To Love A Lord of London (Wardington Park; Raptures of Royalty) (9 page)

A
my felt
nervous as she heard the carriage door close. She watched as Nathaniel took the seat across from her… and her cousin. Christa sat in the carriage, trying to appear as invisible as possible. After finding out that the duchess had indeed left Amy with a group of suitors the other day, her uncle had forbidden the woman from going to the play and then had forced her cousin to attend with Amy. Christa did not look happy, though not even a frown could distract from her beauty. She wore a pale pink dress that made her look soft. Amy felt bad for her cousin, but was unsure how to help her. Amy herself was dressed in a gold gown and another shocking piece from the exclusive seamstress.

T
he carriage was underway
when Nathaniel said, “You look beautiful.”

Amy looked at him, sure he was talking to Christa, but found his eyes on her. She swallowed, “Thank you, my lord.”

Nathaniel’s eyes were dark. Then they slid to Christa and softened, “Lady Christa.”

Christa’s eyes slid over to him.

He nodded his head. “You look beautiful as well.” The words were filled with truth, though lacked the passion he’d had for Amy. He was trying to make her feel better… and it worked.

A gentle smile touched her lips. “Thank you, my lord.”

He smiled at her, “I’m sure every man’s eye will be on you tonight.”

Christa laughed and turned away, blushing. Then she looked at Amy and said, “Well, I’m sure many men will look at Amy as well.”

S
omething flashed
in Nathaniel’s eyes and then he said, “They wouldn’t dare.”

Christa smiled at him and then leaned over and whispered so only Amy could hear, “You’re a lucky girl.”

Amy knew. She smiled at Nathaniel, trying to thank him with her eyes. He winked at her, and she felt her heart leap. What did she have to do to have this man forever?

Be yourself.

They’d been Wardington’s words the other evening when she’d snuck off to see him in preparation for tonight.

More than anything, it’s important that he see the real you, for it was you who first caught his eye.

So, tonight Amy would be herself… and hoped she’d survive it.

I
nside the theatre
, their coats were taken, and that was when Amy was really able to show off her gown. As Nathaniel predicted, no man dared to glance at her longer than what would be appropriate. Apparently, word had gotten around about Nathaniel’s performance at the duke’s home. Every man had been warned off, which hadn’t made Amy happy at all. What if she couldn’t convince Nathaniel to see her as more than a mistress? What if she was never good enough in his eyes?

In their box at the theatre, Amy sat between Nathaniel and Christa, and once the show had begun, hardly a word was spoken between the three. Sadly, Amy found herself raptured by the stage. She really did enjoy the theatre. It wasn’t until intermission that she finally broke away from the stage and turned to the man who was escorting her.

An apology was at her lips, but she was silenced quickly.

His voice was low, “I could just kiss you right now in front of all these people.”

Amy was surprised. “Why?” She’d thought she’d ignored him. Surely, a man like Nathaniel was used to more attention in dark places… even in a theatre.

N
athaniel smiled
. His green eyes dared her in. “Instead of having to suffer with endless conversation, I was actually able to watch a play. That never happens when I bring a woman.”

Amy was surprised, “I thought you’d be upset.”

“Far from it.” He laughed and then grew serious, though a smile stayed on his lips, “You’re a special woman, Amy. You’re… perfect.”

Perfect.

All because she’d kept silent during a play?

Be yourself.

Wardington had been right.

A man came into their box. Handsome with dark hair and eyes. He spoke to Nathaniel before being introduced to both Amy and Christa.

“Lady Christa, Miss Ott. Meet the next great playwright, Sir Rudolph Vow.”

Vow bowed to the women. “So good to meet you.” Then he laughed and said to Nathaniel, “I thank you for your words, my lord.”

“
H
onest words
.” Then Nathaniel turned to Amy. “I know you’ll be interested in this. I’ve invested in Sir Vow’s play. Hopefully, we’ll be able to put it on by the end of the year.”

Amy smiled. “What’s the name of your play?”

Vow said, “The Man Who Knew No One.”

Amy frowned.

Nathaniel laughed, “Don’t worry. It’s a comedy. I’ve read the script myself.”

Amy hesitated, “No, my lord. That’s not it… It simply… It sounds familiar.”

Vow’s smile fell, but then returned so quickly that Amy wondered if it happened at all. “Well, the English vocabulary is so limited. Many works of art will have the same title. Like songs or books.”

“Of course,” Nathaniel said.

“Well,” Amy asked. “What’s the play about?”

