A Scandalous Deception (10 page)

She was shaken up. She was annoyed. She was
beyond furious at Phineas Granard, but she was all right. “I’m
fine, but what am I going to do about him? I can’t have him
trailing after me all season long, hovering over me, assaulting
people. If Juliet was here, she’d—”

“What’s changed?” Phoebe interrupted. “Why is
he suddenly attending social gatherings now?”

Annie shrugged.

Lissy scoffed. “He’s trying to protect me, as
though I need it. He thinks there’s something between Lord
Haversham and me, but—”

“Is there?” her friend asked.

Lissy’s mouth fell open. Did Phoebe think so
low of her? “Of course not! I know what sort of scoundrel he
is.”

“It’s just unusual for Haversham to show up
uninvited and—”

“Hardly unusual. He’d never go anywhere
otherwise.”

Phoebe sighed. “It
is
unusual for him
to waltz with anyone, Lissy. He strode through the doors, spotted
you, and swept you onto the floor without so much as a by your
leave to anyone else, not even Kelfield.”

Well, that was true, but inconsequential.
Lissy shook her head. “He only came to tell me that Fin threatened
him earlier in the day. He thought I should know.”

“Threatened him?” Phoebe echoed as Annie
sucked in a surprised breath.

True, it didn’t sound like something Fin
would do in the least. If he hadn’t suddenly started behaving so
strangely, Lissy would never have believed it, but… “What am I
going to do, Phoeb? I’ve tried reasoning with him to no avail. I
hardly recognize him anymore.”

“You tried
reasoning
with him?”
Phoebe’s brow lifted in surprise.

“Yes.” Lissy frowned. Just exactly what was
her friend insinuating?

“I’ve seen you with him,” Phoebe continued.
“You thrust your chin out and demand to be treated like an
adult.”

“I
am
an adult.” It was hardly an
unreasonable thing to expect to be treated as one.

“Reason just isn’t a word I would use in
regards to your interactions. It’s as though you’re always trying
to provoke him, to get him to acknowledge…something. I’m not even
sure what. You poke him. You’re argumentative. Stubborn.”

Lissy blinked at her friend then turned her
attention to Annie. “Do you think that’s true?”

With an uncomfortable expression, Annie
shrugged.

“Don’t put the poor girl on the spot.” Phoebe
sighed. “You know I love you, Lissy,” she stressed. “I’m not trying
to be unkind. I’m just pointing out that if you’ve approached him
as you usually do, you might not be as reasonable as you think you
are. Perhaps you should trying talking to him again, but without
your back being up.”

It appeared as though Lissy’s maid was in
agreement with Phoebe’s assessment, but had the good sense not to
say as much.

Lissy heaved a sigh. Perhaps she hadn’t
approached him as reasonably as she could have. But what did he
expect? He wasn’t her father or her brother. He had no say over her
life. She didn’t owe Phineas Granard anything. But…if he was going
to shadow her all over London, she had to do something about the
viscount.

“Perhaps,” she finally muttered, not wanting
to acknowledge that Phoebe might have a point.

“Thank you for offering to return me to my
home,” Lieutenant Avery said from across Fin’s coach.

As though he could have done anything else.
“Well, Felicity did abscond with your conveyance. Seemed the least
I could do.”

Even through the darkness, Fin could see the
Army officer smirk. “You’ll become a legend, you know?”

“A legend?” Fin echoed, thinking he must have
misheard the man.

But the Lieutenant nodded quickly. “Do you
know how many men have wanted to knock that bastard to the floor?”
His smile widened. “I’ve been tempted to do so myself on more than
one occasion. And though I’m fairly certain Clayworth once
blackened the jackass’ eye, there weren’t any witnesses to the
event.”

Uneasiness washed over Fin. “I…Well, I
shouldn’t have done so. It was beyond the pale. He’s a villain to
be sure, but…”

“He had it coming. He’s had it coming for
years. If there’s something you want to pass through parliament,
now would be the time, Carraway. I’m certain your celebrity could
buy you any needed votes at the moment.”

“Lucky only men can vote then, hmm?” Fin
rubbed his brow. “Do you know, Avery, why women seem to find him
charming? Harmless, even? It makes no sense to me.”

“I have no idea.” The lieutenant heaved a
sigh. “One of life’s great mysteries. My own sister, who is quite
an intelligent woman, by the by, still has a soft spot for the
blackguard.” Then he snorted. “I think there are some women who
find that sort of man a challenge. They know his reputation. They
know he’s dangerous, but they think that
they
can tame him,
make him transform into a butterfly or some other such
nonsense.”

“They’re fools,” Fin grumbled.

“Indeed,” Avery agreed. “Leopards and spots
and all that. A man is who he is. No woman, no matter how
wonderful, has the power to change the core of a man.”

“Would you care to explain that to Felicity?
Perhaps she’d listen to reason if I’m not the source.”

The lieutenant shrugged. “I think she already
knows that, Carraway, better than most women. The feeling I’ve
always gotten from Lady Felicity is she doesn’t trust
any
man, no matter his character.”

Fin didn’t think that was true. Lissy wasn’t
quite so cynical. On the contrary, if she trusted less, she’d find
herself in fewer scrapes. “I think for the most part she trusts
me.”

“You’re family,” Avery replied. “You and Luke
Beckford, she’s different with the two of you. But the rest of the
male of the species?” He shrugged once more. “Well, she keeps
everyone else at arm’s length. Has for as long as I’ve known
her.”

