Page 27 of Unfettered

“For some, perhaps. But what of Beatrice and Simon? They seem very much in love. I see forever when I look at them...listen to them. They are real.”

He frowned. “They are newlyweds, my dear. Ask me if they are still in love five years down the road.”

“Poor Rodrigo, so cynical. I believe if I fall in love, and my true love is returned, it will be forever. I know it in my heart because I don’t intend to go in unless my eyes are wide open, and I see him as he actually is, faults and all.”

“And I believe, in the end, you will be forced perhaps, but accept to marry Sir Warren or another like him,” he snapped.

She gave him a soft smile. “Only if I fall in love with him...or another. No one will force me into anything.” She shrugged. “If I did fall in love with Sir Warren, I do believe he would not be the sort to break my heart.”

“No, he would not, but he wouldn’t bring it to life either,” Rodrigo said harshly.

She said nothing to this, and Rodrigo immediately changed the subject by starting another about his ranch and the gauchos presently working there.

~ Ten ~

SIR WARREN STOOD IN A corner of Lady Jersey’s ballroom, and through narrowed, hostile, and jealous eyes, he watched Jessie go through the steps of the quadrille with Rodrigo. The emotions he was experiencing took the hazel color of his orbs and darkened their hue, hid their luster, and dispelled his habitual air of aloofness. He appeared to his intimates to be a man rubbed to the point of abrasiveness.

All this because of a woman! The thought irritated him. He couldn’t believe she favored Rodrigo. It was as though the Spanish rogue had put a spell on her. She was everything he wanted. She had beauty, title, and wealth. At first, he had even thought he might one day love her, but she was a bit too wayward for his taste. She wouldn’t be a biddable wife, yet even so, he had made up his mind to have her, one way or another!

He was certain she would be a worthy lover. Passion pulsed off her in waves he could not deny made him hungry with desire. She was adored by the haute ton, which would enhance his political ambitions. Indeed, he had made his decision, and would not be swayed from it. Never had it entered his mind that the lady might not fall in with his plans! At first, she had been, he was certain, flattered and intrigued with his courtship.

Then Don Rodrigo appeared, and the chit seemed only interested in the rogue. When they were at a soiree or a rout, he noticed if Rodrigo wasn’t yet present, she constantly looked towards the entrance, and her face seemed to glow when he arrived and walked right to her.

It was an insufferable state of affairs. The man was an exotic Latin rake, but she did not see that he would never come up to scratch. No, he had, Sir Warren was certain, no intention of marriage.

A difficult problem because her uncle seemed to find Rodrigo quite acceptable, and even seemed to favor him above himself. How was that possible? What was he to do? Rodrigo was not without influence and power. He could be a dangerous adversary.

Well, there was nothing else for it. It was up to him to show Jessica that Rodrigo would never ask her to marry him. He was sure that would be easy enough.

“Deep in thought, Sir Warren?” Jessie’s great-aunt asked curiously. “I have been watching you, and I can guess just what those thoughts are.”

He smiled, pleased to have the dowager on his side. He had no idea that she only hoped he would keep Rodrigo at bay.

“Yes, over that adorable niece of yours.” He shook his head. “I fear she has stars in her eyes.”

“Indeed, she does seem to, doesn’t she? I suppose I shall have to show her that particular fellow is not attainable,” the dowager answered carefully.

“Yes, and what we need is to blast those stars from her sky so she can see clearly again,” he said, and his voice was touched with irritation.

The dowager took a moment before answering. “As to that, we are not in league. I will not be a party to anything that breaks my darling’s spirit or brings her low. I prefer for matters to proceed naturally.”

“You know...she must be made to understand just what he is. I don’t mean to sit back and allow her to be hurt,” Sir Warren said, again sounding irritated.

“Careful, she is not yours to guide,” the dowager warned. “Look at him...so very handsome, so very charming, it is no wonder she is momentarily infatuated.” She waved this off. “She will forget him in time, and in the meantime, he keeps himself busy with some actress...doesn’t he?”

“What is that to anything, and no...his interest there has waned,” Sir Warren answered.

“Has it? Interesting, but devilishly inconvenient. I was counting on her finding out about the actress. My pet will not share her heart with a man who plays her false,” the dowager said as she gave a wiggle of her fingers to a passing friend.

“Yes, but Jessie knows enough of the world to know that a man will—”

She cut him off with a hard laugh. “What she knows in the abstract is quite different with what she will allow in the man she means to have for herself.” The dowager’s chin was up, but she gazed at Rodrigo. “He woos her in such a fine form that she may, by now, think he cares for no other. She has not been a jealous child, but that green monster may yet come out to play. I was hoping for a rift, and it may still happen. I tell you this so that you will be ready to comfort her when that rift occurs.”

A slow smile made its way across his slick, handsome face. “Dearest, allow me to tell you that you are brilliant.” He made her a quick bow.

“And so must you be in this matter. I told you once that I won’t allow this Rodrigo scamp to become forbidden fruit. Be cautious or that is precisely what will happen,” the dowager said, and eyed him measuringly.

“Yes, yes,” he answered thoughtfully. “It will take some cunning skill to accomplish our goals.”

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