One True Love Part 8

"No. We've been looking for you," Theresa took up. "We went to your house this morning to see if you wanted to go shopping, and who do you think we saw there?"

She could guess. "Halfurst?"

"Yes! Did you know?"

"How could I? I accepted an invitation to go shopping with Lord Howard this morning." For the viscount's sake, she favored him with a smile as he came around and lifted her down to the street.

"Well, he's in your morning room. Apparently he's been there for over an hour. And your mother told us that she thinks he means to wait for you until you return!"

Anne closed her eyes for a moment, the familiar rush at the idea of his presence mingling with a distinct uneasiness. If he was at Bishop House and she wasn't, then no doubt he'd finally spoken to her father. And with the earl's cryptic comments about keeping an eye on Halfurst's career, her father seemed to favor the match. Good heavens, she might as well be married!

Desmond beside her was doing a poor job of hiding his displeasure at this latest p.r.o.nouncement; no doubt he realized what she would ask of him next. "Desmond, pleasea""

"Take you home?" he interrupted. "Give me one good reason why I should."

She took an annoyed breath. "Lord Howard, if you would just remain pleasant for another few minutes, then we might remain friends, as well."

"And what does that get me?" he retorted. "A letter from Yorks.h.i.+re every six months, describing how miserable you are and how much you wish you'd listened to your 'friend'?"

'This doesn't sound like friends.h.i.+p," she said crisply, taking Theresa's hand and hoping if her friend felt her fingers shaking she would think it was from the cold. "It sounds like jealousy. I have never made it anything but clear that I am betrothed, and whether I plan on marrying Lord Halfurst or not, that fact does not change."

"Only when it's convenient for you, that is," he sneered.

"Annie, Pauline and I will see you home," Theresa said in a tense voice, tugging her in the direction of Pauline's carriage.

"Yes, you do that," Howard snapped. "I'll be available when you return to your senses and decide you've had enough of your sheep farmer."

Before she could conjure a suitable retort, he climbed into his phaeton and lurched back into traffic.

"My goodness," Pauline whispered, taking Anne's other hand. "I've never seen him like that."

"Neither have I," she returned, her voice shaking to match her hands. "Will you please take me home?"

"Of course, Annie. Come on."

As she took her seat in Pauline's carriage, she was surprised to realize that she wasn't thinking so much of Desmond's jealous fit as she was of seeing her sheep farmer again. Four days seemed a lifetime, when all she could think of was how very good it had felt to be with him.

Thank G.o.d, Anne's mother had finally believed him when Maximilian had told her that she didn't need to keep him company, and that he would be quite content to read a book and wait for his betrothed. Her apologetic hovering set his teeth on edge, and Lady Daven's depictions of her daughter were woefully inaccurate and inadequate. Anne Bishop defied description, by anyone's definition.

For one thing, she was practically the only Londoner he'd encountered who didn't bother with affectations; she was who she was, and seemed quite content with that. And far from being shy and retiring, as her mother insisted she was, Anne was curious and forthright and utterly imperfect.

He'd meant to give her a sampling of what married life with him would offer her, and he'd meant to use his skills at lovemaking to convince her to give up her arguments about staying in London. While he thought he might have succeeded at the former, her continued insistence on parading about town with Lord Howard was proof enough that she hadn't succ.u.mbed to the latter. Nor was she likely to, if she was able to keep avoiding him.

She had to return home eventually, and then this nonsense would stop. He would convince her to marry him, and only when he'd run out of resolve and time would he surrender to London. After being inside her, his resolve had become boundless.

And for the first time since he'd inherited Halfurst, he didn't care if it fell into ruin while he waited for her. He wasn't leaving London without Anne Bishop.

That didn't mean, however, that he intended to play by her rules. She was used to men throwing themselves at her feet, after her beauty or her money or her favor. He heard her enter the house, sooner than he expected, but he remained seated, reading the book he'd selected from the Bishop House library, when she stepped into the morning room.

"Lord Halfurst?"

He looked up. "Anne." Heat coiled through him at the sight of her, and he had to fight to keep seated, and to keep other parts of his body from becoming immediately erect, as well.

"What are you doing here? Didn't Lambert tell you I'd gone out?"

Her voice sounded unsteady, and the thought that his presence might be the reason for that made his relaxed slouch even more difficult to maintain. "He did. I decided to wait."

Slowly she came further into the room, and it took all his self-control to refrain from leaping to his feet and smothering her body with kisses. Her maid started to enter the room behind her, but at a feminine command outside, Daisy vanished behind the closing door. Lady Daven had some sense, anyway.

She tilted her head, glancing at the book in his hands. "A Midsummer Night's Dream? I didn't know you read Shakespeare."

Anne was nervous, and that was good. "You didn't? What did you think I read? Or you didn't think I could read at all, perhaps."

"Don't be ridiculous. I just couldn't... imagine you taking the time to read Shakespeare, is all. You seem so consumed by Yorks.h.i.+re."

Did he? More likely, she was obsessed with it. His obsessions had lately taken a more feminine shape, with long, curling brunette hair. "I could quote something for you, if you like," he said, setting the book aside and standing, "but that wouldn't prove anything but my ability to borrow someone else's pretty words."

Anne took a small step backward as he rose. "You . . . didn't answer my question. What are you doing here?"

"You've been avoiding me."