Lissy kept men at arm’s length? If so, how
had he never noticed? Fin scratched his head. It was true, Lissy
hadn’t seemed anxious to replace Pierce, but neither had he been so
inclined to replace Georgie. He’d loved her too much to consider
another woman.

“Phoebe says Lissy’s marriage wasn’t a happy
one,” Avery continued. “That probably explains her innate
distrust.”

An unhappy marriage? Fin had never heard
Lissy utter one bad word against Captain Pierce. True, she rarely
spoke of the man; but she
had
loved her husband, of that he
was certain. Fin had seen the gushing letter she’d sent Georgie
from Boston. Had she been unhappily married? He’d always just taken
her at her word
—
that she simply didn’t
want to dwell on the past.

He’d never considered the possibility that
she’d been unhappily married. It didn’t even seen possible. She was
always cheerful…Well, most of the time. She certainly wasn’t happy
with Fin at the moment.

“She told your wife she was unhappy in her
marriage?”

“Not in so many words.” The lieutenant
shifted on his bench. “But she offered Phoebe sage advice when she
needed it. Something along the lines of ‘Short of death there’s no
escape from marrying the wrong man.’ Something like that, anyway.”
He sighed. “Honestly, without Felicity, Phoebe might very well be
unhappily married to my brother right now.”

Short of death, there’s no escape from
marrying the wrong man?
Fin’s heart clenched. Dear God, Georgie
might just as easily have muttered those words herself after her
marriage to Teynham. The late marquess had treated his young bride
abominably. And though Georgie’s external bruises had healed, Fin
wasn’t certain her internal ones ever had. It was the reason she’d
refused him over and over. Fear. He remembered how she’d trembled
with fear the first time he’d kissed her.

Widowhood had freed Georgie from a terrible
existence. It had taken years of him begging and pleading and
showing her time and again that he wasn’t like the old man before
Georgie had finally agreed to marry him.

Was that what Lissy’d meant? Was this
distrust of men from having witnessed Georgie’s unhappy union, or
had she experienced something awful herself? A pit formed in his
stomach at the thought of anyone mistreating Lissy. The carefree,
albeit flighty, creature had always been so trusting, so warm when
she was younger. Was Avery right? Had someone taken that from
her?

Marcus Gray, the Marquess of Haversham,
tipped back his whisky glass, closed his eyes and let the raucous
rumble of White’s wash over him. So much more enjoyable than
attending soirees.

Someone thumped him in the back of the head.
Marc glanced over his shoulder to find his old friend Alexander
Everett, the Duke of Kelfield, standing behind him.

“What the devil is wrong with you?” Alex
asked as he navigated Marc’s overstuffed leather chair and dropped
into one of his own just a few feet away.

Marc quirked a grin at his old friend. “Where
would you like for me to begin?”

“How about Felicity Pierce?” Alex’s brow
lifted expectantly. “Why don’t you begin there?”

“What does it matter to you?” Marc took
another sip of his whisky.

“She’s a friend of Olivia’s, one of her
better ones, and at some point I’d like for my wife to actually
tolerate you.”

At that, Marc tossed back his head and
laughed. He couldn’t help it. The oh-so-prissy Duchess of Kelfield
would never tolerate him. She’d made that more than clear over the
years. “As though that was ever an actual possibility.”

To his credit, Alex’s lips upturned to a
roguish smile. “Anything is possible, my friend.”

“Just not probable, especially where a
certain proper lady is concerned.”

“Well,
Felicity Pierce
is a proper
lady. And I know your aversion to the type. So what are you doing
with the chit?” Alex pressed.

Marc shrugged. “Annoying Carraway.”

At that, Alex shook his head. Then he rubbed
his brow as though to stave off a headache. “And why are you poking
Carraway, of all people?”

“Because the man is a sanctimonious prig. Is
that reason enough?”

Alex shook his head once more. “No.”

Of course Alex would want more than that.
He’d become quite domesticated since his marriage. So Marc heaved a
sigh and began to tell his friend the truth. “The jackass tracked
me down…here.” He gestured to the room at large, a place that
should have been his sanctuary. “Of all the bloody places. A man
ought to be able to enter his club to play cards without being set
upon by bloody politicians.”

“Better here than Madam Palmer’s.”

“If he’d tracked me down
there
, I’d
have killed him where he stood.” Marc scowled at his friend. “And
then he had the gall to throw Callista at me.”

“Callista?” Alex’s eyes widened. “What did he
say about your daughter?”

“Tried to use her existence to manipulate me.
If some fool had done the same to you in regards to Poppy, you’d
have made him pay a penance.” Daughters were strictly off limits.
Any dolt should know that, certainly one as politically savvy as
Carraway.

“So that’s what Rotherby’s was about? Putting
Carraway in his place?”

“I’m certainly not courting Lady Felicity, if
that’s what you’re asking.”

“Olivia will be relieved to hear it.”

“Well, I’m so happy to set your wife’s fears
at rest.”

Alex chuckled, looking almost like the rogue
Marc had once wiled away many a night with. “I don’t know that
you’ll ever do that, completely.”

No, probably not. The prickly duchess
was
the cousin of a certain viscountess, after all. “How is
Caroline?” he dared ask, but only because it was Alex and no one
else was within earshot.

“Still happily married,” his friend
returned.

Though how she could be made no sense at all.
“Staveley,” Marc grumbled the man’s name. “That humorless bore,
he—”