Page 86 of Saved By the Belle

She smiled. “If anyone can, it will be you.” And then she was gone.

Hew started back upstairs, not surprised in the least that Belle had won his mother over. She had a way of doing that. He didn’t know how she managed it. She wasn’t charming or witty. But she was genuine. Hew supposed that his mother could appreciate that as much as he.

He shouldn’t have taken her last night—or early this morning. He’d known it was a mistake, and yet he’d done it anyway. And since it was a mistake, he should regret it more than he did. But it was hard to regret something that had been so pleasurable. It was hard to regret something he desperately wanted to do again.

But he wouldn’t do it again because he didn’t intend to marry her—despite what she said. He’d deal with that issue later. He’d make his apologies later, own up to his moral failures and weaknesses of the flesh. Right now, he had to find Belle’s father.

“I LIKED HER,” BELLE said after Hew had left with his mother. “She wasn’t quite as arrogant as I’d imagined she’d be.”

Galloway smiled. “You’re not one for compliments, are you?”

“That was a compliment.”

“Do yourself a favor and don’t ever tell her that.”

“Am I supposed to compliment her when she scolds me for thinking I’m her equal? As though she’s better than me because of an accident of birth. I bet she can’t tell a Ceylon from an Assam.”

“The horror.” Galloway paced to the window and pushed the curtains aside.

“Then you think her rank makes her better than me?”

“What I think is that a thousand years ago her ancestor fought on a battlefield and distinguished himself. William the Conqueror or some other king gave him a parcel of land and the title of the Duke of Ely, and he’s passed it down for generations.”

“Who’s the duke now?”

“One of her brothers, I suppose.”

“And do you think he would succeed on the battlefield?”

He turned to face her. “Absolutely not.”

“What about me?”

“You’re a veritable Joan of Arc. Don’t worry. Given time, his mother will come around, if she hasn’t already. Nothing wrong with adding some peasant stock to the bloodline once in a while.”

He ducked, which was a good idea because she would have probably thrown her teacup at him if Hew hadn’t opened the door at that moment.

He gave them both a look. “What’s the matter?”

“Not a thing,” Galloway said, smiling. Belle wiped the angry expression from her face and gave Galloway a look of challenge. Last night he’d agreed that she might go to Hyde Park if Hew said she could. Hew was about to say she could.

“What is your plan for today? I assume we’ll go to Hyde Park and”—she gestured vaguely—“get the lay of the land?”

“You are not—” Galloway closed his mouth at one look from Belle. They both looked at Hew.

“What are you not telling me?” he asked, his tone wary.

“I am going to Hyde Park with you,” she said.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he said.

“I agree,” Will said. “In fact, the best idea is still for Hew to get on a train and Miss Howard to go back to wherever she came from.”

“No one asked you,” Belle said. “Hew, it’s my father. I want to see where the meeting will happen tonight.”

“I’ll take the train tomorrow and take full responsibility for not following orders,” Hew told Galloway. “As for Hyde Park....” He seemed to consider Belle. “I suppose there’s no harm in you coming along. We won’t be the only people at the park at this hour.”

Galloway made a sound of annoyance, but Belle smiled at Hew. He seemed surprised by it and took a step back. “I feel as though I’ve missed something.”

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