Page 19 of Only a Lyon Will Do
“Can you blame me?” he asked as he took the vacant seat she pointed toward.
“You are not the first man who has refused to see that his days of being a bachelor are over, nor will you be the last. But in your case, Lord Rowley, you have been slipping through my gaming tables and somehow winning when the opposite should hold true.”
“Call it gambler’s luck,” he said with a crooked grin knowing how often her games were rigged in her favor.
“I could call it many things, Lord Rowley, but luck isn’t one of them.” She remained silent for a moment, tapping one black-gloved finger on the edge of the chair’s arm. When she finally spoke her mind, her words sent his world reeling. “I offered you perfection, and it was plain to see that you were charmed by her, yet you still turned your nose up at the lady who would make you the perfect wife.”
He couldn’t help himself when his eyes widened. There were only two women he had interacted with here at the Lyon’s Den. One of them was the prostitute on the third floor so he knew Mrs. Dove-Lyon couldn’t be referring to her. Could it be possible… “Are you suggesting you wished to set me up with Patience Moore?” he finally asked when he found his voice.
“Don’t you meanPersephone?” she inquired pleasantly as she waited in silence for his answer.
“But I thought—”
“Did you honestly think my wolves left their posts unattended, my lord?” she asked, laughing when Asher didn’t answer immediately. “You did! How utterly delightful.”
Bloody Hell! The whole thing had been a setup from the very beginning. This woman had orchestrated their every move, down to their first meeting in the stairwell. The one consolation to this whole damn mess was that Patience was also in the dark about the façade she put into place. Or was she?
A frown marred his brow as he began thinking about their every encounter. “Did she know?” he finally managed to ask through pursed lips.
Mrs. Dove-Lyon leaned forward in her chair and pointed a finger toward him. “Mrs. Moore is a kindhearted lady of the highest caliber and knows nothing about my machinations behind the scenes. If you believe her to be capable of that kind of deception, then I fear I have made a horrendous mistake with my attempts to match you two together.”
He sank back into his chair while relief rushed over him. Running his fingers through his hair, he took a deep breath before he turned his attention back to the Widow of Whitehall.
“I need your help, Mrs. Dove-Lyon,” he said and for the first time there was hope that maybe… just maybe this lady had found his match.
“I couldn’t agree more.”
“There is a complication in this whole mess. My brother has developed an attraction to Mrs. Moore,” he admitted as he stood and began pacing the room.
“I was afraid this might happen when I arranged her employment with Dr. Thornberry.”
Asher halted his progress across the floor. “You knew she was working as a nurse?”
He heard a sigh leave the woman. “I am certain, my lord, that you and Mrs. Moore have much to learn about one another including your lives before you met. But I stand by my decision to pair the two of you together. She may not have been born into your class, but you would have been bored within the year tohave one of those Society misses meddling in your life. Patience is different and different is exactly what a man like you needs in your life.”
“So, you’ll help me?” he asked to stand before the lady.
“Of course, I’ll help you, Lord Rowley. For a price…” she said as she came to a stand.
“I’ll pay whatever you ask,” he replied wondering what her fee for such a service might actually be.
“I’ll have Mrs. Moore sent to meet with you. If she agrees to continue on with a possible relationship with you, I’ll send an invoice for my continued services to your townhouse this afternoon. Along with it, I will also include an invitation to a charity ball next week to announce the beginning of the new Season. I will see to it that Mrs. Moore is there.”
“I appreciate your help, Mrs. Dove-Lyon.”
She halted with her hand on the door. “Do not disappoint me, Lord Rowley. I would hate for my track record to become tarnished because you decide to recant your decision.”
She left him abruptly with her words lingering in his mind. Recant his decision regarding Patience? That was the furthest thing from his intentions toward the woman. His only thought now was if she would agree to see him outside of the Lyon’s Den and her nursing position. He held his breath waiting for the lady to enter the room, calming his nerves and wondering when he had become so smitten with a lady he barely knew.
Chapter Fourteen
Patience’s body physicallyshook when she stood at the entrance to a private salon. When one of the bouncers had interrupted her game at one of the tables in the ladies’ gambling room, Cassandra and Patience had shared a knowing look. The summons could only mean that the Widow of Whitehall had another prospective husband for her to meet.
As she began to accompany the wolf down to the lower floor, Patience tried not to think of her encounter with Hades on these same stairs. Nor did she let herself think of his hazel eyes boring into her when she had met him by accident in the garden. There was no point looking in that direction. He would not be there.
She hadn’t seen him since their carriage ride. When he did arrive for a visit with his brother, she made sure she was in a different wing of the house attending other patients. It would do her no good to pine over a man who only wanted one thing from her.
“You only need to call out if you have need of me, Mrs. Moore. I’ll remain right here outside the door,” Demetrius said politely.
