Historical Trio 2012-01 (49 page)

‘Perhaps that is only so amongst the members of my sex that you have so far…encountered, my lord,’ she came back tartly as they continued upon their way.

Putting him firmly and decisively in his place, Nathaniel acknowledged appreciatively. Just as he appreciated that Elizabeth’s observation was probably a correct one. He tended to stay well away from young and marriageable ladies of the
ton
—being ever wary of the parson’s mousetrap!—and also the more beautiful of the married ladies, who were often interested in playing society’s games in the bedchamber whilst their husbands conducted their own affairs. It was a game Nathaniel had never felt inclined to play, having an aversion to entanglements with married ladies, whatever their social standing. Which left him to dally with only the young and widowed ladies of society, or the occasional actress who caught his eye.

Despite Tennant’s outrageous remarks to Elizabeth yesterday evening, Nathaniel did not take advantage of young ladies employed by himself, his friends, or his aunt!

Which begged the question, what was he now doing once again alone in Elizabeth’s company, torturing himself with what he could not have?

Nathaniel had decided after last night that perhaps he should stay away from her if his smallest attention to her was to be the subject of gossip by people such as Tennant. Indeed, he had busied himself answering correspondence in the library all day in an effort to do just that. Only to find, after meeting Letitia in the hallway earlier, that he was drawn to the room where she had left his aunt and Elizabeth talking quietly together.

He had stood in the doorway and watched her unobserved for several minutes. Admiring the beauty of her profile. Appreciating the elegance of her bearing. Coveting the swell of her breasts visible above the low neckline of her yellow gown.

Not what he should be thinking of whilst out walking alone with her on a cliff-top with only the good-natured Hector to act as chaperon! ‘I expected I might receive a correspondence from my disreputable friend Westbourne this morning,’ Nathaniel said the first thing that came into his head—a head he realised was once again filled with thoughts of taking Elizabeth in his arms and kissing her senseless!

She stiffened, no doubt in disapproval. ‘You did not?’

‘No.’ He grinned at her obvious displeasure. ‘No doubt he is being kept busy about his own affairs.’

‘Oh?’

He nodded. ‘You will no doubt be surprised to learn that almost seven months ago he was given guardianship of three young ladies.’

Elizabeth was obviously not in the least surprised to hear that—how could she possibly be when she was one of them! ‘One can only feel sorry for those unfortunate young ladies,’ she said cuttingly.

The earl chuckled huskily. ‘Knowing Westbourne, I have no doubt they will all three very shortly fall in love with him.’

‘Indeed?’ Elizabeth eyed him frostily, knowing that this one certainly would not! And she believed that her two sisters had more sense than to do so, either.

‘Most women do, you know,’ Nathaniel admitted ruefully.

‘Then they must be particularly stupid women,’ Elizabeth bit out tartly, uncomfortable discussing her new guardian like this. Unless… ‘And why would you think that I might be in the least interested about anything concerning Lord Faulkner?’

The earl shrugged. ‘I was merely making conversation.’

‘About a man whom you already know I disapprove of?’

He grimaced. ‘Perhaps in the hopes that you would realise there are men of much worse reputation than I!’

Elizabeth eyed him speculatively. ‘I had not realised there were degrees of being disreputable.’

‘Oh, certainly there are.’ He grinned down at her. ‘I, for example, am considered only moderately so.’

‘Whereas Lord Faulkner is considered completely beyond the pale.’ Elizabeth nodded sagely. ‘I see.’

The earl frowned his irritation. ‘Now see here, Elizabeth—’ He broke off as she smiled up at him teasingly. ‘You are funning me,’ he realised slowly.

Indeed she was. And from his reaction, it was not something that occurred very often, particularly from a woman…

As the daughter of an earl, Elizabeth knew that the title of the Earl of Osbourne wielded much power and influence, in society as well as in the House. As such it would only be his very closest friends and family, such as Lord Gabriel Faulkner and Mrs Wilson, who would dare to talk to him in this irreverent way. Which was perhaps part of the reason for his seeking out Elizabeth’s less-than-respectful company in the way that he did?

