Page 76 of The Recluse of Wolfeton House (Ladies of Devon 4)

Chapter 26

Hattie searched her brain for a way to get Mr. Warren outside alone but was coming up empty. She needed to embrace the man, to determine if she felt the same way in his arms as she’d felt in Bentley’s. The room was full, growing busier by the moment as the crowd crushed against the walls and bled into the taproom to give the dancers adequate room. Hattie’s chest heaved from the exhaustion of her last set. She noted Mr. Warren looking about the room, likely for Lucy so he could return Hattie to her chaperone’s side.

She needed to act fast.

Clutching Mr. Warren’s sleeve, she leaned against him, making her voice weak. “I am overcome…”

He looked down at her, alarmed. “What did you say?”

The music and conversation in the room combined and mounted in volume, so she tried again, louder. “I feel faint, Mr. Warren.”

His gaze sought the room again. Drat. Was he looking for Lucy once more? That would never do.

“Perhaps a bit of fresh air,” she suggested, and he nodded despite his panicky expression.

Warren let her lean on him as he made his way through the crowd of mostly unfamiliar faces and through the taproom. Hattie noticed Giulia glancing about in search of someone, but she managed to slip away before they were seen.

The cool air outside was a blessed relief against the stuffy heat and cloying perfumes and odors indoors. Hattie followed Mr. Warren along the side of the building where men waited with carriages and coachmen stood idly in conversation.

They were not alone. She would need to improvise.

“Shall I fetch you something to drink?”

“No, I thank you,” Hattie said breathlessly. She gulped in the fresh air, discomfort nipping at her. “The air is helping quite a lot.”

“I am glad.”

A man must have made a joke nearby, for the group of coachmen laughed loudly behind her and she cringed. It was not exactly the best place to test her theory, but she had no other option available to her. She needed to know if Mr. Warren had the same effect on her as Bentley had.

Sliding her hand up his arm, she felt him grow stiff underneath her touch. “I quite enjoyed dancing with you, Mr. Warren.”

Though in all honesty, it had felt no different from any other dance she’d participated in. She simply enjoyed dancing.

“Quite enjoyable, yes,” he agreed, though he sounded noncommittal, his eyes darting about the dark street. “Shall we return inside? We do not wish to be seen alone.”

“We are not alone,” she countered, snaking her hand under his arm and around his back.

But the moment she pressed herself against Mr. Warren she knew with blinding certainty that she’d been wrong in her assumption—or perhaps she had known all along that what she’d felt with Bentley was special and was merely fighting it. The overwhelming warmth and wholeness that had filled her when she was wrapped in Bentley’s arms had not been simply because he was a man—it had occurred because he was Bentley.

And she loved him.

A small gasp slipped through Hattie’s lips, and she stepped back at the same time that Mr. Warren moved to disentangle himself from her grip, alarm on his face.

“Forgive me,” she said. “My foot slipped, and I fell. I’m so grateful you were there to catch me.”

He regarded her silently, likely trying to determine how her foot slipped while they were standing still, and how it would cause her arm to slide around his back.

She swallowed and hurried to continue before he could say anything. “I’m sure we can return inside now. I wouldn’t wish to be found.”

“No, I should think not.”

She stepped forward when he put up a hand to stop her, his jaw working as though he was considering what to say. “Miss Green, Bentley is my cousin and closest family member. I care about him a great deal.”

“I am glad of it.”

He narrowed his eyes. “I would never do anything to stand in the way of his happiness, and while I found myself interested in a certain young woman when I first arrived here, things have since been made known to me that would prevent me from acting upon any of my initial attractions. You can rest assured I have squashed them completely.”

Hattie gaped. So she had not been wrong about his interest during the Carters’ ball. But then…

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