A Scandalous Deception (12 page)

Fin blinked at his butler. “Ready?” He’d
barely had a chance to sit down, to try to put his thoughts in
order. “So quickly?”

“Quickly?” Ames frowned a bit.

Fin realized in that moment that his study
was bathed in a warmer light than it had been what seemed only
moments ago, as though the sun had moved lower in the sky. “What
time is it, Ames?”

“Just past three o’clock, milord.”

Three o’clock? He’d left Prestwick House just
before noon. What the devil was wrong with him? Fin looked down at
the glass he still had clutched in his hand and realized he’d
somehow downed the contents. Blast and damn! He still had those
missives to write and he’d promised Lissy they’d leave today.
“Thank you, Ames. I’ll be ready to go shortly.”

After he quickly penned a note to Lord
Liverpool and was in the middle of his note to Lady Staveley,
someone cleared his throat from the threshold. Fin glanced to the
open doorway to find Sebastian lounged against the doorjamb, a
self-satisfied expression on his cousin’s face.

“Punched the man in the middle of Rotherby’s
drawing room, did you?”

Fin returned his attention to the note before
him. “I’m headed out, Sebastian.”

“Yes, Ames told me. Prestwick Chase,
hmm?”

“What do you want?” Fin asked as he signed
his name to Lady Staveley’s note.

“Just to see how you’re doing, cousin.”
Sebastian pushed away from the doorway and stepped further into the
study. “Everyone is talking about you this morning. Well, you and
Haversham.”

“Let them talk.” Fin looked up from his desk,
spearing his cousin with a glare.

Sebastian chuckled as he dropped into a chair
across from Fin’s desk. “Shall I wager a guess? Was the marquess,
by chance, chasing after Lady Felicity’s skirts? And after you so
nicely asked him not to?”

In truth, that was why he’d leveled
Haversham, wasn’t it? Not because the man had broken his tarnished
word, but because he’d had his arms around Lissy. Fin’s heart
squeezed a bit. He’d thought he was being noble, but he’d been
overcome with jealously, hadn’t he? What a lowering thought.

Though, it didn’t matter at this point. Fin
and Lissy were headed to Derbyshire and by the time they returned,
Haversham would have moved on to some other unsuspecting lady. At
least Fin hoped that was the case. “It was on behalf of all of
London’s cuckolded gentlemen,” he lied.

“So not because of Lady Felicity, then?” His
cousin’s brow lifted with mirth.

“Go to the devil, Sebastian.” Damn it all.
Was he so easy to see through?

“In good time, I’m sure.” The jackanapes
grinned. “And now you’re headed to her family’s estate? Probably
easier to bed her there than with all of London’s gossips watching
you. Good thinking, cousin.”

Fin clenched his teeth and ground out, “I am
not
bedding her.” No matter how much he might want to. No
matter how the suggestion would plague his every waking thought.
Damn his cousin and his unsolicited suggestions.

Sebastian held up his hand as though in mock
protest. “There’s no reason to growl at me.”

But while they were on the topic of the lady,
perhaps Sebastian’s insight could be helpful. Irritating as his
cousin might be, at least the man was trustworthy. “Do you…” Fin
heaved a sigh. Sebastian
was
trustworthy, but did he really
want to give his cousin more ammunition in regards to the lady?

“Do I…?” Sebastian prodded.

Who else was he to ask? Sebastian
was
trustworthy. He’d poke fun at Fin, but at least he’d get a straight
answer from the man. “Do you…Well, do you think Lady Felicity keeps
men at arm’s length?”

“Jealous of someone other than Haversham?”
his cousin teased.

Fin narrowed his eyes on the man. “Stubble it
and just answer the question, Sebastian. Lieutenant Avery said
something to that affect, but I think I might be too close to her
to see it.”

Sebastian leaned back in his seat, frowning
just a bit. “She has a cool air about her, but then she is Juliet
Beckford’s sister.”

Cool. That was not a word Fin would have ever
used to describe Lissy. Warm, vibrant, cheerful. But not cool. She
was a spitfire, most days. “Just with men or with everyone?”

Sebastian’s frown deepened as though he was
in serious thought. “Men, mostly.” Then he shook his head. “I
suppose she could be so with so with women too, but I’ve never
noticed it. I never really thought about it one way or the other
before now, honestly. She does have a collection of friends,
doesn’t she?”

She did. She had many, many friends. Many
female
friends. Perhaps Avery had been on to something.

“What are you trying to sort out?” Sebastian
asked, his oh-so-intelligent eyes focused on Fin.

“I’m not sure,” he replied. And he wasn’t,
not really. But even if he was more certain, and no matter how
trustworthy his cousin was, Fin wasn’t all that anxious to divulge
the inner workings of his thoughts to the man anyway. “Just
interested in your take on things.”

Sebastian’s smirk was once again firmly in
place as he chuckled. “She has you wrapped so neatly around her
little finger. You don’t even know it.”

But Fin was beginning to suspect it, not that
he would ever admit as much to his cousin. “For a man who spends
little time around proper girls, you do have an opinion on most
everything involving them.”