Well, she certainly had no intention of behaving like a simpering ninny in order to dispel that interest, batting her eyelashes at him and giggling at his slightest remark, as the Misses Miller and Rutledge had done the previous evening! Even if she had a genuine wish to dispel any interest he might have in her—which, the more time she spent in his company, she was not at all sure she did have…

This man might often irritate and annoy her, but he also excited her, made her feel truly desirable for the first time in her young life. After years of living almost the life of a nun, hidden away in the country under the vigilant and watchful eye of her father, it was heady flattery indeed to know that a man as handsome and sought after as Nathaniel Thorne found her company pleasing. That he found
her
pleasing.

There was also the added boon of her teasing having succeeded in diverting the conversation from the potentially dangerous subject of the Earl of Westbourne. ‘Only mildly funning you, my lord,’ she allowed drily. ‘And what, in this rising scale of being disreputable, would you consider Sir Rufus Tennant’s level to be?’ she prompted mischievously.

‘He does not register at all,’ Nathaniel dismissed scornfully.

‘No?’

‘Tennant’s younger brother was the disreputable one in that family,’ he revealed.

Her eyes widened. ‘Was?’

Nathaniel frowned his annoyance, both with this return of the conversation to the elder Tennant and with the fact that he had allowed himself to be so irritated by it he had resorted to repeating gossip. ‘Giles Tennant succeeded in killing himself several years ago.’

‘But how sad for Sir Rufus!’ Elizabeth gasped, obviously deeply moved by this revelation.

He had obviously succeeded in arousing her sympathy for the older man, Nathaniel realised impatiently. ‘Do not feel too sorry for him, Elizabeth; Giles had shot and killed his married lover before he took his own life,’ he said harshly.

Elizabeth came to an abrupt halt, swaying where she stood, the colour draining from her cheeks, her chest becoming so tight that she could barely breathe. Surely—surely it was not possible…? Could it be the case that Sir Rufus Tennant’s brother had been the lover of her own mother?

But the coincidence of events was undeniable; the young men of the
ton
were known for being rakish and outrageous, but how many of them could there possibly be who had actually shot and killed their married lover before then killing themselves?

‘Elizabeth?’

‘I—how shocking.’ Her throat felt so parched that she could barely speak, her head abuzz with the possibilities. ‘How long ago did this happen?’

‘What difference does it make when it occurred?’ he asked curiously.

‘I—well, I would know then whether or not I ought to offer Sir Rufus my condolences when next I see him,’ Elizabeth invented breathlessly.

‘You should not,’ the earl announced definitely with a dark scowl.

‘But—’

‘Elizabeth, it happened years ago. Damn it, I only revealed the scandal to you at all in order to demonstrate that there is likely an emotional instability in that family,’ he explained.

And now that he had, Elizabeth needed to know more. To know everything that there was to know about the murder of Giles Tennant’s lover followed by his own suicide. She felt a desperate need to know whether Sir Rufus was the older brother of the man for whom her mother had deserted both her husband and three young daughters ten years ago…

Chapter Eight

‘A
re you all right?’ Nathaniel looked down at her frowningly as he saw how pale her face had become, her eyes wide and darkly shadowed, both those things reminding him all too forcibly that, for all she gave the impression of self-reliance, she was in fact a very young lady employed by his aunt. And in his annoyance with Rufus Tennant’s persistent interest in her, Nathaniel had related something that Elizabeth obviously found extremely shocking.

Annoyance…?

Was it just annoyance Nathaniel felt at Tennant’s persistence, or could it be some other emotion? Something much more ugly? Such as resentment at the other man’s interest in her?

