For the Love of Lila (23 page)

Once Tristan had reintroduced himself and presented her, the three of them sat down to discussion.

“I reviewed your letter as soon as I received it, Mr. Wyndam.” Mr. Higginbotham indicated some papers among the many scattered on his desk. “As you can see, I have the trust on hand as well.”

“My, you are efficient,” Lila murmured.

“Thank you, Miss Covington.” Another smile flickered across the old man’s face before he looked back down at the documents. “Unfortunately, your compliment is unwarranted. I must confess I had the file on my desk already, having heard from your uncle last week.”

For a moment she sat in shock, uncertain she had heard him correctly. As the information sank in, her stomach rolled. Speech beyond her, she looked to Tristan.

Jaw clenched, he turned to Higginbotham. “Is there a problem?”

“There seems to be some confusion.” Addressing Lila, he said, “Your uncle has reported you as a missing person. He wrote to me asking how to put a claim in for your trust.”

“He what?” She nearly choked, the heat of outrage creeping up the back of her neck. Though Uncle Casper didn’t know her whereabouts, he could hardly call her “missing.” She’d left a note telling her relatives she meant to live on her own and, given all they had put her through, she owed them nothing more. She only hoped the law agreed with her. For heaven’s sake, she was an adult, five-and-twenty years old!

“This is absurd,” Tristan said, no sign of emotion on his face or in his voice. “Miss Covington has merely moved out of her uncle’s house. Even if she truly were missing, he could attempt no claim on her estate for years.”

Mr. Higginbotham nodded. “I thought the request was rather dodgy from the start. The man made no reference to any efforts to find his niece. However, in order to ensure our transaction cannot be questioned, I shall need proof of Miss Covington’s identity before closing the trust in her name. I hope you will take no offense, Miss Covington. I knew your father and can plainly see that you are his daughter. This is simply a matter of formality.”

To her dismay, she felt her lower lip quiver. What a state she had worked herself into! Setting her jaw, she said, “None taken.”

“What manner of proof will you require?” Tristan asked. “Her birth certificate? Perhaps a witness or two, known to both you and Miss Covington?”

“That would do nicely,” Mr. Higginbotham said. He gave Lila a smile. “Never you worry, dear. I can locate several such acquaintances myself. Many of your father’s colleagues are clients of mine. All I need do is find a couple who have met you as well. I will have my secretary send out some letters this afternoon.”

She nodded, appalled by her missishness, yet unable to speak. What on earth had come over her?

“I shall contact you as soon as I’ve set up a meeting with the witnesses.” He picked up a quill and dipped the point in ink. “What is your place of residence?”

Again, her mind went blank. She actually had no residence at the moment, but she couldn’t very well say as much. He knew that she’d left her uncle’s a month ago. Feeling like a fool, she looked to Tristan for guidance.

He moistened his lips. “Miss Covington is staying with my sister. You may contact her in care of Hester, Lady Poinsett, in South Audley Street.”

“Splendid.” Higginbotham wrote down the direction. Glancing up at Lila, he said, “I apologize for the delay this will cause. I hope you are not in immediate financial distress.”

“No need to worry,” Tristan said. “Until Miss Covington receives her trust money, my family and I will address any needs she has. Just for the lady’s peace of mind, how long do you expect this business to take?”

“Not long, I should think.” He set down his quill. “With any luck, all may be concluded by the end of the week.”

“Excellent.” Tristan rose and held out a hand to Lila. “Are you ready, Miss Covington? I’ll escort you back to South Audley Street.”

She nodded and accepted his help in standing, embarrassed by her lack of composure. She couldn’t imagine what had happened to her today. Normally she prided herself on her level head.

Turning to Mr. Higginbotham, she dropped a curtsy. “Thank you very much, sir.”

“Not at all.” He stood and shook her hand. “It’s been a delight meeting you. Wyndam, always a pleasure.”

The two men exchanged a few more niceties, then Tristan accompanied her back through the main hall. Knees weak and legs unsteady, she hung onto him more tightly than usual. She hoped he couldn’t detect the trembling in her hand.

