The Lady and the Earl (Seabrook Family Saga) (6 page)

Laughter bubbled out of William, causing the gazes of onlookers to fall
upon the couple once again. “Are you matchmaking?”

“Anyone can see Myles and Bella belong together,” Amelia said. “As for
Sebastian and Marissa, only time will tell.”

“My cousin, Spencer, will be disappointed to hear about Myles and
Bella. I believe Spencer mentioned something about Isabella, and finding her…breathtaking.
Although I might steal his words and use them to describe you.”

Bloody hell, did she have any idea how beautiful she looked? Or what
she did to him? All he wanted to do was escape to some secluded place with her
and make passionate love to her. He wondered if she knew she too had a passion
inside her waiting to be brought to life again. Their one encounter had proven
that.

He wondered briefly about the gossip surrounding her missing time in
America. The reality was that he was falling in love with her, despite all her
baggage and secrets. Maybe even a bit because of them…

***

They swirled around the dance floor, and Amelia felt like a fairytale
princess. Never in her wildest imagination had she expected to see William in
London or to dance with him like this. Did he have business here, or could she
let herself believe he had come to London because of her? Dancing within the
confines of his strong, muscular arms gave her courage to believe the latter.
And when William spoke, his voice wrapped around Amelia like a warm cocoon. She
could never forget his voice and the effect it had on her.

When the waltz ended, he escorted her over to the elderly lady he had arrived
with this evening. She sat in a chair along the wall, surrounded by married
ladies, mothers, and older family members. Amelia’s heart fluttered as William
leaned close to her. His words convinced her that he had sensed her hesitation.

“Don’t be frightened,” he whispered into her ear. “My grandmother does
not bite.”

The other ladies leaned closer hoping to hear. He turned his back to
them and faced his grandmother.

“Lady Amelia Seabrook,” he began in his smooth voice. “May I introduce
you to my grandmother, the Dowager Countess of Bridgeton.”

“My lady,” Amelia said as she curtsied, praying her trembling knees did
not give way and land her in the dowager’s lap.

“Lady Amelia, how nice it is to meet you,” William’s grandmother said
softly, greeting Amelia with a smile. “I’ve known your family for many years.
Your mother’s a lovely woman. I hope you’ll both call on me for tea sometime
soon.”

Then she winked. The Dowager Countess of Bridgeton had winked at
Amelia.

Amelia nodded her head. “Thank you, my lady, we would love to.”

The dowager countess delicately waved her hand, shooing them away. “Now
go on. Enjoy yourselves while you are young, and leave an old woman in peace.”

Amelia rested her hand on William’s arm as they strolled over to meet
more of his family.
Oh, dear, could she handle more introductions?

“Relax, they won’t bite either,” William said as though he could read
her mind, again.

“If you say so,” Amelia said as her body trembled, her imagination
getting the better of her. Had she heard someone just whisper something about
her and a child? Now she wanted to flee, her mind spinning in wild directions.
It’s
Lady Amelia, back from America. Does her waist look thicker? What do you
suppose they did with the baby? How sad and tragic, the death of her captain
only weeks before their nuptials. Do you suppose the baby was stillborn?

“Lady Amelia?” William’s voice snapped her out of her imaginings. “May
I present my cousin, Mr. Stuart Spencer. Spencer, Lady Amelia Seabrook.”

Mr. Spencer grinned and winked at her as he bowed over her hand. “Lady
Amelia. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance, although I must ask why you
are with my cousin, when there are so many gentlemen in attendance here this
evening just waiting for him to leave your side.”

She opened her mouth to speak but closed it again.

“Spencer, how could you say such a thing?” scolded one of the young
women.

Both men burst out laughing, once again causing people to glance their
way.

“Easy, little sister, easy.” Spencer cleared his throat. “Lady Amelia,
may I introduce you to my sisters, Mary and Elizabeth Spencer?”

Once the introductions were over, Amelia found herself being escorted
to the dance floor by Mr. Spencer.

“I hope it’s a waltz so we may talk,” Spencer said as the musicians
began the next piece. “Just my luck, a minuet. What a shame. I’ll be too busy
concentrating on my steps to speak.”

“We may sit this one out if you prefer.” Amelia hoped he would consent.
She hadn’t danced a minuet in years. She worried about embarrassing both of
them with a misstep during the slow, complicated dance.

“And miss all the fun? I would not dream of it.” Mr. Spencer bowed and
she responded by curtsying, taking his arm, and beginning the first of many
three-quarter turns around the room.

When the music finally struck its last chord, Amelia sighed with
relief. “That went well. I only stepped on your foot twice and turned the wrong
way once.”

Mr. Spencer laughed. “And I turned the wrong way twice and stepped on
your foot three times. I’m dreadfully sorry. My dancing master said I was
hopeless dancing anything but a waltz. I’m afraid he was right.”

