Wallflower (Old Maids' Club, Book 1) (25 page)

Instead of refilling Noah’s glass,
Leith pushed the bottle out of Noah’s reach. “I think,” the dratted
earl said slowly, “you’ve already had more than you can
handle.”

Noah pointed a finger across the table
at him. Or maybe he pointed three. Gracious, how many fingers were
on his hand? “How do you know what I can think?” That didn’t sound
right.

It didn’t stop Leith from giving him
an answer to the question he had intended to ask, however. “You
never have more than the occasional brandy, and even that is a rare
occurrence. You’ve drunk half the bottle already. As it is, you’ll
be sicker than you’ve ever been in your life tomorrow. Trust me,
Devonport, you’ll thank me later for stopping you now.”

“
I’ll thank you to refill
my bottle from the damned glass.” He’d cursed. Noah couldn’t
remember the last time he’d cursed. He thought he might like to try
it again. “Damn you.” Yes, that felt good.

Leith laughed, and Noah wanted to
plant the sorry sod a facer. He restrained himself, though. Noah
didn’t care to damage any of the extra fingers he’d just discovered
before he had an opportunity to examine them in the light of
day.

“
Stop laughing at
me.”

“
Face it, Devonport.
You’re drunk as a wheelbarrow.”

“
Laugh one more time, and
I’ll barrow your blasted wheels.” Where had that come from? It
didn’t even make sense to Noah in his slightly inebriated
state.

Leith pushed a tray of sandwiches
closer to Noah. “Eat. It will help. Are you ready to tell me what
brought this on?”

Come to think of it, he was hungry.
Noah selected a sandwich and took a bite. “Not what. Who,” he
grumbled while chewing. “And who would you—hic—think it
was?”

“
Aha,” Leith said. “This
is about Lady Tabitha. Things are not going well between you then?
I thought you’d finally made some progress.”

“
Oh, she’ll allow me to
court her and touch her and kiss her until I nearly blow my
ballocks, all right. Things are going perfectly well in that
regard. But she won’t let me be her wife.”

“
I see,” Leith murmured,
drawing his fingers to a point at his chin. “That presents quite a
conundrum. One I’m all too familiar with. So you’ve compromised
her, and she still won’t have you?”

“
That’s the
pro—hic—problem,” Noah drawled. “No one has caught me complicating
her. No one but her maid, at least. And even if someone did
discover us in a compulsive position, she wouldn’t care. She says
she won’t marry.”

Leith passed him a glass of water.
“Drink. It’ll help.”

“
I want—hic—more whiskey.
Bloody hiccoughs.”

“
Drink the water. The
whiskey is what caused your ‘bloody hiccoughs’, you drunken
imbecile.” Leith sat back in his chair and waited until Noah
started to grudgingly drink. “Do you want someone to catch you
compromising Lady Tabitha?”

Yes
. Good God, yes. “No. She’d be furious with me.” But he
certainly did love watching her in a fit of pique. It always made
him wonder how that passion would translate to the
bedchamber.

“
Well, I suppose you’d
better find another way of convincing her to change her mind. But
that can wait for another day. I should probably see you home,
now.”

“
I don’t want—hic—to go
home.” Noah yawned. He wanted to curl up right where he was and go
to sleep. Going home seemed like far more trouble than it was
worth.

Leith came around the table and hefted
Noah to his feet, pulling one arm across his shoulders. “Come on.
My curricle is waiting. I’ll order your driver to take your
carriage home.”

“
Leave me be,” Noah said.
“I might be ill.” Faster than a blink of the eye, Leith let him go
and Noah dropped to the floor, cracking his knees against the hard
wood surface. “Bloody hell! That—hic—hurts. What did you do that
for?”

“
I don’t fancy wearing
your whiskey on my boots. On second thought, maybe we should take
your carriage.”

Noah tried to stand, but fell back
down again. The floor seemed to be slipping out from under him.
“Fine. Let’s just go.” He reached out a hand, hoping Leith would
assist him, but Leith just shook his head and held a finger to his
lips. “Could you help me up?”