“I apologize for my uselessness in there,” she said
sotto voce
as they exited the building. “I don’t know why I am so overcome today.”

“Don’t be daft. No one can fault you for being upset, especially given the news about your uncle.” They reached the carriage, and he leaned over to open the door. “That scoundrel is even worse than I imagined from your stories. I can scarcely credit his gall.”

“But I should know to expect such behavior from him. By now I shouldn’t let his evil ways bother me.”

Grasping the handle, he paused, his brows crunching together as he eyed her face. “You don’t look well, Lila. I think you should eat something, whether you’re hungry or not. Do you want to stop somewhere or go straight to Hester’s?”

“Hester’s?” Stunned, she watched him open the door. “You really mean to take me to your sister’s?”

“Yes. I think it would be the best arrangement all around.” Straightening again, he leaned an elbow on the carriage roof. “You need a safe place to stay, and my sister loves company. Hester will be thrilled to have you.”

She shook her head. “No, Tristan. I can’t impose on a stranger. I’ll go back to the boarding house. The landlady there will probably even extend credit to me until next week. When I last left, I overpaid my stay.”

“You also skulked out at dawn, which leaves you open to suspicion. When you return now, she may look at you askance.”

“Frankly, she always did.” Actually, the woman’s vigilance had unnerved her, but likely not so much as meeting his sister would. On the other hand, part of her longed to know his family, to
belong
with them, if she admitted the truth. But she couldn’t belong. She never would. Suppressing the thought, she shrugged. “I believe she suspects the virtue of any woman living alone. Now her suspicions will be founded.”

He grimaced, and she regretted her words.

Looking away from her, he leaned his back against the carriage, crossing his arms over his chest. “Lila, I should have mentioned this before, but I thought you might feel awkward about the idea. When I wrote Higginbotham, I sent Hester a note as well. Very likely she’s expecting you today.”

“I don’t want to intrude on her.”

“She truly won’t mind.” He met her gaze with open steadiness. “Hester lives for visitors. Edmund, her husband, is much the same. Besides,
I
would feel better with you staying there.”

The note of pleading in his voice tempted her to concede. Though she normally prided herself on her self-reliance, in reality she didn’t want to be independent of
him
. She wanted to stay close to him, relying on his support and extending hers to him. But
he
didn’t want this—unless they married. She sighed. “I don’t know.”

“It will only be for a few days. Consider the fact that you’re not feeling well. You need the comfort of a decent home in order to get better. Not to mention that you and I need the aid of a chaperon. Frankly, if you’re living on your own, I fear it will be too tempting to continue behaving as we have been lately. With you in my sister’s home, we will be forced to stay honest. The arrangement will give us a way to ease out of the mire that we’ve sunken into.”

She winced to hear him refer to their love as “mire”—yet she could also understand his concerns. He couldn’t risk his career any further than he had already, so they needed to end their relationship. Though any approach would be painful, this one might be the most benign.

“Very well,” she said. “I doubt the word ‘ease’ will apply to the next week—or next year—but I do agree. Let’s go straight to your sister’s.”

“Thank you.” He lifted her hand and grazed her fingers with his lips, an act that sent tingling up her arm. She stared into his eyes and saw pain in them just before he looked away and opened the carriage door.

She hesitated, but what more could she say to him? Nothing she could think of would resolve their differences. Her body heavy with despair, she ducked inside the equipage.

Shielding her head, he said, “We should arrive in less than ten minutes.”

“So noted.” Sitting down on the bench, she watched him secure the door. Once he’d finished, he went around front to ready the horses.

She let her head drop back on the cushions, exhausted despite a good night’s rest. Her stomach still bothered her, and she began to attribute it to an illness rather than nerves. Meeting Tristan’s sister might intimidate her, but not enough that she should feel nauseous.

As she waited for the carriage to depart, she lay back on the squabs and tried to relax. She searched her memory for what Tristan had told her of his family and recalled that Hester was the elder of his sisters. With no children, she was a social butterfly and had a penchant for matchmaking. In fact, she had orchestrated every marriage amongst her siblings and had now turned her sights upon...

