Page 9 of The Moonstone Governess
Daire glanced at the notice posted on an easel by the entryway. “I see there is an assembly ball to be held at the inn this evening.”
Thaddius looked at him askance, knowing he was mentioning it only to change the topic, since the notice had been prominently displayed there all week, and one would have to be blind as a mole not to have seen it before this moment. “Yes, Your Grace. Will you and your party attend? Brenna will be there.”
Daire merely nodded and walked into the empty dining room. The hour was early for most of the inn’s patrons, but he preferred the solitude, since he needed to think about Brenna. She would be at tonight’s dance, he mused, taking a seat at one of the tables in a back corner of the room to discourage any of the inn’s guests approaching him, should they happen to walk in.
Tomorrow there was to be a tea hosted by the Duke of Malvern and his wife at their grand estate, St. Austell Grange. He wondered whether Brenna would attend that affair, too.
No matter.
He would see the girl again this afternoon, and this pleased him immensely, although he did not know why it should when she had done nothing but meddle and poke her finger into his deep wounds.
He ordered a cup of coffee, finished it quickly, and then decided to take a walk down to the harbor. He needed to think about his summer plans and did not wish to be interrupted by his wastrel friends. Why had he brought them along when they no longer amused him? Well, it was his own fault for inviting them.
Brenna had been surprisingly quick to catch on to why he kept them about. They were toadies who did not ask questions or require him to open up his heart. The ladies among them, although still unmarried, were unapologetic in their promiscuity. They did not hesitate to join him in bed whenever it suited him. Nor did they particularly care which of them he took to his bed, or if both accompanied him.
But he hadn’t touched either of them since arriving in Moonstone Landing several weeks ago. They were amoral creatures, both of them now betrothed to older noblemen who were in frail health and ridiculously wealthy. Those were irresistible qualities, apparently. They were willing to offer nights of sex during their marriage in return for scads of money upon the demise of their well-satisfied husbands.
Daire shuddered to think what kind of salons Lady Gemma and Lady Sarah would host once they were merry widows. Nor did their brother, Lord Hollinsgworth, ever show any concern for their virtue or shocking lack of it.
Ah, families.
But who was he to pass judgment on any of them when his own family was so shameful? Brutal, cruel, and completely lacking in scruples. The only one among them who stood a chance of getting into heaven was the woman he referred to as his mother. Duchess Juliana was actually his stepmother, and had married his father only a month before that bastard died. To Daire’s surprise, she had taken her role as mother quite seriously, raising him and his older brother as though they were her own. She never beat them or gave up on them, despite the trouble they caused.
Unfortunately, she had come into their lives too late to save his older brother from turning into the heartless monster that their father, and grandfather before him, had been.
As for Daire himself, the outcome was yet to be decided. Had his stepmother intervened in time to save him? He simply did not know.
“Ah, Brenna,” he muttered. “Perhaps you are right to want nothing to do with me.”
He strode down the high street, passing the monument to Captain Brioc Taran Arundel. Daire had passed by this statue dozens of times over the years, but never stopped in front of it until this morning. The man’s sacrifice now had meaning for him, for without his valor, Brenna would not be here today. The sea captain was the village hero for rescuing all the schoolchildren from that sinking schooner during the squall, as Mr. Matchett had said.
Daire shook his head.
Why did this incident now leavehimin such turmoil?
Perhaps it was something he would talk to Brenna about later. These tragedies changed people forever, their rescuers and especially the survivors. Had he not been so changed by war? He had led his men into some fairly bloody battles.
Daire tried to dismiss thoughts of war or Brenna as he reached the dockside and looked out over the harbor that was dotted with sailing vessels. They were mostly fishing boats, but there was also a naval frigate easing into one of the slips in order to discharge its wounded soldiers. Fort Arundel, the ancient stone fortress beside the harbor, was an army outpost commanded by Viscount Fionn Brennan, and attached to it was a newly built military hospital also under his command.
Most of the naval vessels arriving at this port sailed in for the purpose of depositing their wounded.
Daire knew he ought to do something about helping out, perhaps… Well, he would talk to Viscount Brennan about it later. He turned away to walk through the nearby fish market, which was bustling at this hour. While the men were off in their fishing vessels catching their daily haul, their wives were skinning and gutting the fresh catch as it was brought in.
The ground was strewn with blood, and the air held the scent of rotting fish.
He sighed and walked back up the hill to the inn, annoyed with himself for allowing the memories of war to seep into his thoughts. Suddenly, everything he saw and every breath he inhaled reminded him of the slaughter on the bloody battlefields. Blood on all sides, young men dying needlessly, and for what?
How detestable his life had been even before he headed off to war, and how empty it was ever since his return to England once the war was over. Napoleon had been defeated years ago, and Daire’s father had died years before that, so why was he still battling demons?
And why did he suddenly think Brenna could be what he needed to heal his heart?
She thought him low and repulsive for kissing her.
But, dear heaven, he thought he would suffocate if he did not kiss her again.
However, he would not attempt it unless she was willing. She already thought he was an arrogant rogue and did not like him. Well, she did notwantto like him, which was not quite the same thing. If he had any sense, he would keep his arrangement with Brenna completely professional and keep to thetonladies for his amorous affairs.
Yes, it would be so much easier to keep to those easy women who tossed themselves at him and offered him whatever he wished, without need for him to expend any effort or make any promises to get them into his bed.
