Almost A Spinster (11 page)

Felicity swallowed past the enormous lump in her throat and somehow managed to pretend a smile. “No, father, I apologize. I was… distracted by the crowd. But I can continue.”

He wrinkled his brow with concern, but backed away from her with a nod. “Very well.”

Felicity forced herself to stop staring at Gabriel Morrison and looked at the pianoforte keys instead. By God, she would not let him know he had affected her. She had that much pride left, at least.

And as soon as she had finished playing, she could hide from him. Pride could only go so far.

#

Gabriel took a long drink of punch and wished it was something far stronger. After what he had just witnessed, he could use a stiff drink.

Perhaps this was the very thing that had led his father and brother down the paths of temptation and vice. Just one strong drink had led to another. Just one surprisingly tempting woman had led to another.

Only this time, the tempting woman was the one he intended to marry. Felicity Ellis.

He shook his head. Somehow he had imagined her quite differently after reading his father’s accounts of what had transpired. Somewhere between idiot and cunning whore, the two ways his father had used to describe her. Gabriel had been leaning more toward misled innocent.

But now he had to re-evaluate everything. Felicity Ellis had far more passion that he had expected. It had come out in the beautiful, haunting, intense way she played. And in the azure blue of her eyes as she stared at him with a mixture of horror and utter contempt.

This might be more difficult than he had imagined if Felicity already knew who he was.

But the path was chosen and all Gabriel could do was follow it. So he placed his cup on the nearest table edge and began to make his way through the crowd to find Lord Stoneworth. It was proper to garner permission from the father before one courted a young lady, so Gabriel would follow the rules to the tee.

He had made it a few steps when he heard someone calling his name.

“Windsworth!”

He turned in surprise. Though he was garnering a great deal of attention here, which made him believe those in attendance knew full-well who he was, no one had had the gall to approach him yet. But now an elderly woman was coming across the room at an alarming rate of speed for one with a cane.

“I thought that was you, Your Grace,” the woman said with a smile, even though her gaze moved over him from head to toe like she was appraising him. “You probably do not remember me, but I knew you when you were just a child. Before your dear Mama took you away from London. I am Lady Stanton.”

Gabriel’s eyes widened in surprise. His mother had spoken often of Lady Abigail Stanton. He almost felt he knew the lady.

“Why, yes, of course, my lady. My mother will be very pleased that you remember her,” he stammered as he pressed a quick kiss on the elderly woman’s hand.

“Of course I do. Is she in Town, as well? I shall have to call on her. It has been far too long.” A wistful expression came into the woman’s eyes, but then it was gone. “Perhaps I may have the honor of introducing you to our most talented songstress. Felicity, dear!”

Gabriel spun on his heel to where Lady Stanton was motioning wildly. Felicity Ellis did, indeed, stand just a few feet away, but from the way her back curved, it looked like she had been attempting to sneak past without being noticed. Now she slowly straightened up and turned to face them.

“Oh, Lady Stanton,” she said, without sparing him even a cursory glance. “I did not see you there.”

As she trudged toward them, Gabriel sucked in a breath. There was no doubt why his brother had picked her as a conquest. Jonathon had always liked the prettiest girls of their acquaintance and Felicity was far and away more attractive than any of them. Her dark auburn hair was bound loosely, but tiny curls framed her face, drawing attention to the midnight blue of her eyes and accentuating a few charming freckles that dashed across her nose.

He could imagine she would light up a room if she smiled. But she wasn’t smiling currently. And from the way she refused to look at him at all, she would
never
gift him with a smile.

How could one mourn the loss of something they had never experienced?

“Come, my dear,” Lady Stanton said with a wide smile. “Meet His Grace. This is Lord Windsworth.”

Felicity flinched just the slightest bit and her gaze remained focused on his shoulder rather than his eyes. “Your Grace,” she murmured coolly and did not offer her hand.

“Lady Felicity.” He tilted his head in a vain attempt to snare her gaze. “A pleasure to meet you. I have heard very much about you.”

Now she looked at him, shock draining the color from her face. Gabriel bit back a curse. She thought he was referring to her past with his brother.
“Everyone in Society speaks of how talented you are,” he corrected swiftly. “You are very highly spoken of.”

To his surprise, her expression did not soften in the slightest. In fact, her eyes narrowed and she speared him with a glare that could have wilted flowers.

“Ah, I see my dear grandson and his wife motioning to me,” Lady Stanton said with a wicked smile. “I should join them.”

“No-” Felicity began, grabbing for Lady Stanton’s arm.

The older woman dodged her quite deftly. “No, no I need no assistance. You should not end your conversation with Lord Windsworth simply because of me. I will speak to you later.”

Then Lady Stanton was off into the crowd, leaving Felicity staring after her, her mouth partly agape. Gabriel shifted uncomfortably. This was not going according to plan at all. His intentions had been very proper. To speak to Lord Stoneworth first, then find the right time to approach Felicity.

She spun on him, her full lips pulled into a tight, thin line. “I did not realize you had been invited here today, Your Grace.”

He started at her forward statement. “I will admit to you that I was not.”

Her eyes narrowed even further. “Aha! I knew it. I knew my father would not invite you of all people into our home. What do you want? Why did you come here?”

Gabriel fought the urge to step away from her quiet accusations. He had never stepped down in a fight before, he certainly wasn’t about to start with this woman who carried half his weight, if that.

“I only wished to speak to you, Felicity.”

She stepped closer. “I gave you no leave to refer to me by my first name. I gave you no leave to refer to me at all.”

