Page 49 of Beyond Scandal and Desire
“And you didn’t care about my reputation.”
He gave her a pointed look. “It was a ball. I didn’t see that your reputation would be in any danger. You hadn’t struck me as someone who lorded her position in Society over others.”
A spark of shame skipped through her. “I didn’t mean to imply that associating with your guests was beneath me.”
“Nor did I mean to imply I saw you as an object to be bartered. I see you as anything but. You intrigue me, Lady Aslyn, but I can’t call on you for two reasons—you are already betrothed, and I sincerely doubt your guardians would welcome me into their home.”
They wouldn’t. The duchess had made clear her opinion on the illegitimate. But to look at him, no one would know. She saw him as a businessman, a success, a man who went after what he wanted. And he’d wanted her company. Kip had abandoned her for cards, and Mick had only left her side when she’d insisted. He might not be courting her, but he certainly had a way of making her feel treasured.
“Besides, I hoped you might enjoy the evening.”
“I did,” she admitted softly. “Until the end.”
“Rather unfortunate that.”
With a nod, she sipped the cognac and turned her attention to the fire. “Shouldn’t your man have returned with a hansom by now?”
Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as he stretched out his legs as though settling in for a long wait. “Not a lot of need for cabbies this time of night in this section of London. Someday there will be. Just not yet.”
She peered over at him. With his elbow resting on the arm of the chair, he held the stem of his snifter nestled between two fingers, his palm cradling the bowl, no doubt warming its contents. The pose shouldn’t have made him look so enticingly masculine, but she suspected he could be decked out in petticoats and still give the impression nothing about him ever had been or ever would be feminine. “I suppose I should have taken you up on the offer of your carriage.”
“It’s not too late, although now that we are further into the night, if you’re in my carriage, I’d have a responsibility to accompany you.”
To sit in the dark confines across from her, their knees possibly in danger of touching. His mouth not so far from hers. She felt as though he’d branded her, in ways Kip never had, had never even tried. Better to wait for the hansom than to risk discovering she was weak where Mick was concerned. “Regarding Kipwick, as you’ve admitted to spending time with him, answer me this. Was last night an aberration?”
He sighed. “You should ask him.”
“You don’t gossip or tell tales out of turn.”
“When you grow up as the object of gossip, you learn to loathe it.”
She couldn’t imagine a child being gossiped about, but her experience with children was limited. She’d been tutored at the estate. Growing up, she hadn’t run around with anyone other than Kip, and then only when he made time for her. He’d gone off to school. She’d always expected she would, as well. She’d had a short stint at a ladies’ finishing school, but other than that, until her first Season, her life had been rather confining. “Was it the circumstances of your birth that caused the gossip?”
A corner of his mouth quirked up. “Some questioned the absence of a father. Some knew Ettie Trewlove took in bastards. People tended to avoid us as though we might infect them with our illegitimacy. I grew up angry, quick to lash out.”
“You’re still angry.” She could see it in the tautness of his jaw.
“I am, but now my anger is directed at only one—the man who spilled his seed into a woman and created me.”
His words surprised her. “Do you know who your father is?”
“I do.”
“Does he acknowledge you?”
“Not yet, but he will. Eventually.”
She didn’t understand people not acknowledging their children, regardless of the circumstances of their birth. “How can you be so certain?”
A muscle in his jaw tightened, jumped. At the audacity of her question or the means he intended to employ to ensure his father complied with his wishes? She didn’t believe he’d use physical force, but he was a man with wealth, power and friends who flourished in the shadows. He studied her, and she suddenly wished a more concrete trust existed between them. “I apologize. How you deal with family is not my business.”
“He’s not family. He’s blood. Family has naught to do with blood.”
She understood that sentiment. “Very true. I’ve been with the duke and duchess for so long that they are more parents than guardians. They’ve always treated me as though I were their true daughter.”
“You love them.” It was a statement, but one edged with surprise.
“Of course. They’ve been very good to me, but it’s more than that. They’re the ones who comfort me when I’m melancholy, who made me feel safe when I awoke frightened in the dark of night. The duchess taught me how to be a lady, to walk throughout the manor with a book balanced on top of my head. The duke taught me how to waltz.” She laughed lightly. “I would stand on his feet, and he would circle the room until I grew dizzy.”
