Chapter Nine

A lex's inquiry was met by silence. If she was in the maze, perhaps with Brennon or a group, they had moved on, and he was a fool. Another few minutes passed with Alex taking twists and turns, beginning to regret his rash decision.

Finally, he used his wits and looked up. He would keep an eye on the stars visible here as they often weren't in London. At least, he would know if he was going in circles.

To that end, he walked steadily in the direction of the mansion, noting the stars' placement, and figuring there would be an opening facing the back door of Chiswick House.

Around a corner at a run, someone crashed into him, someone warm and soft and definitely familiar.

Grabbing her upper arms, he held her at a distance.

"Alex!" she exclaimed before he could say anything.

"How did you know?" he asked, not letting go.

"Because you smell and feel like Alex, of course."

He couldn't argue with that, for she smelled and felt like Clarity. He hugged her tightly.

"Were you lost?" he asked.

"Indeed, I was. Isn't it great fun?"

He did think so, now that he'd found her or vice versa. In either case, he didn't want to confess to such a thought because it was incredibly childish.

"I am trying to navigate by the stars to find my way out," he informed her.

"That's genius," she said. "Then I shall join you."

Neither of them moved.

"Are you alone in the maze?" he asked, feeling her heart pounding as rapidly as his own.

"I wasn't," she said, "but I seem to have lost my party a few turns back." Her hands had crept up his jacket to rest upon his shoulders.

"Did you scream earlier?" He settled his own hands behind her, resting his fingers against the smooth silk at the small of her back.

"I admit I did," she said, pressing her breasts against him. "Lord Brennon tapped my shoulder and frightened me."

At the mention of Brennon, he knew he ought to release her. Instead, in the otherworldly solitude of the hedgerow maze, Alex leaned down and claimed her lips.

They didn't bump noses in the dark, nor did he kiss her cheek by mistake. As if they were entirely of a single mind, his mouth easily found hers.

Tilting his head, their kiss deepened, and a fiery longing raced through him like a flickering flame.

She made a strange, sweet sound, which he answered with a groan. Clarity was his siren, his weakness, despite an unwavering certainty that she was not suitable to be his viscountess. At that moment, he couldn't remember why.

Unthinkingly, he slipped his tongue between her warm lips and stroked hers. How long they stood that way with the scent of nearby lilacs wafting over them, Alex didn't know nor care until he heard voices.

"Try this way," said a distinctly frustrated male.

"I'm sure we went that way already," complained a female.

Another added, "I'm tired. I want to go back indoors."

"We're trying," said the first.

"Not without Lady Clarity," said the man, whom Alex knew to be Brennon.

Reluctantly, Alex released her before taking hold of her hand and starting to walk again.

"She is over here," he called out. "We are heading toward the house."

The voices all spoke at once.

"How?"

"Where?"

"Lady Clarity?"

"I'm here," she called out. "In the next row and going north."

"Southeast," Alex muttered, determined to get out quickly. Miss Brambury was undoubtedly concerned and annoyed.

"Southeast," Clarity called out again before laughing. "Follow the stars," she added to her friends.

As Alex suspected, when they reached the section closest to the house, there was an opening. Still, he was trapped alone with her since he couldn't leave her by herself to wait for the others, nor would it be seemly for them to re-enter the ballroom without a chaperone unless they were in a group.

"I never did find the fountain in the middle," Clarity bemoaned as they waited for the others to catch up.

"I wasn't aware there was one," Alex said.

"Oh yes," she said. "It's supposed to be rather sinful." Then she paused. "Why were you in the maze if you weren't looking for the fountain? And where is Miss Brambury?" she asked as if she'd just noticed his lady-friend's absence.

Strange how she'd kissed him back, not wondering about Emmeline at the time.

"I came into the maze because I thought you were in some distress. And I assume Miss Brambury is safely inside where you ought to be."

"Oh, Alex," she said, taking a step closer causing him to back away. "That was heroic of you. Thank you."

"There you are," Brennon boomed as soon as he exited the maze, with two ladies trailing him.

Once he got close enough to see Alex, the man halted.

"Hollidge! I didn't see you there."

"Alex rescued me," Clarity declared.

He winced at the intimate use of his first name. Why did she persist in such impropriety? He tried to pull farther away.

"Did you know the duke had seven hundred guests, as well as giraffes, right here in his own park two years ago?" she asked, switching topics seemingly to keep him engaged.

"I was not aware," he said.