Surely not? Resentment would seem to imply jealousy of a sort, and jealousy was an irrational emotion; Nathaniel was not an irrational man. Decisive, even arrogant, but he did not believe he was ever irrational.

He was attracted to Elizabeth certainly, but surely no more so than he had found himself attracted to dozens of other women over the years. Attractions that had invariably been successful in their outcome…

Something that certainly could not be said of his current attraction towards the elusive, even slightly mysterious, Elizabeth Thompson. Was that perhaps the real reason for his current irritation? It was certainly a more agreeable explanation than his previous one had been!

Elizabeth still felt dazed, knowing that her more-than-obvious reaction to Lord Thorne’s disclosure of the scandal involving Sir Rufus’s brother must seem strange—and the very last thing she wished to do was arouse the earl’s suspicions as to her personal interest in that subject.

No, if she wished to know any more of it, to confirm if her suspicions were true or not, then she must talk to Sir Rufus himself.

‘I—I believe we have walked far enough for one afternoon, my lord.’ She gave a tight smile as she tugged lightly on Hector’s lead so that she might turn back towards Hepworth Manor.

Nathaniel fell into step beside her. ‘I apologise,’ he said. ‘I have obviously upset you by speaking of the scandal involving Tennant’s brother.’

‘But you did not speak of it,’ Elizabeth denied. ‘Not in any detail, at least,’ she added with a frown. ‘You did not reveal the name of his married lover, for example…’

‘Nor will I.’ His mouth was tight. ‘I should not have said the little that I did. It is not a suitable subject upon which to converse with you. What I said distressed you enough, Elizabeth.’

Elizabeth would be ever grateful that he had mentioned it at all. Especially if it should turn out that Giles Tennant had indeed been her mother’s young lover…

It at least gave her the opportunity to speak with Sir Rufus, a man who would likely know more of the past scandal that had resulted in her mother’s death—something that neither Elizabeth nor her sisters had so far been able to learn.

It had not occurred to any of the sisters to question their father too deeply when their mother first left them; they had all been too young and greatly traumatised by that desertion, and their father had been prostrate with grief. And later, once the three sisters were old enough to voice their curiosity about the past, their father had refused absolutely to discuss his wife, or the scandal surrounding her death, with any of them.

Of course, Sir Rufus could prove to be just as intractable on the subject of his brother’s demise, and, even if he was not, Elizabeth’s hopes might all be dashed if he were to reveal that his brother’s death had absolutely no connection to that of Harriet Copeland.

But until Elizabeth had the opportunity to speak with Sir Rufus again she had no way of knowing that. Which was why, once she had returned to Hepworth Manor, Elizabeth now had every intention of accepting Sir Rufus’s invitation to go out riding in his carriage with him.

‘I am merely tired, my lord, and not in the least upset by your conversation,’ she said to explain the abruptness of her decision to return to Hepworth Manor.

Nathaniel felt a sense of dissatisfaction with Elizabeth’s answer, aware there was something…different about her in these past few minutes. And she was correct; it was not distress that he now sensed in her emotions, but something else. Something he did not understand, which he found highly displeasing.

He eyed her closely from beneath the brim of his hat. ‘Perhaps you should have followed my aunt’s example and rested in your room instead of coming outside for a walk.’

‘Perhaps,’ she echoed evasively.

Nathaniel’s frustration increased. ‘It is my intention to call upon Viscount Rutledge tomorrow.’

‘An excellent idea.’ Elizabeth nodded coolly. ‘I am sure Miss Rutledge will think so too,’ she added mockingly.

His mouth firmed at her obvious taunting. ‘Perhaps you would care to come with me?’

‘And cast a shadow over Miss Rutledge’s pleasure in seeing you again?’ She shook her head.

‘I was thinking more along the lines that Rutledge might be pleased at a visit from you,’ Nathaniel said satirically.