“Your anger toward me is not justified,” he said, watching her blue eyes darken with every word. He found himself wondering what color they would become if he dared to kiss her. The thought brought him up short. Those kinds of thoughts could only bring him dangerously close to being his father’s son in every way.

“Not justified?” she hissed. “You have come into my home uninvited.”

“I came here to speak to your father, nothing more,” Gabriel insisted. “And to make amends.”

She stopped speaking for a moment and caught her breath with a harsh sound. Her throat worked as she swallowed. “You have nothing to make amends to.”

“We both know that isn’t true.” Gabriel said softly.

She shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. And I want you to leave. Please-” She caught her breath again, but this time it was more like a sob. Gabriel’s heart lurched. He had never intended to make her cry.

And if she did, it would only serve to draw attention to them. That kind of notice was exactly what he was trying to avoid. He reached out and caught her hand, placing it in the crook of his elbow before she could protest.

She tugged, but he held fast. “What are you doing?”

He pulled her toward the terrace doors. “I’m taking you to get some air before half the
ton
starts listening to our conversation.”

That seemed to appease her because she no longer struggled while he took her outside and closed the doors behind them gently. The warm summer air stirred her hair as he moved them away from the doors.

Gabriel clenched his fists. No woman should fight so hard against a man’s attempts to save her, make amends to her. Yet Felicity Ellis was fighting him like a cornered wild animal. And there was only one way to deal with that situation.

He fought the urge to comfort her and pressed on. “Instead of offering for you honorably, my father and brother refused responsibility, all but daring your father to reveal the truth by calling my brother out. They ignored all demands for reparation. For justice from your father.”

“Stop.” She turned on him and though Gabriel could see the sparkle of tears in her eyes and on her cheeks, she was not openly weeping. Her chin jutted up and her shoulders flexed back with pride.

Wounded pride, but pride nonetheless. He couldn’t help but respect her for that.

“Don’t say any more,” she pleaded, clenching firsts at her sides. “Just leave it be. It is so far in the past and I have all but forgotten it.”

“That is a lie,” he said softly. “Everything about your face tells me you have not forgotten a moment of the pain and humiliation my family put your through. And the fact that you have not married, despite your popularity, despite your beauty, tells me my brother’s actions have damaged you. That is the only reason I am here today, Felicity.”

She flinched again at the use of her first name, but Gabriel ignored that. She would have to get used to it once they were wed.

“Why are you here?” she asked with a humorless laugh. “To rub my nose in my past follies? To remind me of what a stupid, ignorant girl I was? Your mission has been accomplished, Your Grace. You can go with a lightened heart. I know exactly what I am.”

He shook his head. “No! That isn’t why I’m here at all. My family name has been devastated by my father and brother’s actions. Their disregard for everyone but themselves has given me a title that no one respects. I am trying my hardest to make amends for those things. I want to start with you.”

“Make amends?” she repeated, arching one auburn brow in disbelief. “How in the world do you intend to do that with me?”

He cleared his throat uncomfortably. This was not proper, but it was still what he had come for. He might as well put his cards on the table.

“You and I should marry.”

Chapter Three

In a moment, she would wake up. This would all be a nightmare and she would go on with her life as if it had never happened. Except when Felicity pinched herself…
hard
… nothing changed. She remained standing on the terrace, staring up into the cool, green eyes of Gabriel Morrison.

And he was still waiting for an answer to the one statement she had
never
expected him to say.

“Marry you?” she repeated and the words sounded even stranger when she heard them in her own voice.

“Yes,” he said softly. His tone was surprisingly gentle. Not anything like his brother’s. Jonathon had been many things, but gentle had not been amongst them.

“You must be mad,” she whispered, her voice harsh and raw. “Or this is your idea of some kind of cruel joke.”

She began to turn away, but he reached out to catch her arm. A shocking blast of unexpected heat raced through her at the touch. He must have felt it, too, because his lips parted in surprise and their eyes met briefly. She expected him to pull back, but he didn’t, instead his strong hand curled around her forearm and held her steady.

“I am not toying with you,” he insisted, his tone just as sharp as hers had been. “I am nothing like my father, nothing like my brother.”

Felicity struggled for breath, but she couldn’t seem to manage to draw enough. Not when she was so close to this man. Not when he was touching her in such a possessive way. Staring at her with such pleading in his eyes.

“What is going on here?”

Felicity yanked away from Gabriel and turned on the voice that had interrupted her troubling thoughts. Her father stood by the terrace doorway, staring at them with a dark, angry glare. Before he said another word or took a step, Felicity knew he recognized her companion.

And judging from the way Gabriel straightened his spine and turned to her father with a deferent bow, he realized it, too.

Her father yanked the door shut and took three long steps toward them. Though he wasn’t as tall as Gabriel Morrison, the anger in his eyes would have been enough to make much larger men cower. But Gabriel didn’t. He didn’t flinch. He didn’t do anything to protect himself in case her father struck. He just stood there. Waiting. A look of resignation on his face.

Felicity flinched. She’d never known her father to curse in front of her. Even the day she tearfully admitted giving up her innocence, he had not spoken harshly or cruelly.

Gabriel dipped his head. “My most sincere apologies, Lord Stoneworth. I assure you that I would not have made entry to your home uninvited except that I didn’t think you would speak to me if I sent word first.”

“You are correct in that assessment.” Her father stepped forward again yet Gabriel still stood his ground. Felicity gasped as her father clenched fists around the other man’s jacket and gave him a shake. She had never seen him filled with such fury before.