The Wedding Affair (Rebel Hearts series Book 1) (14 page)

He shifted again to look at Lady Duckworth. “I have my doubts a better place exists or the wisdom in agreeing to such a thing without confirmation. But I must warn you after so many years with hardwood boards beneath my feet and the roiling seas pitching me about, Newberry Park is heaven on earth to me.”

Sally was impressed he had managed to flatter Newberry without slighting Lofton Downs. Clearly he had learned something in the past six years.

“I will convince you that heaven can be found anywhere a man cares to set down his cap,” Arianna purred in a lower tone that Sally could only describe as an attempt to be seductive.

It took all her strength of will not to reveal her dismay and she darted a glance at her mother to see if she had misheard. Her mother nodded and smiled as she glanced between the pair as if seeing a match in the making. Sally
was
over the disappointment of Felix, but how could Arianna flirt with the man she had almost married right in front of her? And in front of her mother too!

Lord Cameron strolled over. “Do excuse the interruption, Lady Duckworth, but my mother wishes to take her leave and retire to Braden Park. Are you ready to come with us?”

“Yes, indeed.” Arianna held out her hand to Felix. “Until next time, Captain.”

“I look forward to it, Lady Duckworth,” he murmured as he stood and then helped her rise. He dropped her hand immediately.

Arianna turned to Sally. Her eyes were alight with feverish excitement. “Do not be a stranger, and if you have time before the wedding, bring this handsome devil along with you.”

Dread filled Sally at the open mention of her impending marriage before Felix. Although Felix knew she had promised her hand to Ellicott, she was uncomfortable hearing the matter discussed before him. Especially after she had allowed him to kiss her.

She buried her embarrassment again as she said her good-byes to Arianna. “I doubt there will be time.”

“Make time,” Arianna whispered. “Remember what we discussed.”

With a flirtatious wave of her fingers, Arianna swept from the room on Lord Cameron’s arm. Only then did Sally remember that Arianna wanted to punish Felix for breaking her heart. Did Arianna intend to tempt him and then turn away from him? Oh, she hoped not.

Felix relaxed, stretching out his arm along the chaise once more, and drew in a deep breath. “She is not how I recall you describing her,” he said so quietly her mother could not hear the remark. An impressive feat.

“She is married now.”

“So I gathered.” Felix shook his head. “And bored of being so, I suspect.”

There was disapproval in his tone, and Sally straightened, noticing belatedly that she had not consumed one drop of the whiskey that should have been his. No matter what Arianna had in mind for Felix, Sally was no good at holding a grudge. She would take her friend aside and insist she leave the captain alone.

“Take it,” she whispered as she passed him the glass. “I recall you prefer it.”

“And so do you, which is why I suffered the sherry,” Felix remarked dryly, keeping his hands in his lap. “I never could deny you anything you wanted, though I think you should return the glass to your lap. Our conversation has caught the attention of a certain older lady across the room.”

Sally slowly scanned the room and met Lady Ellicott’s hard gaze. Her heart thudded at the woman’s obvious disapproval of her talking with Felix. “Oh dear.”

“Trouble?”

“Hopefully not.” Sally licked her lips. “Lady Ellicott has opinions.”

“And so do you,” Felix said. “I have always been of the opinion you should not have to change to please the ones you love.”

When they had first met, they had been at a small dinner and he had caught her sneaking sips from her father’s whiskey glass. He had smiled and said nothing. When he had begun to aid her by passing her his untouched glass the following nights, she had fallen a little bit in love with him each time. Together they had skirted the boundaries of propriety in public and laughed about it afterward whenever they could snatch a private moment. She had had so little time to know Felix, but those innocent days had not lasted. Their interest in each other had quickly strayed into passion.

“You certainly did not.” Sally sucked in a breath at how quickly resentment flared in her. Felix was a dangerous man. Ambitious and charming, he made her forget the way she should behave. She should not be sitting next to him unless she had no choice. He had used her to feather his own nest. “You should leave.”

“I think you are correct.” A few moments later, Felix excused himself from her mother and retired for the night without looking back.

Chapter Fourteen

“M
y word, that man has a presence,” her mother gushed as she collapsed at Sally’s side in quite a state. “I know you still think meanly toward the captain, but I think he would do for one of your cousins, or perhaps for Louisa. He has aged very well indeed. Can you imagine how handsome his children would be?”

Sally had imagined that many times, but the thought of Felix as a potential suitor or husband to any of her female relations was appalling. She glanced sharply at her mother. “Mother, I do not think you should play matchmaker.”

Lady Ellicott joined them, her eyes fixed on Sally. Her lips pressed together in a tight, disapproving line.

“Well, I know I should not play matchmaker, but,” Mama continued, oblivious to Lady Ellicott’s growing scowl, “when we dined together last night, I could swear that man is terribly lonely. No family but a brother. I suspect there is bad blood between them. No home but his wretched ship. If Victoria or Audrey can cheer him, then who am I to stand in the way of a second betrothal for him?”

“Felix knows how to look after himself perfectly well.” Sally bit her lip at her use of his first name. If she wanted to hide her past from Lady Ellicott, she had to stop thinking of him in such informal terms.

The countess frowned. “Felix?”

Sally floundered a moment, but her mother spoke up before she could. “Captain Hastings, of course. He has had such a long acquaintance with our family and was once engaged to be married to someone I knew well. Such a dear man, and so polite to me. I would have him happy once more.”

Lady Ellicott’s eyes lit up as she scented a scandal worth hearing. “Was it his profession that turned the connection sour?”

Her mother smiled. “In a way, although I think an outside influence had more to do with the break than anything.”

