His Reluctant Lady (4 page)

Ethan hesitated to speak, something
that was unusual for him.

“
Is the duke right to be
concerned? Is there something going on between you and Lady
Richfield?”

“
No, there isn’t anything
going on. She’s a friend.”

“
Good.”

“
I happen to love my wife,
even if her father can’t stand the sight of me.”

Christopher turned his gaze to Lady
Richfield who had been watching him. Pleased, he shot her one of
his most charming smiles and chuckled when she quickly looked away.
“I had the opportunity to dance with her,” he told Ethan.
“Something about her fascinates me.”

“
You’d be better off
pursuing her sister.”

“
Miss Garrison?” He
grimaced. “She holds no interest for me.”

“
Well, Lady Richfield is
opposed to marriage. Pursue another lady.”

“
Ethan, if there’s one thing
I’ve learned from you, it’s that people are only opposed to
marriage until the right person comes along. All she needs is a
gentleman to come along and give her a reason to want to be
married.”

“
And you think you’re that
gentleman?”

Ignoring the amusement in Ethan’s tone,
he offered a solemn nod. “I do. She’s meant for me.”

“
She is a wealthy countess
who’s a widow. She has no use for an untitled gentleman who can’t
give her a substantial amount of money.”

“
But I can give her the
benefit of my company,” Christopher countered, not to be dissuaded
by his friend’s words. Lady Richfield was a passionate lady who
would make a most desirable companion. Her wit and beauty lured him
to her. He suspected she was interested in him as well, but it
seemed that she like to be pursued, and he was more than happy to
oblige her. “I believe she and I will be very well matched
together,” he added, once again turning his eyes in her
direction.

Ethan snorted. “You underestimate her
determination to remain unmarried.”

“
I don’t mind proving you
wrong.”

“
Few gentlemen are as
arrogant as you, Christopher.”

“
Arrogant? I’m hurt.” When
Ethan rolled his eyes, he added, “I tell you, I am. I’m not
arrogant. I’m confident.”

After a long moment, Ethan said,
“You’re determined to be the gentleman who breaks through her wall.
So what do you want me to do?”

“
I want you to arrange it so
that she and I will meet again.”

“
Do I dare mention that
you’ll be there when I arrange this meeting?”

“
I’ll leave that up to you.
I think she would like knowing I’d be part of this arranged
meeting, but if you think a surprise is better, then I encourage
you to do it. You know her better than I do.”

“
All right. Look for an
invite.”

“
Thank you.”

Satisfied, Christopher bowed. He caught
another glance at Lady Richfield and smiled. It was just a matter
of time before she’d be his wife.

***

Because of her beauty, he
was compelled to follow her across the room. She didn’t notice him,
but he did everything he could to remain out of sight. He stayed to
the shadows as much as the soft candlelight would allow. The others
at the ball ignored him, content to stick to their world of gossip
and idle chatter. She, however, passed them all as if in her own
world. What could she be thinking? He wanted to ask, and yet, he
couldn’t give himself away. Not as long as the curse bound him to
silence, making him a spectator. Always a spectator. Never a
participant.

Agatha tilted her head to the side to
work the kinks out of her neck. She set the quill down and looked
at the five pages in front of her that marked the beginning of her
next novel. The clock in the hall struck midnight. She’d written
enough for the night. After she tucked her papers safely away in
the drawer of her desk, she picked up her candelabra. She went to
the side of the room and pulled the cord. Then she waited by the
door for her lady’s maid to come to her.

Bianca hurried down the hall, holding
her candle in front of her. “Are you ready for bed, my
lady?”

“
Yes.” Agatha held up the
candelabra and guided them down the hall and up the stairs to her
bedchamber. “I was thinking of wearing the green morning dress for
breakfast. Be sure to notify Cook that I don’t want to wake before
ten, so he shouldn’t get the meal ready until eleven.”

“
Will do, my
lady.”

As they climbed the steps, Agatha
continued, “I was thinking of going to The Temple of the Muses
tomorrow at one o’clock. Be sure to let the footman know I’ll
require a carriage at that time.”

“
Yes, my lady.”

They reached the top of the steps and
went to her bedchamber. Bianca opened the door and Agatha went into
the room, relieved Bianca had the foresight to open the window so
it was nice and cool in the room. She set the candelabra on the
table by her bed and waited for Bianca at the vanity table, her
back turned so that Bianca could help her out of her dress. The
night had been a long one, true, but it’d been wonderfully
productive. She had a feeling that this story was going to be one
of her best.

Once Agatha was in her nightclothes and
Bianca left, she blew out her candles and slipped into bed. She
closed her eyes and thought over what she’d write next. Soon, she
fell into a peaceful sleep.

***

A week later, Agatha was writing her
story when the butler came into the library with a note. “This came
for you, my lady.”

She glanced up from her writing and
took the letter. She furrowed her eyebrows when she saw it was from
Lord and Lady Edon. What was Ethan doing sending her an invitation?
While she knew him, she didn’t know his wife. She waited until the
butler left before she opened the missive. Why was he inviting her
to a dinner party? He knew she didn’t like going to them. At the
bottom of the invitation, he wrote that he’d appreciate it if she
went as a favor to him.

With a sigh, she set the invitation
down and rubbed her eyes. If he requested it as a favor, there had
to be a good reason, and after all he’d done for her, she had to
go. Picking up a clean piece of paper, she dipped her quill in the
inkwell and said she’d attend.

The footman opened her door, and her
eyes grew wide when she saw Sophie come into her room. She bolted
out of her chair and hurried to her sister. “Why didn’t you let me
know you were coming?” she asked, hoping she blocked Sophie’s view
of her desk. If her sister saw what she was writing… She didn’t
even want to think about it.