Oh, dear.

Lila lifted her head and looked out the window for Tristan, but he had already climbed onto the box. Hester wouldn’t be expecting to pair her brother up with her new houseguest, would she? Being pushed together was the last thing they needed when they were trying to “stay honest.”

The carriage began to roll, and she let her head fall back on the cushions again. The more she considered the situation, the more convinced she became that Hester had no reason
not
to try marrying them off—unless she already had someone else in mind for Tristan.

Her nausea stirred again at the very thought. What if she had to sit back and listen to Hester describe what a wonderful couple her brother and some friend of hers would make? What if she actually had to meet this chit and watch her flirting with Tristan? Worst of all, what if he played along with the girl in an effort to distance himself from her, Lila? If it came down to
that
or Hester trying to marry Tristan off to
her
, she certainly hoped for the latter. And, blast it, she almost hoped that Hester’s efforts would succeed.

The last thought scared her, revealing how close she truly was to abandoning her principles. She reminded herself that she could not condone an institution that robbed a woman of her rights and conveyed them to her husband.

More tired than ever, she slumped down in her seat and plunked her feet up on the opposite bench. So much for staying with Hester being a way to “ease out of the mire.” On the contrary, Lila suspected that if anything she was only sinking in deeper.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Tristan turned onto South Audley Street with a strange sense of existing in two worlds at once. In the first of them the scene couldn’t have been more familiar, one of a dozen mornings this year on which he had stopped to see his sister. Yet this time he would walk into Hester’s house with Lila–not simply a new acquaintance but a new center of his life. In this respect, he now moved in a different world, one in which he had far less control.

His lack of power frustrated him as he pulled up in front of the house. After weeks of his world revolving around Lila, he couldn’t imagine going on without her, but he had no feasible choice. No matter how much he loved her, he couldn’t give up his dreams for her. To do so would be giving up himself, an action he’d be certain to regret.

“Shall I tether the horses for you, sir, or do you want them taken ‘round to the stable?”

Rapt in his thoughts, he hadn’t noticed the footman come out of the house. He nodded to the young man and tossed him the reins. “Tether them. I won’t be staying.”

The servant set to work while Tristan dawdled on the box, trying to put aside his frustration. As he pulled off his gloves, he realized that he had never before felt the want of choice. His career had in fact empowered him more than the average man, for with it he had expected to
create
choice where needed, overturning the sort of injustices that kept Lila from marrying him. Unfortunately, change came only with time. The laws she denounced might well stand long after he and she had passed on. For now, when he needed a compromise, his hands remained tied.

He jumped down to the street, aggravated but perhaps wiser for his pain. For the first time in his life, he had an idea of what Lila had been feeling for much of hers.

“Lady Poinsett is expecting you,” the footman said as Tristan moved toward the front of the carriage. One of the horses nuzzled the fellow, and he paused to scratch the animal’s head. “Shall I take your guest’s luggage inside?”

So Hester
had
received his letter, another stroke of luck in a world that offered little. Nodding, he gave the servant brief instructions and walked around the side to meet Lila.

She hadn’t yet stepped out of the carriage, a departure from her usual eagerness. When he opened the door, he found her sitting with her head back and eyes closed. Evidently the strain of the past month had finally caught up with her.

He frowned, struck with empathetic weariness—and likely some weariness all his own. Here was why this madness had to end, before it destroyed them both.

“Lila?” he whispered. “Are you awake?”

“Hmm?” Opening her eyes, she slowly lifted her head. “Oh, I’m sorry, Tristan. I must have drifted off. Lord, I’m so tired. I think I must have a touch of something. It’s so easy to become ill while traveling.”

“Accommodations on the road aren’t always conducive to sleep. You’ll feel better after some solid rest in a decent bed.” Hoping that his prediction would prove accurate, he leaned inside to help her out. “The footman told me Hester is expecting us so she, too, received my letter. She’ll have a room prepared for you already.”

She placed her hand in his and accepted his help. Her touch felt warm, and he wondered if she might have a fever. He decided to keep the thought to himself rather than alarm her with the suggestion.