Page 37 of The Lady Tempts an Heir
“No, thank you. I have to be leaving shortly.” He walked into the room slowly, hesitantly. He’d given his hat and gloves to Huxley, so he obviously intended to stay for a few minutes. She couldn’t figure out why he was acting so strange, unless he was as anxious about their kiss as she was.
Huxley backed out of the room, leaving the door open as was proper. Still, a pleasant tingling moved over her skin at being somewhat alone with him. She sat back down on the settee, moving the piles of papers spread out there to the table before her. She had been preparing for the arrival of the women who served on the board of the London Home for Young Women. They were going to help her get ready for her meeting with Sir Phineas at the end of the week to discuss the purchase.
“Please have a seat.” He surprised her by sitting next to her on the settee, making her realize how small the piece of furniture actually was. When he turned toward her, his knees almost touched hers. “Is something wrong?”
He paused, taking in a breath. She couldn’t help but watch his mouth, remembering how soft his lips had been on hers. “Your father visited me last night.”
“Oh dear God.” She covered her mouth with her hands as soon as the words were out. She could well imagine what he had said to Maxwell. No wonder he was aloof and withdrawn this afternoon. “I am sorry. Was he unspeakably rude? He had no right to—”
He reached out and took her hand, making her realize that she’d been gesturing excessively with it. “No, Helena, it’s fine. I can’t deny that it was a bit tense. We clearly do not see eye to eye on many issues. However, it went much better than I expected. If you can believe it, he tentatively gave his blessing on our courtship.”
No, she could not believe it. Her father was stodgy and old-fashioned, and he had plainly said that he did not appreciatevulgar wealth. “I don’t, actually.”
He flashed a grin. “He invited me to a party at Claremont Hall. Apparently, it’s an annual tradition.”
She couldn’t have been more shocked had he told her he had first-hand knowledge of the sea monster in Loch Ness. “I cannot believe it. How? Why?” At his expression of mock insult, she laughed. “I am glad of it, of course I am. I simply can hardly fathom it.”
“Perhaps we’ve given the old man too little credit. He cares for you deeply, Helena.” He squeezed her hand and then let it go. She drew it back to her lap, feeling unreasonably bereft at the loss of his touch. “He appreciated the way I took your side against those people saying horrible things about your charity. He believes that you need a strong man willing to challenge such opinions, and he believes I could be that man.”
“Oh... that’s rather unexpected.” Her father was a cold man at the best of times, never revealing his true feelings on anything, if he even had feelings. She was touched to learn that his affection for her outweighed his abhorrence of Maxwell not being titled or even a proper gentleman.
The hint of a grin lingered about his mouth. “He’s right, you know. I can and will stand up to them for you.”
The way his gaze swept her face made a blush steal over her, which was ridiculous. She was a widow, not a debutante in her first Season. Still, she glanced down at the pale green and gold embroidery of the settee. “I do appreciate you doing that. It isn’t my intention that you feel the need to intervene every time someone says something careless.”
“But I want to.”
“Thank you.”
His eyes met hers, and it was almost like a physical touch. He meant what he said, and she felt the same sense of belonging she had felt the night of the music performance. It was the both of them together against all the rest. That was a feeling she hadn’t had in a very long time, since before Arthur had died. Unfortunately, their relationship by the end had changed from what it had once been. He had retreated from her, justifiably wounded and upset by their inability to have a child. Ever since, there had been a sense of loneliness about her, lurking around the edges of her life. Even filling her time with the orphanage, the new venture, and friends hadn’t made it go away completely.
Because she couldn’t allow her thoughts to drift to those old memories, she asked, “Will you be able to come to Claremont Hall? Won’t it mean changing your plans? I thought you meant to return home to New York by then.”
“My mother has already intervened and begged that I stay through Christmas. I’ve arranged my schedule to accommodate her, so there’s no harm done.”
“All right. It will be good to see you there.” There was no accounting for the sheer excitement she felt at the prospect.
“I thought... if you agree...” He glanced away in a rare moment of uncertainty. A feeling she couldn’t quite describe came over her that this man who was so confident and assertive would feel out of his element around her. “I’ll bring a betrothal ring and give it to you there before I leave. Unless you think it’s too much. I can always send one toyou later, if you’d rather have that part of the courtship take place over mail.”
Her heart began pounding so fast that she had to consciously catch her breath. This wasn’t real. None of this would lead to them getting married, so why was the very idea of a betrothal ring so thrilling? “You do not have to go to such trouble. I don’t think a ring will make this any more or less real to your father.”
“No, perhaps not, but it doesn’t seem proper that you wouldn’t have one. If this were real—” He abruptly stopped talking, glancing out the window into the garden. Golden sunlight touched his features, and his strong nose stood out in profile. Possibly it was too strong, but she loved it. No, not love. She appreciated it and the way it enhanced his masculine beauty. It made her think of him as a beautiful Roman statue. Clearing his throat, he seemed all business again as he faced her. “If this were real, you would have one.”
“But it’s not.” She felt the need to say the words out loud to remind them as her gaze held his.
“No.” After a moment’s pause, he shifted and came to his feet. She followed, disappointed that he was leaving so soon and things seemed stiff and awkward between them. “I have to get back to the office. There’s a rather important meeting I must prepare for.”
“Of course.” He hadn’t said one word about that kiss the other night, and she couldn’t help but feel dejected because of it. He didn’t even seem particularly affected by it, certainly not as affected as she was.
He started to walk toward the door but paused. “About this not being real... I think now that we have your father on our side—somewhat—we probably don’t need to be seen about town as often. There’s already talk of us, and that’s really all we needed. I’ll send you trinkets, flowers, but as long as the house party goes as hoped for, we don’t need to carry off the ruse so dramatically anymore. Why give ourselves more opportunities to fail?”
“Are you sure? Won’t that seem suspicious?” Sadness rose within her most unreasonably, and it was quickly followed by a dose of desperation. She despised it. None of this had been real. So he had kissed her? They were adults. Adults kissed and it didn’t mean anything sometimes.Shehad never kissed without meaning, but apparently he did.
Dear God! She had never kissed without meaning. What had it meant to her then, and why was that question so difficult to face? She should be rejoicing that this would be over soon. She couldn’t give him what he wanted. This had to end at some point. Better to be over now before her feelings for him deepened.
“I think it will be fine as long as the house party goes as planned.”
The chime of the doorbell sounded through the house. “That will be the first of the board members arriving. We’re having a meeting today to discuss the property. Violet will be here if you’d like to stay and say hello.”