Vow said, “You’ll have to wait and see.”

Nathaniel began to speak, but Amy cut him off. “Well, you don’t have to give me any of its lines. A simple synopsis would do.”

V
ow frowned
.

Nathaniel laughed and said, “It’s about an old duke who is to marry the young daughter of an earl in a week. The young woman, in preparation of her marriage, travels to Scotland to visit her family, but the duke believes she’s run off to marry in Gretta Green to another. So, he follows her in the hopes of stopping it. The play is about his journey.”

Amy nodded, “Does it start with him purchasing a horse?”

Nathaniel looked shocked, “Why, yes. It does. The duke calls the old girl scary—”

“And names her The Nightmare?”

Nathaniel frowned, “Yes. That’s a good guess. How’d you know?”

V
ow looked
as though he’d broken out into a sweat.

Amy narrowed her eyes. “Because, my lord, I’ve seen this play before.”

“Where?”

“East London.” The least safe part of London.

Nathaniel narrowed his eyes. “What were you doing there?”

That was not something she wanted to discuss with him. Ever. She changed the subject. “The play had been called
He Who Knew No One,
and it was written by a friend.” A good friend of Amy’s from her former life.

Vow swallowed.

Nathaniel turned to him. “Vow, did you plagiarize this play?”

Vow licked his lips and then his eyes hardened. “The man who wrote it was nobody. Just some poor writer living in a whore house. We can make real money from this. ”

A
my looked disgusted
.

So did Nathaniel. “How dare you? You’re not a writer. You’re a thief, and I’ll have you arrested for this.”

Vow looked surprised, “You’ll arrest an old friend over the honor of a poor man.”

“No,” Nathaniel said. “Over the honor of an artist. It’s men like you who crush creativity before it has the chance to bloom.” Then he headed out of the box with Vow on his heels.

Christa turned to Amy, “I hope this doesn’t come back to bite you.”

Amy hoped the same thing, but… “I couldn’t let that man claim work that wasn’t his.”

Christa sighed, “But now you’ve raised more questions about yourself. What if Nathaniel goes in search of this writer? What if he goes to the whore house? What if he finds out your connection to it?”

Amy looked away at hearing the truth. Christa was right. She’d exposed herself. Amy’s mother tried acting at first but had never been good at it, so after Amy’s father’s death she’d done what she could to feed Amy. Amy remembered the nights her mother would come home, not saying what it was she actually did, but everyone knew. Everyone had told Amy, which eventually led to the young Amy having to hide herself in public. She could never be seen with her mother. It had all been in effort to make sure nothing ruined Amy’s chances at a future… but in a moment of doing what was right, she’d led Nathaniel on the path of truth.

A
my whispered
, “He doesn’t have to know the truth.”

“Amy,” Christa pressed. “I don’t want you to mess this up.”

Amy stared at her, “Why are you helping me? Haven’t I ruined your life? Your father threatens you because of my secret.”

Christa just stared at her and said, “If anyone is going to make it out of that house without being ruined, it’s going to be you.”

Amy didn’t understand her words but decided to change back to the previous conversation. “Promise me that if he asks, you will simply say you know nothing.”

“And I’d fall for this plan because, I’m just that gullible?”

Amy turned and found Nathaniel standing at the curtain, pain written on his face. She went to him. “No. That’s not it. I—”

“
L
eave us
,” he said to Christa.

Amy’s cousin looked at her and then left the room.

Nathaniel crossed his arms. “So, you simply never planned to tell me the truth? Or perhaps, you planned on waiting until after we were married.”

Married? Had he been thinking about asking for her hand. Amy shook her head. “No. I was going to tell you.”

“Then tell me this.” He lowered his voice, “Exactly, how big of a fool did I look? Chasing after a woman who’d been had by many?”

Amy’s eyes widened, “No, Nathaniel. I’m not… like that.”

He laughed, “Oh, Miss Ott. You play innocent so well.” He shook his head. “And to think…” He shook his head again.

“Nathaniel—”

A brow rose. “It’s Lord Nathaniel to you.”

She drew back, surprised, then looked away, embarrassed. “My lord, I—”

H
e touched her then
, grabbing her roughly around the waist. There was no gentleness in his touch. He leaned forward, pressing his lips to her cheek. “Forget it. This works out for me either way. I don’t care how many men you’ve been with, but I will be your last, and I will take you as you are.” Then he pulled back and looked at her. “A woman from your station should be so lucky.” Where his eyes had once been full of warmth, were now cold.

