Page 28 of Avoiding the Merry Viscount
“I’m uncertain,” she replied, maintaining her state of indifference toward him. “I’d just like to browse the shops.”
The rest of the brief carriage ride passed in silence. Once the carriage stopped, Elias jumped up to help Lydia down first, hoping they could distance themselves from Hudson and Hannah. Instead of handing her down, he grabbed her by her waist and lifted her to the ground.
Her breath caught from the action, and he was relieved to see that his touch still affected her. He set her down in front of him, and quickly tucked her hand in the crook of his arm, before leading her away.
“We are going this way,” he called over his shoulder to Hudson, hoping his friend would take the hint.
“My lord,” Lydia said, once they were on their own walking down the street. “You needn’t accompany me out of some misguided honor. I told you I expect nothing from you.”
“I…I didn’t think you did,” he replied. “I want to spend time with you, as I would like to get to know you better.” She was all he had been thinking about, which could prove problematic. But he wouldn’t speak those words.
She laughed. “We both know you are a rake, Lord Snowdon. Even your sister knows so. While you aren’t completely without honor, or you would have taken more liberties and likely avoided my company today, but you are still a rake. You are free to go about your life and leave me to mine.”
“I am Elias to you,” he ground out. Her words struck him with a painful blow. “And perhaps I wish to change. How can I do so if you, and the rest of the world, refuse to see me any other way?” He wasn’t certain why he had allowed himself to speak those words and had tofight to keep from looking away from her in his embarrassment.
Elias watched her expression shift from a hard stare to one of remorse. “You are right,” she sighed, contemplating him. “Perhaps you deserve an opportunity to prove yourself. It isn’t easy for me to trust, but if what you say is true, in the spirit of the Christmas season, I shall give you a chance to prove yourself and will spend the day with you.”
They walked in silence for a few moments, but Elias couldn’t let go of the comment she made.
“Why are you unable to trust? Is it because of the man you won’t tell me about?” He would bet a small fortune on that being the case. “You should know that you can tell me anything,” he said softly.
“Yes,” she said, her voice almost a whisper. “It is because of him.”
“I know it’s forward of me to ask, but given that…” he paused and glanced around them. “Well, you know…I think such things might be forgiven. Will you tell me what happened?”
She shrugged. “It wasn’t much unlike what happens all the time in our society. I thought myself to be, well, not in love if I am honest, but to have some kind of affection for the man. He proposed, and I accepted, believing the match to be better than most would be afforded. He was full of wicked words and promises.” Lydia drew a deep breath. “And I allowed him to take some liberties.”
Elias’s jaw clenched tighter at every word she spoke, but he forced himself to remain quiet and allow her to finish speaking.
“I snuck out of my family’s London townhouse one day to venture to his home. When I arrived, I found him enjoying the attention of a maid on her knees in front of him. When he saw me in the doorway, he didn’t even tell her to stop and just expected that I should accept the future for what it would be.”
“The bastard,” Elias seethed. He might have been guilty of a libertine lifestyle, but he would never do something so disrespectful and horrid. To any woman.
“My father handled the matter, and all remained hidden, althoughI understand that the man was quite angry over my crying off from the betrothal. It would seem my dowry would have proved beneficial to him to resolve some of his debts.”
“You deserve far better than that, Lydia,” he said, tamping down his anger. “I hope you know the fault lies with him and not with you.”
She nodded. “I didn’t at first, but I do now.”
“Tell me who he is.”
Lydia shook her head. “Nothing good can come from it. The matter is dead and buried and I don’t need saving, Elias.”
He stopped walking and turned her to face him. “Please tell me. If I know who he is, I can protect you if he should dare to speak to you.”
She contemplated him, then opened her mouth and closed it again.
“Lydia, you can trust me.”
Lydia released a long breath. “It was Clint. Errr…Lord Durham.”
Hell and damnation.If he had known, he would have planted the man several facers at the tavern. Durham deserved far worse.
“Thank you for telling me. I will do everything in my power to ensure you never have to be in the same room with him again.”
Elias knew the blackguard had reacted oddly when they had shared the attendees of the house party. After the holiday and Lydia was safely on her way home, Elias would make a brief trip to Downe’s home where Durham was staying and ensure that he knew what would happen to him if he dared to cross Lydia’s path.
Elias hadn’t felt such a powerful urge to protect anyone other than his sisters, and his reaction to the poor treatment that Lydia had suffered rivaled that. The anger and fierce need to see to her well-being gave him far more questions than answers.