“
Quiet,” Leith whispered.
“Listen.”

Listen
. The only thing Noah heard was a roaring in his ears, like
the ocean crashing against the cliff his heart had just leapt from.
But then he heard a voice he recognized.

Oglethorpe
. The bastard. Noah’s head
suddenly seemed to clear. He managed to pull himself to his feet
and moved closer to the wall separating them.

“
You don’t seem to be
making a very good show of it, Eggerley. I’ve not seen you anywhere
near the Cow.” Noah saw red. Red with funny little twinkling lights
floating about in it. He swiped out to grab one of the lights, but
nearly fell from the effort.

But then another man
laughed. “While you’ve been near the ape leader aplenty, but are
still a far cry from collecting your wager.”
The bloody wager
. Noah sobered
instantly. The ‘Cow’ Oglethorpe had mentioned was no cow at all,
but his Tabitha. His love.

“
Not as far as you think,”
Oglethorpe boasted. Noah smothered his own roar of fury before it
could escape him.

“
Is that so?” Eggerley
mocked. “So when should I expect the banns to be called,
then?”

“
If things go according to
plan, I’d expect it to happen within the week. Two at most. If you
want a chance at winning, you need to get involved.”

Noah wanted to pummel him. Both of
them. He wanted to make them hurt the way he had that afternoon
when Lady Tabitha told him yet again that she wouldn’t have him.
Only Leith’s hand on his arm held him back from moving into the
other room and taking his frustrations out with his fists. That and
the fact that he was still unsteady on his feet.

“
We should go,” Leith said
softly. “There’s nothing you can do right now. Not while you’re in
this state.”

Leith was right. As much as Noah hated
to admit it, he was right. He allowed Leith to half carry him out
of White’s and to a waiting carriage.

Would he have to compromise Lady
Tabitha and ‘allow’ himself to be caught? If he did, he’d be no
better than Oglethorpe and Eggerley.

But if he didn’t...

~ * ~

The stench of vomit woke Noah the next
morning, alongside a pain so severe that he thought his head would
feel better if it was split in two. “What happened?”

“
Good morning, my lord,”
called out his valet, Horace. “You shot the cat, I’m afraid. Drink
this. It will help.”

“
What cat?” Never mind.
Noah didn’t want to know. He didn’t have the energy to argue with
anyone. He lifted the glass to his mouth and took a large swig,
only to spit it out almost immediately. “That is vile. Are you
trying to kill me?”

“
Not at all. Lady
Devonport promises it is the best cure for what ails you.” Horace
returned to cleaning up the mess Noah had apparently made in his
sleep. “Drink all of it, or she vows she’ll have Cook make another
batch.”

Mother would, too. Noah sniffed at the
concoction and his nose wrinkled of its own accord. “What is
it?”

“
I can’t be sure of all
the ingredients, my lord, but I saw orange juice, milk, raw eggs,
blackberries, and smashed tomatoes go in with the coffee. I did see
a piece of cod sitting about while Cook was preparing this, but I’m
sure it couldn’t be included. I hope. I also recall the smell of
burnt toast, though I can’t imagine what Cook could have done with
that.”

Looking down at the murky, chunky
mixture, Noah had a few thoughts on the matter.

“
Best not to look, but
just to pinch your nose and down it without delay, my lord. And
next time, perhaps to avoid overdoing it with the whiskey.” Horace
muttered this last beneath his breath, but loud enough that his
master would be sure to hear.

When Noah didn’t immediately comply,
the valet cleared his throat. “Go on with you. You’re in dire need
of a bath, and Lord Leith has already stopped by to check on you.
He asked me to deliver a message.”

“
And what is
that?”

“
I’ll tell you once you
drink.” Horace stood waiting with his arms crossed over his chest,
until Noah finally pinched his nostrils and forced the repulsive
concoction down, choking. Once he’d finished, he raised the glass
so his valet would continue. Horace shoved a plate in front of him.
“Now break your fast. Lord Leith said you should come to his
lodgings once you’ve recovered. He wants to discuss the events of
last night, and there is no time to waste.”