‘Of course…’ She appeared to give the matter some thought as Hector lingered to investigate a rabbit hole. ‘No, I believe it would be better if you were to go alone, my lord. Besides,’ she continued firmly as Nathaniel would have spoken again, ‘I am really not at liberty to just disappear with you on a visit to one of Mrs Wilson’s neighbours.’

‘You are if I say that you—’ Nathaniel broke off with an annoyed growl. ‘Never mind.’ He scowled. ‘I believe I will leave you and Hector to finish the walk back at your leisure.’ He glanced down at the little dog as he continued to dig his way further into the rabbit hole. ‘I have some more correspondence to deal with before dinner.’

‘Have a care, my lord, or all this work may make you as dull as you believe Sir Rufus to be!’ Elizabeth jeered.

Nathaniel felt utterly frustrated as he returned that teasing gaze, knowing that he only intended shutting himself away in the relative privacy of the library at Hepworth Manor in order to prevent himself from doing something totally irresponsible—such as making love to Elizabeth again.

He raised a mocking eyebrow. ‘I do not believe there could possibly be another man alive as dull as he!’

Until a short time ago Elizabeth would have totally agreed with him. But if her suspicion as to his connection to her mother’s young lover should prove to be correct, Elizabeth knew she would then consider him the most interesting man of her acquaintance!

Not at all in the way that she found Nathaniel Thorne interesting, of course; the earl had awakened feelings inside her, hidden desires that she had so far been totally unable to rationalise. Or resist…

She gave a graceful shrug of her shoulders. ‘No doubt one person’s idea of dullness might be another’s idea of stability and steadfastness. Both of them desirable qualities, I am sure you will agree?’

‘I trust nothing I have said to you today has influenced you into feeling so much sympathy with Tennant that you are now reconsidering your refusal to go out riding in his carriage with him?’ The earl scowled down at her darkly.

Elizabeth deliberately kept her lashes demurely downcast. ‘Mrs Wilson was at pains earlier to point out that gentleman’s good qualities to me…’

‘You are reconsidering!’ Nathaniel could not keep the disbelief from his voice.

Limpid blue eyes looked up to meet his. ‘Perhaps.’

‘You are being ridiculous—’

‘I am?’

Nathaniel could not miss the slight inflection in her voice. Or the reason for it. He was the one behaving ridiculously. Especially when he still had no idea what to do about his own attraction to her. For many reasons—not least the disapproval of his Aunt Gertrude—setting Elizabeth up as his mistress would appear to be a non-starter.

‘Maybe if I were to recount the sad tale of my own parents having both drowned, during a sea voyage across the Atlantic when I was but seventeen years old, you might feel the same sympathy towards me!’ he muttered disgustedly.

‘And is that what happened?’ she asked gently.

He inclined his head. ‘It is.’

She looked pained. ‘That is indeed a tragedy…’

‘But not tragic enough to garner the same sympathy as Tennant, apparently,’ Nathaniel snorted.

‘You do have your Aunt Gertrude to support you, whereas Sir Rufus appears to have no one,’ she pointed out.

He frowned. ‘You are too soft-hearted by far.’

‘I am what I am, my lord.’

‘And being you, will no doubt do exactly as you wish!’

Elizabeth gave an impish smile. ‘That is exactly what I have been doing these past few weeks, yes.’

Nathaniel wished he had the same freedom of choice. But his responsibilities, to both his title and his estates, decreed that he did not. ‘In that case, if you will excuse me…’ He bowed to her before turning on his heel.

Elizabeth, watching him stride forcefully away from her, could not help but admire the width of his shoulders, his tapered waist and the long muscled legs encased smartly in black Hessians. The May sunshine seemed to turn his hair to a rich and burnished gold. A thick and silky gold that Elizabeth’s fingers itched to touch…

She gave a heavy sigh, knowing that her apparent change of interest in Sir Rufus Tennant had put yet another rift in her relationship with the earl. One that was for the best, perhaps—there was absolutely no future in the growing attraction she felt towards Nathaniel Thorne, either in her role as lady’s companion, or as Lady Elizabeth Copeland. The best that she could hope for was that they would not part as bad friends when the time came. She—

‘I had thought the man would never leave!’

