Julia Justiss – The Earl's Inconvenient Wife (страница 10)
Temperance laughed. ‘My mother’s reputation might be based on falsehoods, but yours is not. You
‘There must be some benefit to growing old, other than the ability to interfere in other people’s lives with impunity. But since I’m so wise, let me offer you one more bit of advice. Don’t be blind, fixing yourself so narrowly on a single goal that you fail to see the alternatives that present themselves. As they always will. Now, I shall consult my calendar, but I think next week will do for an introductory tea. That will give me enough time to summon Angela. So drink up, Gifford. You’ve accomplished your purpose and it is time for me to rest.’
With that, they finished their tea, then stood as his godmother made her majestic departure.
Standing in the hall while the butler summoned their carriage, Temperance said, ‘Lady Sayleford is amazing! I’d like to be her one day.’ Then she shook her head, her expression rueful. ‘But then, I’d have to be respectable to begin with.’
‘You are less of a hoyden than you used to be,’ Giff observed. ‘I thought you displayed remarkable restraint today. I was initially afraid you might attack with nails and fists when she insulted your mother.’
‘She was taking my measure, I think. And I’m not as thoughtless and impulsive as you seem to believe. At least, not all the time. For instance, I intend to keep my chaperon close by whenever there are gentlemen about, so I really don’t think you need to attend social events to watch out for me. You’d probably be bored to flinders and hate every minute of it.’
‘I hope to sidestep that fate—not because it would bore me, but I would rather avoid eligible young ladies for a while longer, despite my godmother’s forceful advice.’
Conversation halted as, his tiger having brought his curricle to the entrance, they exited the house and mounted the carriage.
‘If I thought you were going to be compelled to supervise me, I would never have asked for Lady Sayleford’s sponsorship,’ Temper continued after he’d set the horses moving.
Giff shook his head. ‘Too late to withdraw now! If I know my godmother, by the time we reach Vraux House she will already have written to summon her great-niece.’
‘I shall be happy enough to proceed, as long as we can convince her not to drag you into the bargain. No point going to market when you aren’t ready to buy anything.’ She sighed. ‘I only wish
Giff didn’t find that prospect very reassuring. Neither type of man was likely to respect Temper—and the latter could, as his godmother had pointed out, actually pose a danger to her.
Maybe he ought to drop by a few of the entertainments she attended, just to make sure she was safe.
‘It pains me that society will try to paint you in that light. When we both know that neither you—nor your mother, it turns out—possess such a character.’
‘As I told your godmother, people will think what they want, regardless of the truth. But in this instance, I’m glad of it. It should require only a little push to have society confirm that I don’t respect its rules, ensuring that no respectable gentleman will pay me his addresses.’
‘Just as long as you are not targeted by the truly
‘As long as I have a chaperon clinging to my side, I hope I am! Everyone knows
The change in her tone—from amusement to warmth of a different sort—pulled his gaze from the road to her. The yearning he read in her eyes fired his always-simmering attraction into full-on arousal.
Fierce, intelligent—and so beautiful. He had an almost overwhelming urge to lean down and kiss her.
The curricle hit a bump, jolting him back to the job of controlling the horses. But his palms were sweating and his breathing uneven when he pulled up his team in front of Vraux House.
‘You needn’t see me in,’ she said as his tiger jumped down and trotted over to help her out of the vehicle. ‘I shall try not to be
He looked at her full in the face this time, struck anew by her beauty—and the softened lips and molten gaze that confirmed the strong current of desire coursing through him was unmistakably mutual. For a long moment, they simply stared at each other.
She reached a hand out, as if to touch him, then drew it back again. ‘Thank you, Giff,’ she whispered, then turned away to let his tiger help her down.
Ridiculous, to feel an instant bolt of envy because that skinny, pock-faced boy was touching her—as he wanted to so fiercely and mustn’t.
Fists clenched on the reins, Giff watched her walk into Vraux House—both regretting and hopeful that his part in the launching of Miss Temperance Lattimar’s Season had just been completed.
A week later, dressed to attend her introductory tea at Lady Sayleford’s, Temper inspected herself in her looking glass. The afternoon gown, one of the new dresses she’d just acquired, was cut with the wide sleeves, narrow waist and belled skirts of the latest style, done up in a deep blue silk that enhanced her eyes. Not the virginal white of a timid debutante, but the colour suited her—both in looks and temperament.
Telling herself she had no need to be nervous, she was walking down the stairs to collect her cloak and have the butler summon her a hackney when the door opened and Gifford Newell walked in. He looked up, saw her—and stopped short.
She froze, transfixed by the intensity of his admiring gaze, for the first time glad that the exaggerated style emphasised the smallness of her waist while the low bodice exposed her neck and shoulders. Then, telling herself not to be ridiculous, she lifted her skirts and continued downwards, ignoring the accelerated beat of her heart and the queer fluttering in the pit of her stomach.
He was, she discovered when she looked up after descending the last step, still gazing at her. ‘Exquisite!’ he murmured. ‘If being the most beautiful lady in the room means society will exile you, your Season will be over before it begins.’
She shouldn’t feel such satisfaction at knowing he found her attractive—but she did. ‘The colour is lovely, although I can’t admire the style. These sleeves and skirts! Impossible to do anything useful wearing something so wide.’
‘Of course not. As a society lady, you’re supposed to be admired and have everything done for you.’
‘In other words, be vacant-headed and decorative.’ She sighed. ‘Heaven help me survive this Season! You’re looking handsome as always, Giff. Come to find Gregory?’
‘No, I came to collect you. To escort you to Lady Sayleford’s. I’m pleased to find you ready. My godmother detests tardiness.’
‘You’re escorting me?’ she echoed. ‘I thought the tea would be a ladies’ affair.’
‘So did I, but when Lady Sayleford commands, one complies. Unless one is prepared to move to the Outer Hebrides, which would be a rather inconvenient location for a sitting Member of Parliament.’
‘I understand carrier pigeons can travel hundreds of miles in just a few hours,’ she offered, smiling. ‘But I agree, the Outer Hebrides would be inconvenient. Though if it is to be just ladies, I can’t imagine why she would require you to escort me. Surely she knows I’m capable of taking a hackney from Vraux House to hers!’
‘I long ago learned never to question my godmother’s inscrutable ways,’ Giff replied. ‘Shall we go?’
‘Yes. Hopefully once you’ve delivered me, she will release you back to your duties. As a sitting Member of Parliament.’
To her relief, Newell had brought his curricle, requiring him to keep his attention focused on his driving, rather than on her. With him otherwise occupied, she could sit beside him and enjoy the delicious frisson of attraction that sizzled between them without any chance of being tempted further down a road she had no business travelling.
The afternoon being busy and the traffic noisy, she made no attempt to converse as they made the transit. A short time later, he pulled up his team in front of Lady Sayleford’s town house, his tiger springing down to help her out.
They walked in, Harris once again showing them into the Grand Parlour where, this time, Lady Sayleford awaited them.
‘Here I am, ma’am, as summoned,’ Giff said as he bent to kiss his godmother’s cheek after the ladies exchanged curtsies. ‘Was that the extent of the service you wished me to render?’
‘You think I would require you merely to deliver Miss Lattimar, who is entirely capable of making the arduous journey from Brook Street to Grosvenor Square on her own? No, I have other plans, which will put all your wit and charm to good use.’
Motioning them to a seat, she said, ‘As you can see, you’ve been summoned before the other guests. I want you to meet my great-niece, Mrs Angela Moorsby, and instruct you, Gifford, on the role you must play. That first.’