Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

" W e were saddened to know you could not accompany us to Appleton, Your Grace." Lady Leek sipped on her ratafia and peered at August over the rim of her glass. "I feel certain you would have appreciated the view of the ocean from the bluff above the village."

"I'm sure I would have, my lady."

The view August had enjoyed, however, had been far better. Hazel naked and sprawled out across his coat in the sand, seaweed sticking to her, looking like a mermaid washed ashore. He gripped his own glass tighter, aroused even with Lady Leek scrutinizing him.

"Appleton is a quaint place. Lady Coraline expressed great pleasure at the shops"—a pause— "escorted by Lord Garland in your absence."

He didn't care if Garland spent the entire day tupping Coraline. Lady Leek wanted August to offer for her daughter most urgently. She'd been dropping hints with increasingly less subtlety the closer they came to the end of the house party. He assumed she worried her daughter might ruin herself with Garland and lose all hope of becoming a duchess. It was a valid concern.

"Unfortunately, I had correspondence which required my attention. A business matter in London," August answered.

Lady Leek took in the red tips of his cheeks and ears. "I see."

"I worked outside, in Lady Talbot's garden, given the day was so fine," he said, though he hardly owed her an explanation.

A throaty, delicious sound of merriment reached him. August's entire body leaned slightly in her direction, unable to resist the siren's call.

Stork.

He'd gone straight to his rooms upon returning to the house, though knowing that Hazel was merely two doors down from his own had had him pacing like a caged tiger. He hadn't even dared to look in her direction during dinner, afraid his want of her would cause him to burst into flame.

Lady Leek's plump features swiveled to view the drawing room, eyes focused with dislike.

"Something the matter, my lady?"

"Not at all, Your Grace. Only that Miss Dartmont is quite effusive in her amusement, is she not?"

Effusive in a great many things, August thought, recalling her mouth on his cock.

"She did not join us in Appleton." Lady Leek's discerning gaze lingered on August before drifting to Hazel's reddened cheeks and forehead. "Though it appears she was in the sun, all the same. Perhaps she was also enjoying Lady Talbot's gardens."

"Perhaps," he drawled in a bored tone.

"Coraline is an excellent card player, Your Grace. She rarely loses at whist. You might enjoy partnering her this evening."

The last person in all the world he wanted attached to his elbow at the card table was Lady Coraline, but Lady Leek's suspicions that he had been with Hazel today should not be ignored. Only a few days ago he might have encouraged her scrutiny, but not now. Not when she was Stork and he wanted her.

"It would be a pleasure, my lady. If you'll excuse me for a moment, I must speak to my cousin."

He took his leave of Lady Leek, studying Hazel as he made his way to Eliza. His Stork was fetching this evening in a gown of deep blue, even with reddened cheeks and forehead she'd tried to cover with powder. Her freckles were more prominent, decorating the bridge of her nose. She fairly glowed in the candlelight, dazzling August until he saw little else.

An ache shot through him, fingers twitching with the need to touch her.

Everhurst stood close to Stork— far too close— as he spoke to Kent. The trio burst into laughter, Hazel's eyes alit with amusement as she pressed a gloved hand to her lips to stifle a giggle. When Kent moved away, Hazel took the opportunity to touch Everhurst's arm and lean into him, murmuring something as the viscount slowly nodded his head.

As if sensing August's regard, she turned, impish smile on her lovely mouth.

"August?" Eliza touched his arm as he approached. "You're scowling." She sniffed the air around him. "Are you foxed?"

"No, I've had one glass of brandy. Maybe two. Not nearly enough to blot out the chattering of Lady Leek."

Or what I've been scheming to do to Hazel.

"Your absence today was remarked upon." Eliza pursed her lips. "Miss Dartmont also declined the excursion today. Odd, don't you think?"

"Are you asking if I was with Miss Dartmont?" August kept his voice even.

"Were you?" Eliza waved a hand before he could reply. "Never mind. She seems to have set her eyes on Everhurst. Clinging to him like some vine." Eliza took a large swallow of ratafia, watching the pair as they laughed together, a murderous glint in her eyes.

August could have assured his cousin that Hazel had no interest in the viscount, but he didn't. He wasn't ready to discuss Stork with Eliza—or anyone else.

"My sole attention was on the correspondence I needed to finish." The lie came smoothly from his lips. "Sorry to disappoint, Eliza. Branson is seeking another tenant for the London house but did not wish to do so until we return to Windhaven."