“Don’t be sorry. I enjoyed myself immensely. I’m afraid several of the
couples near us cannot say the same. Did you see the Marquess and Marchioness
of Roxbury look down their noses at us when we accidentally bumped into them?”

Spencer leaned close to her ear. “Yes, and I had a hard time
apologizing when I really wanted to say, ‘Stay on your own side of the
ballroom.’”

Covering her mouth with her hand, Amelia smothered a giggle. “Oh, dear,
my mother is looking none too happy with me.” She curtsied. “I must see to her.
Thank you for the dance.”

As she settled into the vacant seat beside her mother, Amelia sighed
and tried to catch her breath after all the dancing. The night had not turned
out so badly after all. “I’m sorry, Mama. I could not concentrate on the dance
with Mr. Spencer making jokes the whole time.”

Her mother patted her hand. “That’s not why I frowned at you. I had
just heard such vile things being said about Lord Bridgeton by that dreadful
gossip, Mrs. Henderson. The gall of her when her own brood of sons goes about
carousing, gambling, and spending nights with loose women. She should mind her
tongue lest it come back on her.”

“Mother,” Amelia warned, “please keep your voice down. Someone might
hear you.”

“Let them overhear, because it’s true. And you know how I hate gossip.
It ruined your father and nearly ruined our whole family.”

This time Amelia patted her mother’s hand, “I know. People can be
cruel.” Did she dare ask? “What do you think of Lord Bridgeton?”

“Amelia dear, all past tragedies and gossip aside, I sense he is a nice
gentleman.” She waited for the rest. Amelia could hear there was more to come,
by the tone of her mother’s voice. “However, you cannot attach your name to
his. There is enough talk about you and your time in America. Your reputation
cannot take on the association with him.” Her mother’s hand rose in the air as
Amelia began to protest. “Please let me finish. I can see you’re taken with
him, and he with you. But for both your sakes, end this now. In a perfect
world, the fact that you are the sister of a duke and he is an earl should
warrant nothing but respect. I wish for both your sakes that we lived in a
perfect world.”

The anguish in her mother’s voice startled Amelia. She did not believe
those words were for her and William alone. Things had been said over the years
that had hurt her mother deeply. Everyone knew Amelia’s father drank himself to
death and that he squandered the family fortune in the gaming halls and on his
numerous mistresses.

Thank God for
Emma’s father’s fortune. Without it, their family would be poverty stricken.
Even though some people might gossip about their family behind their backs,
they would never shun them in public. Invitations to every ball and social
event still arrived at their door. Nobody would dare go against the Duke of
Wentworth, one of the Prince Regent’s favorites. So why could she not be with
William? Surely Wentworth could take care of any gossip.

CHAPTER SEVEN

“She’s lovely,” Spencer remarked when he returned to William and his
sisters after his minuet with Amelia. “Not at all a frivolous debutante. How
refreshing, and her laugh…” He laid his hand over his heart dramatically. “It
made my heart sing.”

“Yes, I agree, she’s lovely,” Mary interjected. “And young. Why, she
must be my age. I heard she lived in America for a time.” She sighed wistfully.
“How exciting.”

“Yes,” Elizabeth added. “How exciting. Do you suppose she met any
natives? Can you imagine how thrilling to have one ride up on horseback and
steal you away into the wilderness and have his…” Her hand flew to her mouth.
“Never mind.”

The men exchanged worried looks. “You must keep a watchful eye on
Lizzie at all times, cousin. I fear she’s a romantic and a dreamer,” William
said.

“What’s wrong with that?’ Lizzie asked, her chin tilting up a tad in
defiance.

“Nothing, sister, nothing,” Mary soothed, trying to keep the peace.

“Spencer?” William cocked a brow. “I believe you’ll lose many a night’s
sleep over Lizzie. Not to mention eye strain trying to keep her in your sights
at all times. She’s liable to run off to Gretna Green with the first handsome
devil that comes along.”

“I will not,” Lizzie said as her eyes narrowed on William. “I’ll have
you know Mr. Neville wanted to do just that last year, and I refused.”

“He did?
How dare he?”
Spencer muttered as he turned around in a
circle. “Where is he? Is he in attendance? Why, that little sniveling…”

William placed a hand on Spencer’s shoulder. “Easy. The important thing
is she didn’t go with him. She’s just trying to give you more gray hair,
cousin. Relax.”

“Easy for you to say––she’s not your sister. And I don’t need any more
gray in my hair. If I get any more, I’ll resemble you even more.” Spencer shivered,
“How truly horrifying.”

This time William smacked Spencer on the back, causing him to grunt.

“Stop,” Mary said as she looked around, “people are staring. Please
don’t ruin my chances of finding a husband before my first Season has even
begun.”

“Don’t fret, little sister,” Spencer said. “With your generous dowry, there’ll
be many a gentleman needing to fill his family’s pockets, vying for your hand.
You’ll have your husband, if they can convince me they’re worthy of you.”