Elizabeth had been too lost in those disturbing thoughts of Lord Thorne to notice the approach of the other man, but she turned sharply now to look up at Sir Rufus Tennant as he sat astride Starlight, the shadowing brim of his hat hiding the expression in his pale blue eyes, although his comment would appear to imply that he had been observing them for some minutes before approaching her. ‘How nice to see you again, Sir Rufus,’ Elizabeth spoke with a warmth that was forced rather than felt; it took only seconds in this man’s company to know that she found him no more pleasing despite the fact that he might hold the answer to some of the secrets of her mother’s past.

He slid smoothly down from the saddle to stand at her side as he removed his hat before bowing slightly. ‘I was riding over to Hepworth Manor in the hopes that I might speak with you.’ He replaced his hat upon his dark head.

And instead he had found Elizabeth out walking and in conversation with the Earl of Osbourne. A conversation Sir Rufus had deliberately chosen not to interrupt…? ‘I am sure Lord Thorne would have welcomed the opportunity to speak with you too.’

Sir Rufus gave a scathing snort. ‘I have no patience with rakes such as he!’

Elizabeth immediately felt herself bristle on the earl’s behalf; if he truly were the rake Sir Rufus described him as being, then surely he would have taken advantage of the opportunity of their being alone together just now in which to make further advances to her? The fact that he had not surely implied he could not be as disreputable as Sir Rufus—and she—had previously implied.

Nevertheless, Elizabeth was also aware that she would require Sir Rufus’s good will if she wished to ask the necessary questions of him, so she needed to tread carefully. ‘He is still very young, Sir Rufus,’ she said noncommittally.

He looked pleased by Elizabeth’s apparent dismissal of the good looks and charm of a man ten years his junior. ‘Would you care to continue walking along the cliff path with me?’

Considering she had minutes ago been walking in the other direction… ‘That would be lovely,’ Elizabeth accepted brightly. ‘But what of Starlight?’ She reached up to stroke the grey on his silky soft nose.

‘I will tether him to one of the trees for the time we are gone; he will come to no harm here.’ Sir Rufus suited his actions to his words before strolling along the pathway beside her. ‘I believe I owe you an apology, Miss Thompson,’ he spoke awkwardly, as if he were unaccustomed to admitting he was ever in the wrong. ‘I…spoke out of turn yesterday evening and sincerely apologise if I offended you.’

‘Think no more about it, Sir Rufus.’ Elizabeth’s smile was brittle.

‘I cannot help but think of it.’ He stopped to turn and gather one of her gloved hands into his. ‘I obviously disturbed you with my comments about Osbourne and the last thing I wish to do is upset you, Elizabeth,’ he added gruffly.

Elizabeth swallowed hard, not at all sure she was comfortable with having her hand held in Sir Rufus’s, let alone the almost feverish glitter she saw in those pale blue eyes as he looked down at her so avidly. ‘I admit I felt upset at the time, but I am not anymore,’ she said as she gently but firmly removed her hand from his.

‘I simply wanted to warn you of the possibility of Osbourne taking advantage of you—’

‘I believe it would be for the best if we did not speak on that subject again. I assure you, Lord Thorne is my employer’s nephew to me, and nothing more.’ She turned to continue walking along the pathway.

Sir Rufus fell into step beside her, not speaking for several minutes. ‘It is a beautiful day, is it not?’

The weather was certainly a safer subject for them to discuss than Nathaniel Thorne! ‘Beautiful,’ Elizabeth echoed distractedly; it was one thing to have decided she must speak with Sir Rufus at the earliest opportunity, quite another to suffer his almost possessive interest in her, let alone know how to broach such a personal subject as a brother he had never so much as mentioned to her.