"Nothing to do with Miss Dartmont?" she asked, making no effort to hide her suspicion.

It had everything to do with Hazel.

"No. Regrettably."

Eliza studied him for a minute. "Well, then it is fortunate I spent the day singing your praises. Lady Leek has been quite blunt. You need only ask for Coraline, and you'll be accepted despite your colorful reputation."

"How encouraging."

"Isn't it? And," Eliza's eyes gleamed, "she insinuated her daughter's dowry was larger than many assume. At which point I diverted her conversation. Impolite to discuss such matters with your unwed cousin."

"Of course." August snuck another look at Hazel, his heart stumbling and tripping.

Hazel wandered away from Everhurst only to encounter Garland. The ginger-haired little prick was just the right height to peer at Hazel's bosom. If he leaned forward, Garland's nose would land between the narrow valley of her breasts.

He took a deep breath. Possessiveness was an emotion with which August had little practice. Limited to a favorite horse and the last bit of butter cake.

He still loved cake.

And ridiculous as it sounded, even to his own mind, August had seen Hazel first. True, he'd only been nine and barely recalled it, but Stork was still his. He wasn't even thinking of her bloody fortune at present, only her. Eliza would be despondent if she knew.

"Is your agreement on Lady Coraline?" Eliza snuck a peek at Everhurst over the lip of her glass, frowning when Hazel laughed once more at something the viscount said.

August rolled his eyes. "You need to speak to Everhurst. Stop avoiding him. I'm not sure what passed between the two of you so long ago, but it no longer signifies."

"It is none of your affair," Eliza replied stiffly. "Nor do I care if he consorts with Miss Dartmont."

"Did you know," he said in a mild tone, "I pulled Everhurst to safety during the battle?" She didn't because August had never told her, not wanting to revisit Quatre Bras. Ever. Eliza thought him some sort of hero, but in truth, August didn't think himself brave nor honorable. He'd been terrified.

"August, now is not the time for—" she pressed her lips together. "Such talk."

"I disagree," he continued. "You should know they tried to take his leg, but I wouldn't allow it. He was wounded. Fevered. Do you know for whom he kept asking? Begging me to find? In the midst of a tent where men were dying?"

Eliza's skin had gone ashen. "Stop. Immediately. You become quite melancholy when you return to that day." She jerked her chin away, trying to focus on something else.

Good God. Not melancholy.

" You , Eliza. Everhurst asked for you. Over and over. He thought he was dying, and all he wanted was you." August set down his glass on the table behind her, furious with his cousin. "You're behaving like a bloody idiot. He will take you, dowry or not. Put aside your pride or whatever is keeping you apart."

She tilted up her chin, never mind that August was taller than she by a foot or more. Eliza had always been defiant. "You are one to give advice, August," her words trembled. "Your pursuit of Miss Dartmont has failed, hasn't it? And it is only your pride which refuses to admit it. Probably for the best since she is not the sort of woman who would make a decent duchess no matter the size of her fortune. I learned much from the other ladies today. She most definitely cannot be ruined because she has taken lovers for years. She does not fear scandal. Lord Hough was the latest to attempt it."

Hough. So that was the man's name.

"Do not change the subject. We were speaking of Everhurst."

"I don't find her suitable, August," she ignored him. "Please, offer for Coraline and give up on Miss Dartmont. You have a duty?—"

"Do not speak to me of duty, Eliza." August cut her off. "Don't you dare. There is affection between Miss Dartmont and me." After the way Hazel had looked at him tonight, there could be no doubt. "Which will work in my favor."

"Then perhaps you need to put her in a carriage and go directly to Gretna Green before she catches wind from the gossips that you are in pursuit. The Rake Review made it quite clear. I'm sure everyone in London is aware by now. Lady Leek might not find the rumors enough to keep her daughter from being a duchess, given her ambition, but Miss Dartmont has a tendency to be chased about by impoverished titles. If she finds you are one, I'm certain whatever affection exists between you will waver."

More than waver. Hazel would think the absolute worst of him. Someone like Garland might tell her. Or she'd read that stupid gossip column herself. Which meant there was no option but to confess, though she might well end up hating him anyway.

"I've already agreed to partner Lady Coraline this evening," he said to appease his cousin.

"Thank goodness," Eliza said, obviously pleased. "She is a far better choice."

"Go speak to Everhurst." He left her, disgusted with them both, and strolled over to the card tables, forcing a smile as Lady Coraline settled beside him.