“
My life is at an end!”
Sophie pulled a handkerchief out of her reticule and wiped a couple
tears from her eyes. “I just heard that Lord Dabney is
betrothed.”

“
Oh, oh dear.” This was
going to be a long afternoon. “Sit here on the settee, Sophie, and
I’ll get some tea. No, we’ll make it sherry.” A broken heart was
better with a little sherry. Turning to the footman, she said,
“Bring us sherry and a couple of scones.”

The footman nodded and left.

Agatha glanced at the desk where pages
of her story were in plain view, but she knew she couldn’t do
anything about them while her sister was in the room. Forcing her
feet forward, she went over to her sister and sat next to her.
“Now, tell me. Where did you hear this?”

“
Our aunt told us this
morning,” Sophie sniffled as she dabbed more tears from her eyes.
“I don’t know what to do. I thought for sure he loved
me.”

“
It takes more than a few
dances to develop love.”

“
But we had our love of
books in common.”

“
No, you didn’t.” Agatha
reached for Sophie’s hands and gently held them. “You’ll do better
without him. He’s a bore. All he reads are stuffy old novels.” She
didn’t care much for his disdain for gothic fiction anyway. Yes,
her sister would do much better with someone else.

“
No, I won’t be better off
without him. There will be no one for me but Lord Dabney. No
one!”

“
Please, Sophie, settle
down.”

“
How can I settle down when
my life is in shambles?”

Agatha closed her eyes and reminded
herself that her sister had a tendency to exaggerate. When she knew
she could be patient, she opened her eyes and smiled. “Sophie,
sometimes things aren’t meant to be. This could be a blessing in
disguise.”

Sophie crossed her arms, her lower lip
jutting out. “I don’t see what blessing could possibly come from
this.”

“
For one, you won’t have to
pretend you read books that bore you.”

“
I never said his choice in
books bore me.”

“
You didn’t even know who
Plato was.”

Sophie shrugged and muttered, “Anyone
could have made that error.”

“
You’ll be happier if you
don’t have to pretend to like books you don’t. Think of it, Sophie.
He could require you to read those.” She shivered at the thought of
having to read the dull literature he loved so much. “You
underestimate the misery of marriage. If you were wise, you’d
choose someone who won’t be around often. Find a gentleman who will
only stay in your house long enough to get an heir. Happy is the
lady who will find him running off to live elsewhere for the rest
of his life. That is the gentleman you ought to seek. Lord Dabney
is too content to be with his books. He’ll never leave to run off
to a mistress so you might be spared his attentions.”

“
I wouldn’t want Lord Dabney
to run off to a mistress. I’d want him to be with me.”

The butler entered the room with the
sherry and scones, sparing Agatha the need to respond. What was
there to say to such madness? Her sister hadn’t been forced to
endure the marital bed. She couldn’t know any better. Agatha
grabbed the decanter and poured her sister a glass of wine. She
handed Sophie the glass and encouraged her to drink.

After Sophie took a couple sips, Agatha
asked, “Do you feel better?”

“
No, not really.” With a
mournful sigh, she set the glass on the table and waited for the
butler to leave before she said, “I need you to help me find a
husband.”

Agatha fought the urge to roll her eyes
as she poured herself a glass of sherry. Sophie had no idea what
she was asking. She drank some sherry and turned to Sophie. “All
right. I’ll help you, but I’m going to help you find a gentleman
who at least has a title and is wealthy.”

“
Thank you!”

Agatha almost dropped her drink when
Sophie gave her a big hug. She quickly set her glass down and
returned her sister’s hug. “Don’t thank me until you’re
married.”

“
All right. I won’t.” She
jumped off the settee. “And thank you again!”

Sighing, Agatha rose to her feet. “When
is the next ball you’ve been invited to?”

“
Saturday.”

“
Who is giving the
ball?”

“
Lord Clement.”

Agatha nodded. “I’ll come by to pick
you up.”

She hugged her again. “Oh, thank
you!”

“
You’ve already thanked me
twice.” Agatha pulled away from her and patted her
shoulders.

“
I’ll see you
Saturday!”

Sophie turned to run out of the room,
her face glowing with expectation. Well, at least Sophie was no
longer crying. She really needed to get a hold on her emotions. It
wasn’t healthy for a lady to be so apparent with her feelings.
Pushing all thoughts of her sister aside, she turned her attention
to her writing.

Chapter Four

Christopher arrived at his friend’s
townhouse the night of the dinner party. Tonight, he’d get a chance
to talk to Lady Richfield. He’d carefully thought through a list of
topics that might interest a lady and was confident that one of
them would appeal to her. He took a deep breath in an effort to
settle his nerves, but it didn’t work. There was no doubt about it.
He was excited about seeing her again, and nothing he did would
ease the nervous energy coursing through his body. No lady had
affected him like this before. What was it about her that made her
different?

That was something he couldn’t answer,
at least not until he got to know her better. For now, he’d have to
settle for knowing that she was his siren, the one lady who cast a
spell over him. He stopped in front of the door and adjusted his
cravat. Bracing himself for the evening, he knocked on the door and
waited for the footman to answer it.

When he did, Christopher smiled. “Lord
Edon has invited me to his dinner party.”

“
Yes, Mister Robinson. He’s
expecting you.”

After Christopher handed the footman
his hat and gloves, the butler led him to the drawing room where
seven people were laughing. He saw Lord Roderick was there and
grimaced. Lord Roderick had taken sadistic pleasure in making him
clean stalls a while back, and Christopher still had a hard time
making eye contact with the gentleman. Lord Roderick’s wife,
however, was a completely different matter. She was quite pleasant.
Too bad for her she ended up with someone as miserable as her
husband.