Amy pushed out of his embrace, “Nathaniel—”

“Lord—”

“My lord!”

They were silent.

Nathaniel said, “Shall we finish the play and then head to my townhouse after?”

She stared at him, not understanding what it was she’d seen in him at all. “You’ll be doing both on your own.”

“So, be it.”

Then she left.

T
he second act
had been playing for twenty minutes, and Nathaniel hadn’t seen a thing. He sat brooding in his chair when he heard the soft opening and closing of the curtain to his box. He didn’t want company and when he saw who was there, more than ever he wished to be alone. “Don’t you have somewhere else you can watch from?”

“
W
hy
?” his father asked. “Is this box full?”

Nathaniel narrowed his eyes but gave no reply.

“I saw Miss Ott and Lady Christa leave… What did you do?”

He scoffed, “Of course you’d blame me.” Then he turned to face his father, the play completely forgotten. “I found out Miss Ott’s little secret tonight.”

“And what secret was that?” Wardington asked.

Nathaniel looked away. He wanted to tell his father but couldn’t bring the words to the surface. Even now, he protected her, even when he felt so betrayed. He’d actually begun to fall for her.

W
ardington spoke
, “I didn’t know you were one to judge a woman for something she couldn’t control.”

“She controlled herself by lying to me about it. Pretending to be innocent when all she was after was marriage to one in the peerage.”

Wardington was silent for a moment and then said, “But Amy is innocent.”

Nathaniel looked at his father, “With your experience, I thought you a better judge of character.”

Wardington narrowed his eyes, “What that woman’s mother has done does not mean she participated in any of it. She was only a child. Her father died and her mother did what she could to feed her. Hensman never helped his sister, but guilt ate at him after she died, so he took Amy in.”

Nathaniel stared at his father and shook his head. “Her mother?” He thought back to Amy’s every word. Then he thought about the conversation he’d heard between her and Christa. Thanks to the valet who’d been right outside his door, Nathaniel had been able to deposit Vow into the other man’s hands and return to Amy. He’d been right outside the door when he’d heard it.

What if he goes to the whore house? What if he finds out your connection to it?

The connection. It wasn’t Amy’s. It was her mother’s. Nathaniel sighed. He should have known better. He should have been able to see it in her eyes. She was so pure, and kind, and he loved… “No,” he whispered.

“
Y
es
,” his father said. “You’re a fool.”

Nathaniel shook his head. “It’s better this way. Now, she can go be with someone else.”

“And not one day die and leave you like your mother left me.” The words struck their target.

Nathaniel turned to his father. “I can’t do this,” he confessed. “I’ve read enough tragedies to know that this never turns out well. Look at you.”

Hard green eyes stared at him in the dark. “What does that mean?”

“Father, you're not happy.”

Wardington nodded, “You’re right, but neither are you.”

“But I was,” he insisted. “Before her. I was happy.”

“Were you?”

He was silent. Then said, “I was going to make it.”

“And now?”

“Now?” Nathaniel looked away, Amy’s smile in his mind. “I don’t want to be without her.”

“So, what do you do now?”

Nathaniel stared at the stage and decided he would never watch another one with another—or his father—again.

A
my heard
a tapping sound at her window and knew who it was. She hoped she knew who it was. Wrapping herself in a robe, she went to the window and opened it. It was raining outside, and Nathaniel was drenched beneath her. He stared up at her, not saying a word, but she saw the remorse in his eyes and forgave him. Immediately. But, he didn’t have to know that tonight. “Go away.”

“O, speak again, bright angel! For thou art as glorious to this night, being o’er my head.”

Amy scoffed. Shakespeare? Really? “O Romeo, O Romeo… go to bed, or you’ll catch a cold.”

Nathaniel looked serious, “Not until you forgive me. I was wrong. I know the truth now, and no one else ever has to know.”

T
hat was good news
. “I forgive you. Goodnight.”

“Marry me, Amy.” That was not a line from the play.

“What?”

He grinned, “Marry me. I need you. You've woken something inside of me that I fear will die without you. I love you, Amy Ott.”

Amy felt tears begin to build in her eyes. “You wish to marry me? You love me?”

“I do.”

She smiled, “I love you, too.”

He grinned again and then grew serious. “I think we’re supposed to kiss now.”

She laughed, “You would say so.”

He shrugged, “It was worth a try.”

“You can wait until tomorrow, can’t you?”

His green eyes stayed steady with hers and said, “I could wait for you forever, Miss Ott.” And those were the words she’d wanted to hear more than anything else.