Mary’s eyes widened, and she looked around. “Do you see anyone worthy
of me now?”

William sighed. Poor Mary, willing to marry the first gentleman who
came along. Did she not want love? What was he saying? Love, bloody hell. He’d
had that once and look what it had done to him. No, Mary would be better off
marrying a poor titled gentleman and leave the love to Lizzie, who, he had the
feeling, would hold out for that ever-mystifying emotion. Spencer had his hands
full with them. It almost made William wish he had a younger sister to take
care of. Almost. He smiled.

“I, for one, wish to talk about Lady Amelia again,” Spencer said,
clearly not comfortable with Mary’s question. “Don’t you think she might be a
tad too young for you, cousin?”

William did not mistake the challenge in Spencer’s eyes.

“Well, I do need an heir,” William replied.

“You do not.” Spencer grinned. “You have me.”

William smothered a cough. “That’s true. I’ll tell you three this, and
keep it to yourselves. There can be nothing but friendship between Lady Amelia
and me. She will never be allowed anything more.” He ignored the three sets of
eyes focused on him. “If and when I do marry, the woman I choose will be a
widow or someone on the shelf, but still young enough to produce an heir.”

William rubbed his chin but shook his head. Did he really want that?
His eyes fell on Amelia across the crowded ballroom, and his heart stopped. Why
couldn’t his heart listen to his head? Amelia was not the one for him. She
needed and deserved someone without scandal attached to him.

She needed a man without demons chasing him on a daily basis.

She deserved a man without dark secrets.

“Excuse me,” Spencer said, pulling William out of his unpleasant
musings. “I believe this is my turn to dance with Lady Isabella.”

***

As Spencer wove his way across the overly warm ballroom he wondered,
not for the first time, why he bothered with Lady Isabella. Any fool could see
she fancied herself in love with Norwich. He always seemed to go after the
unattainable. Spencer prided himself in believing he was nobody’s fool. Perhaps
he could be of use to the lady another way. He smiled and bowed before his
dance partner and ignored his sudden lightheadedness at glimpsing her beauty up
close.

He could not kid himself. Spencer truly wanted to drown himself in the
deep blue of her eyes, and his hands itched to pull the pins from her light
blond hair and bury his face in the silky tresses. Never mind what he wanted to
do with the rest of her lush body…
Get a grip on your lust
, he
admonished himself.

“I believe this is my waltz, Lady Isabella,” Spencer said, his calm
voice contradicting his excitement.

He ignored the momentary flicker of annoyance in her eyes. When she
nodded and smiled, he almost stumbled.

The feel of her hand lightly resting on his forearm sent waves of heat
crashing through his body. If he could just convince her she loved him instead
of Norwich, he would consider himself the luckiest gentleman alive.

Once he held Isabella in his arms, he forgot to breathe.

“Are you unwell, Mr. Spencer?” she inquired, looking at him
solicitously.

“No. I’m perfectly fine. I’ve not seen you for some time, Lady
Isabella. Are you and your family well?” He knew he sounded like a tongue-tied
youngster dancing for the first time.

“My family’s well. Thank you for asking. How is yours?” Isabella asked.

“Everyone is fine, except Mother. She didn’t quite feel herself and
stayed home this evening.” He still sounded like a young buck. “You must be delighted
that your brother and sister are back from America.”

Finally, he had a smile from her and her face lit up causing his pulse
to speed up.

“Yes, I missed them terribly. They are both back to stay. Sebastian
sold all Wentworth’s holdings in America. There is no reason for anyone to go
back there.”

Isabella’s soft, sing-song voice pulled Spencer in as surely as the
rest of her did. “I’m also thrilled to have my cousin back, even if he was only
in Dover. I’ve not seen him since his sister-in-law died.”

“Yes, how sad and tragic for Bridgeton, losing his brother then his
sister-in-law.” She paused. “My sister seems quite taken with him.”

Then Lady Isabella seemed to lose her train of thought. Although she
spoke to Spencer, her eyes were on a couple dancing across the way. Norwich and
a young widow––one with a reputation for entertaining many of the young
gentlemen in attendance––laughed while dancing. The passing of her ancient
husband had left her a wealthy widow.

Lady Isabella’s body tensed and her eyes dimmed at the sight of them
together.

“She means nothing to him,” Spencer found himself saying. The look on
her face splintered his heart.

“This is my third Season. If I don’t find a husband soon, I’ll be
considered a spinster.”

Were those tears pooling in her eyes? “Lady Isabella, you’ll never be a
spinster.”

Isabella sighed deeply. “It’s no use. I’ve wasted two years waiting for
Norwich. I will not wait any longer.”

Before Spencer could prevent himself he began, “I don’t know what’s
stopping Norwich from declaring himself. Even I can see he has feelings for
you. I have an idea. What if you were to make him jealous?”

“Jealous. Oh, I could never contrive to do such a thing.”

Spencer lowered his head. “You would be surprised what one is capable
of doing.”