His cousin shrugged. “Proper girls, improper
ones. They all have the ability to tie a man up in knots. My
suggestion is the same as it was yesterday.”

Fin barely kept the growl from his voice as
he said, “If you mutter those words again, Sebastian, I’ll crash my
fist into your jaw just like I did Haversham last night.”

“There’s no need for me to say it. You’re
thinking about it anyway, I can see it on your face.” Sebastian
lifted both hands in the air as though to surrender. “Do have a
lovely time in Derbyshire.”

Lissy ambled down the steps of Prestwick
House, her maid Annie quick on her heels. They were getting a later
start than she’d hope for, but Fin’s coach was now loaded down with
her belongings, and she breathed slightly easier when the viscount
rounded the carriage, stopping before her on the steps. He reached
a hand out to her, and Lissy gladly accepted his assistance.

“You don’t have to go with me, Fin. I’m
certain I can manage on my own,” she said because it was expected.
But the truth was, the longer she’d thought about traveling with
him to Derbyshire, the safer she felt.

Fin smiled that reassuring smile he’d always
seemed to save for her. “I’m certain you can, but I’m happy to go
all the same.” He guided her to the door of his coach and opened it
for her.

Lissy stepped inside the conveyance and
claimed a spot on the forward facing bench. Annie followed her,
taking the space opposite Lissy.

Fin glanced back at Crawford on the stoop and
said, “We’ll send word about her ladyship once we reach Prestwick
Chase.”

“Thank you, my lord,” Crawford returned. “And
please let Lady Juliet know we are all thinking about her.”

Then Fin climbed inside the carriage and
assumed the spot beside Lissy. He rested his arm on the back of the
squabs, and she leaned against him, the same way she had when she’d
learned of her father’s passing all those years ago. Fin squeezed
her shoulder and said, “Everything will be fine. I’ll see to that,
sweetheart.”

And though he was the furthest thing from a
doctor, Lissy believed him. Fin always did what he said. She nodded
and then closed her eyes, wishing the trip to Derbyshire would take
only a few moments instead of a few days. She breathed in Fin’s
sandalwood scent and steeled herself for the journey to come as his
coach lurched forward.

Jonathan Heaton couldn’t quite believe his
eyes. It wasn’t, after all, terribly often that one saw a ghost. He
shook his head, trying to make sense of what his eyes had seen. If
he’d been a betting man, he’d have wagered every last dollar he
possessed that Mrs. Felicity Pierce had just climbed inside some
fellow’s carriage. But Mrs. Pierce was dead. Her body hadn’t been
discovered, of course, even after the hours and hours John had
spent searching the bay; but it was inconceivable that she was
alive. No one could have lost as much blood as Mrs. Pierce had done
and survived her injuries. She’d left that despondent note and he’d
searched the bay himself for her body until he couldn’t see
straight…

John’s eyes flashed back towards the now
disappearing coach. Perhaps the woman was Mrs. Pierce’s sister or
perhaps a cousin. The likeness between the two was simply uncanny.
Of course, it had been three years or so since he’d laid eyes on
Aaron’s English wife. Perhaps the sunlight, so rare here in London
the few days he’d been here, was playing tricks with his eyes. That
could be the case. In fact, it was most likely the case. So very
strange though. Seeing the woman, whoever she was, had made the
hair on the back of his neck stand at attention and a shiver raced
down his spine. Though ghosts, John supposed, had a way of doing
that.

It was too bad Aaron wasn’t in Town yet. He’d
have put John’s concerns at rest. He shook his head to clear his
muddled thoughts. Truly, the woman couldn’t be Felicity Pierce. She
couldn’t be. That simply wouldn’t make any sense at all.

Fin was most certainly going to hell. While
Lissy was snuggled against his side, worried for her sister, all he
could think about was the softness of her breasts pressed against
his arm. Thank God Annie was sitting across the coach from them.
Her presence would keep him from doing something he shouldn’t,
something that couldn’t be undone.

He glanced down at Lissy’s blonde head,
resting against his shoulder, and he sighed. She could be maddening
at times, but her heart was always in the right place. She was a
loyal friend to those lucky enough to call her such. She was a
loving sister, even if she did come up with featherbrained schemes
that involved fake betrothals of her twelve-year-old brother. And
she was lovely, inside and out. Lovely? She was gorgeous, her image
dancing about his mind day and night, tempting him like an ethereal
seductress. She was vivacious, energetic, full of life. She
was…perfect. Or she would be if she wasn’t Lissy.

But she was Lissy. The Lissy he’d known all
her life. Georgie’s little sister. Georgie. What must she be
thinking of this situation? He glanced upwards as though he could
spot her peering down at him from the heavens, but all he saw was
the top of the carriage. Would Georgie hate him if she knew the
thoughts that plagued him? Or would she give him her blessing?
Georgie, better than anyone, knew Fin would never hurt Lissy. And
she did love her sister, had always wanted the best for her.
But…Damn it all, disloyal thoughts such as these would certainly be
reason enough for Georgie to curse him to the devil.