"Oh, yes! Our famous ‘bachelor duke' threw a party for Tsar Nicholas of Russia. I would have loved to see the giraffes."

He would have loved to see her seeing those giraffes, came Alex's improper thought. She would have marveled at them and been a delightful companion.

He caught himself. The past was entirely unimportant, as were the duke's giraffes. They were here tonight, and she was not his to make moon eyes over.

"I entrust Lady Clarity to you," he said woodenly to Brennon.

With that, Alex turned on his heel and went in search of the woman he hoped would still accept his offer.

Clarity didn't think her emotions could become any more confused than they were that night. After the labyrinth, she watched Alex dance with Miss Brambury and wondered how he could continue as if nothing of import had happened.

Their second kiss had been as magnificent as their first. And while she was still content to partner with Lord Brennon for the next waltz, if Alex walked across the parquet and held out his hand to her in front of everyone, she would take it. She would go with him to wherever he wished, for a lifetime if he asked, leaving behind all she knew.

Except her family! No, never that.

Apart from the rest of the Diamonds, however, she could easily imagine slipping out of her current life to run away with Alex. Or to stay right there in London. Or to go to Belfinch Hall, his country estate in Suffolk. As long as she was with him, she wouldn't care.

At the same time, she was engaging in light prattle with Lord Brennon. How could she still dance two and even three times with him, enjoy his company, go riding with him, and let the man row her upon the Thames?

Was she a selfish person for prolonging their friendship?

Sipping the champagne he had brought her and Purity, Clarity tried to sort out how she could be clearly of two minds.

Yet more and more, she knew herself to be of only one heart — and it belonged to Alex.

As she lay awake that night, tortured at the thought of losing Alex to Emmeline Brambury, dreading the morning when she awakened to read their engagement in the newspapers, she finally sat upright in bed. A clear plan of action had come to her.

She would call upon him. A plain-speaking conversation would solve everything. Rehearsing her words a few times, she finally settled down again and fell asleep.

Early the following day, Clarity alighted from her carriage with her lady's maid in front of Alex's door on Grosvenor Square. Nodding for Winnie to use the knocker, they waited. In a short while, she'd given Alex's butler her card and been shown into the drawing room.

However, when the door opened again, it was Lady Aston who appeared and not her nephew. Clarity had to stifle a gasp at the fear and nervousness that overtook her.

Ninny! she scolded herself. You are a grown woman, not a naughty child, but why had she all but forgotten that his sour-faced aunt lived there?

A tad above average in height with gray-streaked brown hair swept up in a tight chignon, Lady Aston swept her pale green gaze over Clarity before hollowing her cheeks and pursing her lips. Her expression spoke volumes.

"Good day," Clarity said, finding her voice.

"Lady Clarity," the woman greeted her. "How you've grown and blossomed."

"Thank you," she said, thinking that was a good start. She wished she could return the compliment, but Lady Aston had hardly changed apart from appearing even sterner.

"Please, have a seat. Will you take tea?"

Clarity's stomach was pinching with nerves, and she wasn't sure she should or could drink anything. Nevertheless, not accepting would be rude. Perhaps Alex had sent his aunt to entertain her while he combed his hair. All she had to do was get through a few minutes.

"Tea would be lovely. I thank you." She sat on the ancient sofa, nodding to Winnie to take a chair at the other end of the room as Alex's aunt took a seat and plainly did not ring for tea service. Perhaps she'd already ordered it before she'd entered the room.

"What brings you to our home?" his aunt asked.

Clarity gaped before snapping her mouth closed. Since she'd told the butler she wished to speak with Lord Hollidge, it was highly discourteous to be asked her intent by Lady Aston.

"I am here to speak with your nephew."

His aunt's nostrils flared slightly. "Yes, I understand that. But why?"

Clarity's heartbeat sped up, and she wished she'd sent him a private letter instead. Perhaps she ought to tell the busybody how after two breath-stealing kisses, she wanted to ask Alex if he would like to try for a third.

She took a deep breath, hardly able to believe what she was about to say.

"I don't think it is any of your business." Clarity managed to keep her tone even, despite quaking inside.

His aunt nodded. "Then I fear my suspicions are correct. Now that my nephew has found a suitable wife, you want to shove a cane into his carriage wheel."

What a terrible accusation! As if Clarity had come to interfere with the smooth path of Alex's courtship of Miss Brambury. Although, without a doubt, she had.