“Mother, we should not talk about his past,” Sally whispered, frantic that her past betrothal to Felix not be revealed to Lady Ellicott.

Mama took no notice of her distress. “It is such a shame. Many parents have ambitions for their children that conflict with what’s truly best for them. And he was in love too, I think. The poor man has never looked at another woman the same way.”

The countess stiffened in her chair. “How inconvenient, but I am sure he will easily find another. He has means, I understand.”

“He does, but it is so tragic I can barely speak of what he has suffered. I have hope now that he is finally ready to put the past behind him and love again. He has made his name and a tidy fortune and will surely catch the notice of some deserving woman.” Mama smiled serenely, leaving Sally with the distinct impression she was goading Lady Ellicott on purpose.

But why? Her parents’ arranged marriage had never been much of an example of wedded bliss, and everyone in society knew they lived separate lives. Even so, Mama always claimed a love match would best suit her own daughters when their turn came to marry. She wanted her children to be happy, and yet lasting love had eluded both Sally and Louisa.

“I am sure Captain Hastings will find someone.”
Else
.

“I would not be too sure,” Mama murmured.

“Please, not tonight,” Sally whispered.

“Soon then.”

Sally nodded, knowing she could not escape a lengthy debate about Felix forever. In a way it was odd that her mother had barely mentioned him in the past years, except to occasionally say his name when sharing news of him in her letters from Laurence.

Mama was going to be disappointed once she discovered Sally had not agreed to marry Ellicott because she had fallen in love with him. And after her little talk with Ellicott, it seemed very likely she might have committed herself to a union similar to her parents’ marriage. Unless she could make Ellicott love her.

But love was a fleeting and fickle companion and never a certainty. Sally had to embrace whatever opportunities came her way and accept what she could not change. She could marry without love and be content with that outcome. It would enable her to live the life she was always meant to have.

Last season she had felt the odd one out among her married friends. This year she could not help but notice that others made plans for house parties that she could not accept invitations to. For one, she would have to take a chaperone, and two, someone had suggested Sally was almost of an age not to need one.

That remark had hurt her feelings more than she had let on at the time. But later, when she was alone, she had decided it was high time for a major change in her life.

Marrying Lord Ellicott was necessary.

Across the room, her grandfather caught her eye. He winked at her, so she winked back and then laughed, allowing her doubts to subside. She had made a responsible decision to marry. She and Ellicott were cut from the same cloth. Things would be different from her initial expectations, but if Sally had learned anything in her five and twenty years, it was to adapt to change.

She would make it a rule with Ellicott that if either one of them took a lover then the details were not to be shared. “I think I will turn in, Mama.”

Mama grasped her hand and squeezed. “But it is so early.”

“I have had a long and tiring few days.” Her duties often left her exhausted, but today had been particularly taxing on her emotions too.

“Indeed you have. It is not every day a woman accepts a man as her husband.” Her mother nodded sagely. “Rest well, my darling.”

Chapter Fifteen

S
ally climbed the main staircase with no particular destination in mind once she reached the top. She was not really that weary, but she suddenly could not bear to be around her family. And especially not Lady Ellicott.

Uncertainty plagued her. She was still attracted to Felix, much more so than she was to the man she would marry. As she ascended the stairs, she studied the face of the late Duchess of Rutherford. Her portrait hung at the top of the stairs leading to Sally’s bedchamber, and her grandmother’s smile had always intrigued her.

She had only vague memories of the woman—kind, a laugh like sunlight. Soft.

Sally did not feel she was very much like her, but she wanted, more than anything, the sort of life her grandmother had lived—with a husband’s unconditional love supporting her endeavors. Unfortunately, Sally had not the faintest idea of how to make Ellicott fall in love with her.

The swish of skirts and rush of soft footsteps drawing near broke her out of her reverie. Unwilling to face anyone at this hour, Sally ducked into the nearest guest room and quietly closed the door until it was almost completely shut. She held her breath as her future mother-in-law hurried past, her direction leading her toward her own bedchamber at the end of the west wing.

Sally pressed her brow against the cool, solid door and closed it all the way. She did not want to be questioned by Lady Ellicott about the captain, so she would remain here a while and avoid her. She would not be able to offer a good answer if questioned about the past anyway.

A throat cleared softly behind her and she spun about.

Felix Hastings, captain of the Royal Navy and her first lover, stood before the open bedroom windows with the sea breeze billowing the curtains around him. Naked as the day he had been born too.

Moonlight played upon the taut skin of his body, making him seem as insubstantial as air and terribly appealing. Sally gulped as her body reacted to the sheer beauty of his form and the unexpected moment. Strong, muscled, big. She was blushing before it occurred to her she had sought safety in his guest quarters.

She lowered her eyes. “Forgive the intrusion.”

“Of course.” He did not move to cover his nakedness but stood immobile until she lifted her gaze again. “Can I help you, my lady?”

She had not seen him without clothes in such a long time. She bit her lip and struggled to breathe. When she glanced at his body again, his cock thickened and lifted in reaction to her presence. Sally closed her eyes as the desire to skim her fingers over him grew unbearable. “You should not stand about like that.”

“Why not? It is my room.” He sighed.

“A gentleman would cover himself, and you could catch a chill,” she concluded rather lamely.

“A gentleman I have never been. Not the sort that you are used to now. Besides, a proper lady would have done one of three things by now—faint, scream, or leave.”

“I
am
a proper lady.”

He shook his head. “No, you’re not. You’re Sally Ford.”

“I do not even know what that is supposed to mean.”

“It means I like that you are bold. I like always knowing where I stand with you.” He said nothing for a long moment. “Tell me you are satisfied with your life.”