Chapter 2

2

“What in the world do you think you’re doing?” demanded Anne when Justin took her by the elbow.

She’d just turned the corner of the shrubbery maze on her way towards Pryde Manor.

Her blonde locks jumped as she turned around, her gaze darting about, clearly concerned someone might see them.

“I must speak to you, Anne,” he said.

She jerked her elbow out of his grasp. “It’s Miss Rose.”

“Goodness, how I love seeing your eyes blazing this way,” he murmured, feeling a smile tugging at his lips.

She scoffed and resumed her hasty walk towards the house.

“Anne, wait!” he cried as he hurried after her, gravel crunching under their feet. He caught the magnificent whiff of her scent: roses and something citrusy… Refreshing.

Like the kisses they’d shared all those years ago.

“You cannot talk to me alone!” she threw over her shoulder. “You could ruin me.”

“Do you have a chaperone?” he asked as he kept pace with her.

Heavens, her profile was pretty.

“Since when are you interested in my chaperone?” she demanded. “You placed no importance in my reputation before. This is my first outing as a duchess’s sister, and my family name is only now starting to be pronounced with some sort of respect. I cannot—will not—put all that in danger, not after the sacrifices my sister made by marrying a complete stranger. Do you not see the damage you could do here?”

Her tirade had him swallowing a hard knot.

Good Grace, if only he had kept his word four years ago, her situation would have been entirely different. Her sister would have never needed to marry a stranger to save her father from a debtor’s prison.

He grasped her once again by her elbow, and this time he was able to stop her, have her turn and face him, her gray-blue eyes flashing under her long eyelashes. Her full breasts were heaving, quite distractedly so… He remembered the tantalizing feel of them when they were pressed against him in an embrace…one he craved to experience again.

“I do see, Anne. But, believe me, I do not wish to put your reputation in jeopardy. I have quite the opposite intentions.”

“What are they then?” she demanded as she spread her hands wide.

A few people passed on the other side of the bushes, talking and laughing, and he and Anne both froze. It was true—if the two of them were discovered alone, she would be ruined.

Despite his honorable intentions, he couldn’t stop staring at the two beads of sweat that had formed just above the crease of her breasts. This was one day he was thankful for the stifling hot weather. He wished to lick the droplets from her skin.

“I—er,” he pronounced quite dumbly the moment it became quiet again.

The skies above them grew dark, clouds rolling in despite the heat. Perhaps it would rain this evening. That would be a great relief as the air was as hard as a shoe.

“I wanted to congratulate you,” he said finally. “You were published. Finally. And so well deserved.”

She shook her head. “I was supposed to have married you, Lord Chans. But trust me, the accomplishment of publishing my own mathematical treatise suits me so much better than becoming your wife would have.”

Anne saw the hurt in his eyes the moment she said the words, and she regretted them immediately. Whatever his reasons were for abandoning her, she did not need to be so cruel.

“Forgive me,” she said, straightening her shoulders. “You did not deserve that.”

“I did,” he said as he looked at his boots. “Forgive me, but I did. You did not deserve?—”

A horn sounded, long and pronounced.

“The hunt,” he said. “I should return?—”

He gave her a curt bow, turned, and quickly walked towards his horse, away from her, behind the tall bushes.

Anne put her hand on her stomach and exhaled sharply.

Goodness gracious. Had she known he would be here, that she’d need to tolerate him for several weeks, she’d never have agreed to come.

But that didn’t matter now. She needed to return to the ladies, or Patience would begin looking for her.

She must put on a brave face—even if Lady Virtoux and others would look at her with judgement and disgust in their eyes.

She marched along the pathway in the garden and returned to the front lawn.

The horn had sounded again, and the hunting party was getting ready to launch. Justin, among a dozen or so other gentlemen on horseback, was trying to control his steed who shifted with eagerness. Around them, the hounds, held by huntsman, whined and tugged, their excitement palpable as they sensed the adventure ahead.

Justin’s gaze locked briefly with hers again. Then the hunting horn sounded a third time, and the men were away like an army, the thunder of hooves against the ground thumping in her chest. The dogs were released and surged forward, their barks merging into the rhythm of increasing hoofbeats. The hunt had begun.

“I suppose we should go,” said Patience, who slipped her hand through Anne’s elbow.

Patience smiled her gorgeous, serene smile. She was so much happier now that she was with Dorian.

“Are you feeling well enough?” asked Anne as they walked.

“Oh, yes,” Patience assured her. “Come, Chastity, join us. Now, Anne, tell me, is there a gentleman whom you might fancy?”

Lady Chastity, Patience’s new sister-in-law, hooked her hand around Anne’s other elbow.

“I would actually like to charm Lord Oliver Evans, Earl of Wardbury,” said Lady Chastity, and both Patience and Anne stared at her.

As they walked and talked about Lady Chastity’s out-of-character desire to make a new friendship and connection, the skies became darker.

The stiff air changed very quickly.

They must have walked for half an hour towards where they were supposed to have a picnic before the wind picked up and blew in freezing gusts. Trees and branches swayed. A few thick droplets fell on Anne’s face. Somewhere in the distance, thunder cracked the skies.

Women shrieked as a sudden blast of wind sent a tree crashing over the path right before them. Thunder cracked again, sounding closer now, and a thrill of fear ran through Anne’s stomach.

Some male riders came to the rescue, lifting the ladies onto their mounts. Soon, Anne was lost, as everyone had been taken care of but her… Rain began in earnest then, and the wind blew leaves and branches into her.

She backed away, suddenly alone on the little forest path. She needed to hurry, to find shelter. She ran through the bushes. Her leg caught, and she fell right into the sharp branches and twigs, her legs and her arms stinging from scratches.

The sharp sound of fabric tearing was like another sort of thunder crack, and Anne gasped. The pain in her body didn’t come close to the pain of that very expensive silk dress being torn.

But it was when she stood up, shaking off the leaves and the twigs, that she saw the true extent of the disaster.

Both her chemise and her gown were torn. There was her leg, bared all the way to her stomach, which was covered in part by her corset, the blonde hair of her sex visible, as well as her hip bone.

Thank God no one else was around; she sighed with relief. But how was she going to return to Pryde Manor like this?

The crackling of twigs announced that she was not so alone after all. Not anymore. And heat rushed through her in a tingly wave.

Gasping, she looked up. And her gaze met that of Justin, the Earl of Chans.

His eyes were burning hotter than her own scalding flesh.