a serious wound in his life. “What injuries would those be, Angelina?”

“Everyone knows you had a duel last winter,” she said in a frosty tone. “That you killed a man, and you were shot, too. Obviously your wounds are not visible as are Captain Maxwell’s, but surely you have them.”

Oh, yes, he had wounds, but thankfully he had the kind of wounds that didn’t show on the skin.

“It’s true I dueled last winter, at the other man’s insistence I might add. And I wounded him. But he is still very much alive. And I was not harmed. There were a dozen men who were witnesses and know the truth.”

She gave him a doubtful look. “I heard you were shot, too, which is why you stayed away from London for half a year. You were healing.”

Yes, he was healing. He had been wounded and was grieving the loss of Maddie, his brother, and their children. He was adjusting to a title he wasn’t worthy to bear, and learning how to rebuild and manage the large estate he was never supposed to inherit. But Harrison didn’t want her to know he’d ever been that vulnerable.

“Gossip is an amazing progression of facts that seem to have no truth behind them.” He moved very close to her and softened his voice. “Just tonight I heard that Captain Maxwell kissed you on the afternoon of his visit.”

She gasped and looked behind her again. “You did not hear that.”

No, but I’ve been wondering.

“Does that mean his lips didn’t touch yours?”

“Of course not,” she said, seeming outraged by his fib. “Unlike the man standing before me now, he’s a gentleman. A true gentleman. Besides, how could he have kissed me when my father never left us alone for even a moment?”

Good for Mr. Rule.

Harrison quickly surveyed the corridor and doorways for anyone who might be nearby. Seeing no one, he said, “The captain could have done something like this.” He picked up her hand and hurried down the corridor with her following. It pleased him that she didn’t try to stop him but willingly let him lead the way. He opened the back door and gently pulled her outside onto the stoop.

The lamp on the small porch wasn’t lit but hazy moonlight shone down from the twinkling black sky. The cold breeze that drifted across his face did nothing to chill the heat in his loins.

“Ah—why are you bringing me out here?”

He dipped his head low and whispered, “So I can do this.” He placed his lips on hers as his arms circled her and brought her up to his chest. She was stunned by his embrace and kiss. She squirmed and pushed against his chest for a second or two before lifting her arms around his neck, giving him access to hold her closer and tighter. With a contented sigh, she parted her lips, opened her mouth, and leaned against him.

Harrison loved the way she melted so easily into his arms. His lower body thickened and hardened instantly. He wanted her and he wanted her to know he did. He kissed her long and deeply. She sighed and matched his passion. Her response made him eager for more of her.

“Perhaps the captain has not been dying to kiss you, Angelina,” he whispered against her lips. “But I have.”

She tasted of fruit punch. He’d never liked the drink but on her lips it was heavenly sweet and satisfying. He loved the tempting depth of her mouth and searched it with his tongue, before letting his lips glide across her cheek to softly nuzzle the warm soft area behind her ear. She lowered her head to give him better access. He inhaled softly, slowly drinking in her womanly scent.