Page 58 of West End Earl
Rotten luck or poor timing sent the two men on the other side of the wood tumbling into the room at that exact moment. If they hadn’t been embracing, they’d been on the verge.
Ainsley and Warrick sprang apart, then froze as they took in the sight he and Phee made. Standing too close, flushed, the smell of sex in the air—it was fairly obvious these two men weren’t the only ones who’d thought the library would be perfect for a tryst.
A smile spread over Lord Ainsley’s face. “Sorry to intrude, gentlemen.” Ainsley winked and then exchanged a grin with Warrick.
While Cal considered ways to handle this, Phee made the choice for him.
“Think nothing of it. Good day, milords,” she said, neither confirming nor denying anything.
Out in the hall, Cal nodded a greeting at Miss Georgina, who chose that moment to scamper, pink-cheeked, from a drawing room three doors away.
“Think they’ll say anything?” Phee whispered once Miss Georgina had disappeared down the corridor.
“Warrick and Ainsley? They were clearly planning to use the room for the same purpose. One would hope they’d provide discretion and expect it in return.”
The door to the same drawing room Miss Georgina had left opened again, and Gaffney slipped out, running a hand through his hair.
Cal and Phee shared a look. “The number of eligible bachelors at this party is dwindling rapidly,” she said.
Which meant his options for getting out of the mess were dwindling as well. Bloody hell.
Chapter Nineteen
Right at this moment, Cal and the Duke of Gaffney were in the library, and she hadn’t been invited. Since Phee was the one who’d done the legwork to look into Gaffney’s business proposal, being excluded stung. When she’d said as much, Cal had brushed a hand over her hair and said, “It’s nothing personal, love. Go enjoy the day with the guests. You’re here to relax, not work.”
It was awfully close to patting her on the head, and she’d nearly hissed and bitten his hand like a feral cat. Her temper seemed to shorten the longer this house party lasted.
Phee stopped under the branches of a giant elm and looked out over the lawn. Guests milled about in the sun near the lakeshore. Another few hours of scheduled activities, and she should be able to escape to her room. Not that sitting held much appeal when she really needed something todo. Genteel relaxation didn’t feel natural to her.
At least the mornings had normalcy, which made everything else a little easier. The daily fencing match with Cal was the highlight of this party as far as she was concerned. Now that she’d figured out his newest tricks, the balance of power had settled back to where it should be. Meaning she usually won. For a while there it had taken only a wink and a suggestive flick of his tongue to destroy her focus.
However, once they finished fencing, Phee had to share Cal with the rest of the guests.
The visitors at Lakeview had fallen into predictable habits of their own. The men gathered in a pack, like wolves. You rarely saw one without at least two others for company, as if they were afraid to wander alone and find themselves in the parson’s snare. They weren’t wrong, given the purpose of the party. The ladies spent their time in pairs or peaceful solitude.
Miss Georgina often found a corner with a book. She seemed to be a sweet enough girl, although difficult to get to know. When the other women were around, she didn’t participate too much. Phee suspected she might be painfully shy.
After witnessing the young woman and the Duke of Gaffney leaving the drawing room the other day, Phee paid more attention to the pair. If Gaffney lingered nearby, Miss Georgina blushed and stammered over her words. They were adorable but nearly painful to watch with their awkwardness. Clearly something was happening there.
Phee wanted to smooth things over and spark a conversation with them so they’d relax. But every time the urge struck her, she reminded herself that she was not the hostess; it wasn’t her job to ensure everyone enjoyed their time at Lakeview.
Lord Hornsby and Miss Lillian walked side by side, elbows occasionally brushing as they meandered toward the lake. Miss Lillian’s parasol hid their faces from the others who were already near the water’s edge, but Phee had an unobstructed view of how close he dared lean as they conversed.
A sound to her left alerted Phee to Cal and Gaffney leaving the house, still in conversation. When Cal looked up, he waved her over, so she pushed away from the tree and wandered in that direction. Since she was still a bit sore about being left out of the meeting, Phee didn’t want to appear eager, so she trailed casually behind them as they made their way toward the lake.
Down by the shore, Emma laughed at something Warrick said, then invited Hornsby and Miss Lillian over toward their small group.
As a hostess, Emma was a natural—at least, when her pregnancy wasn’t inducing her to vomit into household decorative objects. Eventually, Emma would have to come clean to Cal. Every day Phee asked her to, and every day Emma claimed this would be the day she confessed her condition to her brother. But by the time they said good night, Emma still hadn’t found the right moment. Phee had reported to Cal about his sister in the past, but this? This would change Emma’s life forever, and she needed to tell him herself.
Cal might want to marry off his sister to someone at this party, but that grew less likely by the day. Emma possessed enough of a conscience to realize that duping a perfectly nice gentleman and foisting off another man’s child might not be the best way to handle her life. Which left the girl with limited options.
At some point over the last ten days at Lakeview, she and Emma had become friends. Sort of. Having never had a female friend before, Phee wasn’t sure. The honesty between them was rather one-sided. But Emma came to Phee when she needed help or an excuse to get out of an activity.
Emma was different during their conversations. The humor and wit she showed reminded Phee of Cal, but they came out only when Emma stopped trying so hard to fulfill the diamond of the Season label. Did she occasionally act like a spoiled brat in need of a spanking? Absolutely.
But since Phee had discovered the truth about Emma’s condition, the girl had opened up. Parlor games in the evening allowed some couples to pair off under the guise of playing and left the unmatched guests with time on their hands. She and Emma often kept one another company.
The sweetness Cal’s sister revealed in those conversations came as a surprise. Sometimes it was painfully obvious how young Emma was. The girl had made poor decisions with Roxbury, but one couldn’t deny the unfairness of him leaving her alone to deal with the very adult consequences.