Noah took a few bites. The only event
of last night he remembered at the moment was when he proved
himself a fool by drinking to the point of oblivion.

Because Lady Tabitha wouldn’t have
him. Because she would never marry.

Oh. Oh, no. Flashes of conversation
from White’s flooded his memory. Telling Leith about kissing and
touching her until he worried he might embarrass himself.
Mentioning that he’d compromised her but not been caught. Things he
ought never to have said to anyone.

And then another memory
crashed over him. Oglethorpe. Eggerley.
The wager
.

Noah shoveled the food into his mouth
as fast as he could. “Ring for my bath, Horace. We need to
hurry.”

Chapter
Fourteen

The chirping birdsong of a pair of
linnets warred with each other for dominance in the background. A
small grouping of ladies and gentlemen promenaded past Tabitha and
Lord Oglethorpe where they sat beneath a weeping willow in one of
the lesser-traveled parts of Hyde Park.

Tabitha’s skin itched all
over.

Not even so much as a swath of bare
skin touched the picnic blanket upon which she sat; she was amply
covered from head-to-toe, or at least as covered as the newer
fashions Madame Duchesne had crafted for her would
allow.

Yet she itched.

Lord Oglethorpe passed her a plate
filled with cold meats and cheeses. “How fortuitous that the
weather is so amiable today. I would have been devastated if we’d
had to cancel our plans or move the picnic indoors.” The tautness
of his mouth seemed to contradict his words.

Perhaps Lord Oglethorpe’s presence was
what caused her skin to crawl.

Tabitha shook the thought from her
mind. He was a fortune hunter, yes. As was Lord Devonport. But Lord
Devonport’s nearness merely served to heighten her awareness of
every part of her body, not make her skin feel prickly and
irritated.

Comparing the two men was almost
entirely unfair, though. Tabitha could never imagine wanting Lord
Oglethorpe to kiss her as Lord Devonport had done—to draw her close
and touch her bared breasts. She’d thought of little else with
regard to Lord Devonport in the days since he had first pulled her
into his arms and stoked the long-dormant embers of her
need.

“
Would you care for some
sherry?” Lord Oglethorpe asked, drawing a bottle and two glasses
from the lined basket beside him. “I know it is early in the day
for spirits, but I thought it might be welcome against the slight
chill in the air.”

It felt almost scandalous to accept,
but she couldn’t see any true harm in it. “Yes, thank you.” Tabitha
took a bite of ham and tried to remember why she’d agreed to join
the man for a picnic. She had more than enough other suitors at the
moment to keep Father happy. There was no need to entertain the
fortune hunter’s pursuit. But Oglethorpe’s invitation had come
before the rest joined in the hunt.

After accepting the glass he handed to
her, Tabitha raised it, took a sip, and nearly choked on its burn.
“Goodness, this is strong.” And it had a suspicious hint of brandy
flavoring amidst the sweeter tones of sherry she had
expected.

“
Oh, dear. I do
apologize.” Lord Oglethorpe took a swallow from his own glass and
grimaced. “Yes, it seems to be a rather
robust
batch.” He repositioned
himself on the blanket, moving closer to Tabitha until his thigh
brushed against hers.

She slid away from him under the guise
of readjusting her skirts, but could not mistake the lascivious
manner in which he leered down the bodice of her gown as she did
so. Using nimble fingers, she did up all the fastenings on her
pelisse. “There seems to be a minor coolness on the
breeze.”

“
Is there?” he asked.
Again, he shifted until the contact between them was undeniably
inappropriate, landing with his weight on her skirts so she could
not remove herself without a struggle. “I was feeling rather
overheated, myself.”

The Ladies Kibblewhite and Plumridge
rode into her view seated in a phaeton. “Oh, Lady Tabitha!” They
waved in her direction. “Lovely to see you out today.” More likely
what they found lovely to see was fodder for their
gossip-mongering.