"I can see by your expression I have hit the nail on its head with my first guess," his aunt said smugly. "And I must tell you, Lady Clarity, your efforts shall lead to fiddlestick's end."

"Is Alex here?" Clarity asked boldly.

" Alex! How dare you?" Lady Aston said, finally showing the irritation behind her calm, cool demeanor. "Lord Hollidge is not at home."

"To me, or to anyone?" Clarity asked.

"You were a troublesome little girl," his aunt said, ignoring her question. "Honestly, I had hoped you would have matured enough to be the Viscountess Hollidge. Believe me or not, it's the truth. Nevertheless, my nephew saw how you have stubbornly maintained a nature of untamed immaturity. Thus, he tried to court your sister, but she apparently doesn't have the taste to know a good man when she sees one. And therefore, he has moved on."

Clarity didn't think it the time to defend herself, but she would always stand up for her family.

"Lady Purity is allowed to choose whomsoever she pleases. There is not a person in London who doesn't agree my sister is a discerning lady. She could not help but notice that Alex ," and Clarity said his name with robust emphasis, "grew up to be just like you, a hum-drum old lady without an ounce of the jolly dog."

"Lady Clarity!" This came from Alex who had entered unnoticed. "You owe my aunt an apology."

She rose to her feet, trembling with anger. Had he been at home all along and ignored her calling card or, worse, sent his aunt in his place?

"I owe her nothing," she vowed, wondering at her own reprehensible breach of decorum and civility. As an earl's daughter, she had been raised better than she'd behaved. But now, having failed at her task and Alex angry with her, she couldn't seem to pull back onto the path of polite discourse.

"I bet there wasn't even any tea ordered," she said, plainly confounding him by the expression upon his devilishly handsome face.

His green eyes glittered. "Tea?" He looked toward his aunt. "You didn't tell me Lady Clarity had been invited to tea."

"Because she hadn't been," his aunt said, rising slowly to her feet.

Clarity waited for Lady Aston to humiliate her and tell Alex how she had come practically begging to speak with him.

"But the young lady is not at fault," his aunt continued as the maid brought in tea service, making Clarity feel rather small for having doubted its existence.

"I owe her an apology," Lady Aston continued. "I inadvertently said something unkind about Lady Purity and set off her quick temper."

About to protest that she didn't have a quick temper, Clarity realized what a back-handed apology Lady Aston had delivered. His aunt had won the field, gaining her nephew's sympathy and making Clarity appear unhinged.

"I spoke out of turn," Clarity said, wishing she had never come. But the only apology she could come up with was a thin one. "Apparently, there was tea being offered, and I am sorry I doubted you. However, I am no longer thirsty. I wish you both good day."

She hoped she'd ended in a civil enough manner even Purity would approve. Nodding to Winnie, who was already on her feet, Clarity couldn't even look at Alex as she strode past him.

What a disaster!

"Lady Clarity," his voice followed her into the entrance hall.

She didn't stop. Luckily, the butler was there to yank open the door and save her doing it herself.

When she reached the narrow pavement in front of the granite-block street that encircled the square's green center, he was directly behind her.

"Clarity, please wait. What is this about?"

Unacceptably, tears pricked her eyes, but she was determined not to let a single one fall. To distract herself, she spoke to Winnie.

"You may climb into the carriage. I'll join you in a moment." She watched her maid disappear inside the enclosed carriage with the Diamond coat of arms emblazoned on its side. Then, having gathered her emotions, she finally looked at him.

"I made a mistake in coming." Then she realized there was nothing more to say.

Alex ran a hand through his hair, messing it up for the first time since she'd seen him as an adult.

"I should have contacted you," he said, surprising her into silence. "After ... after what happened in the maze, you deserved a missive at the very least containing my sincere apology."

He was sorry for kissing her? She had not expected that, nor did it sit well. She had no regrets at all, and it stung to find out he was sorry it had happened.

"I would have expected your father here to demand an apology, not you. Or maybe to blister my hide and force us into marriage."

He said the words as if it would be a punishment to marry her. This was worse than his aunt's censure.

"I should have known the intrepid and outrageous Clarity Diamond would come and demand my contrition herself."

Intrepid, outrageous, and unsuitable . "I accept your apology," she said, her voice little more than a whisper.

She even let him touch her hand and help her into her carriage without the least show of emotion. And as they rode home, Winnie was smart enough to keep her eyes averted as Clarity finally let her tears fall.