"No, I haven't," she shot back, giving a nervous laugh. "I hope you don't think I just sit at home waiting for you to come calling. I have friends, and activities. This is my home, you know."

"I know." His gaze on her soft mouth, he slowly stepped toward her. "Nevertheless, I owe you a good morning kiss.

Four of them, actually."

"I...".

If he let her argue, he'd never be able to touch her today. Maximilian closed the distance between them with one quick stride. Taking her shoulders in his hands, he leaned down and covered her mouth with his. She responded instantly, leaning up against his chest and curling her hands into the front of his jacket. He went hard, and felt her heat as she pressed herself closer against him.

As he drew his arms down the length of her and around her waist, she gave a stifled groan and pushed away. "Stop it!"

"Why?" he murmured, against her lips. "You want me again, and you know that I want you, don't you?"

Her hips moved against him, and he clenched his jaw, fighting for control. "Yes."

"Then don't ask me to stop."

He kissed her again, and he felt her give ina"for a moment. "No!" she said again, shoving harder.

She couldn't have moved him if she wanted to, but he released her anyway. Persuasion only, he reminded himself, trying not to let his discomfort show on his face. Forcing her would win him nothing. "If you would agree to marry me, I would make you feel like this every day."

"That is not fair!" she shouted, as if volume equaled conviction. If her gaze hadn't trailed below his waist and back again, her parted lips still beckoning him, he might have believed her.

"Why isn't it fair? It's the truth. This is marriage, Anne. Being with me, skin-to-skin. I know you enjoyed it. I felt you, remember?"

"Fine. Remind me of my weakness," she retorted, a tear running down her cheek. "You're no better than Lord Howard."

The single tear bothered him, and suddenly it seemed more important to make her stop crying than to wear her down into a marriage agreement. "It wasn't weakness, Anne," he murmured, brus.h.i.+ng the moisture from her cheek with his thumb. "It was desire. There is nothing wrong with desire. Not between us."

That earned him a glare, which he could only consider an improvement over her weeping. With a discontented sigh he seated himself again. If he made her flee, he might as well have stayed at home. He knew precisely what her objection to him was; what he needed to do was figure out how to convince her of the merits of Yorks.h.i.+re. In the dead of winter, that wasn't such an easy task.

"Anne," he said, "sit down."

"Only if you'll tell me why you're here."

"I'm here to see you. Isn't that simple enough?"

"You're here to try to seduce me into marrying you," she said, her tone accusing. Even so, she sata"in the chair at the far end of the room.

Maximilian chuckled. "I've already seduced you, and we're still not married. I don't intend to apologize for continuing to find you desirable."

"If you know that seduction won't work, how do you intend to convince me of anything?"

For a moment, she almost sounded as if she wanted to be convinced. His heart leaped. "Have you ever heard of Farndale?"

She scowled. "Farndale? No."

"It's about three miles west of Halfurst. A small valley in the foothills of the Pennine Mountains. In the early spring the entire floor of the dale is carpeted with wild daffodils."

"It's lovely, I would imagine."

"You don't have to imagine it. I would show it to you." He gazed at her stony expression. "Anne, you've never been to Yorks.h.i.+re. How do you know you would hate it so much?"

"Why do you hate London so much?"

"I... it was a difference of opinion, I suppose."

"You mean everyone treated you badly when they found out you had no money."

He narrowed his eyes, unable to stop the abrupt anger that drowned his d.a.m.ned l.u.s.t for this outspoken beauty.

"Lord Howard, I suppose?"

"Yes, he told me everything, but only because I asked him to. Don't blame him."

"I doubt he told you everything, Anne." d.a.m.n Howard. He hated this, the gossip and innuendo and one-upmans.h.i.+p.

For Anne, though, he would tell the truth. All of it. "Why don't you ask we?"

She folded her hands in her lap. "Why should I? It doesn't matter, because in the end you'll still want to drag me off to Yorks.h.i.+re. Daffodils or not, I will not spend the rest of my life in exile."

He cursed. "Would you spend it with Desmond Howard, then? Why don't you ask him about his finances? How long do you think he'd be able to keep you in your precious London after he finished going through your dowry?"

"You lie."

Maximilian lurched to his feet. "I do not lie," he snarled, striding over to her. Clamping his hands on either arm of the chair, he leaned down, forcing her to look him in the eye. "Ask him, Anne. And if you want to know anythinga" anythinga"about me, all you need do is ask."

Straightening, he stalked to the door and yanked it open. He hadn't meant to leave without securing her hand in marriage.

He hadn't meant to leave without making love to her again. He hadn't meant to start bellowing about other people. He didn't do that. It wasn't right, and he knew firsthand how much it hurt.

"Are you bankrupt?" her shaking voice came. "Are you here for my money?"

Maximilian stopped. "No. I'm not. To both questions. I won't let it be that easy for you, Anne. And I'm not finished with you, yet." Taking a deep breath, he faced her. "I think I know you. I believe you to be honest, and honorable. And I am betting that you won't be able to leave it at this, without finding out everything. You know where I'll be."

"So you're going back to Trent House to sulk? I don'ta""

"What I meant was, I intend to call on you every day between now and February fourteenth. And then I'll be at the Shelbourne St. Valentine's Day Ball. On the fifteenth, though, I will be leaving London."

"Then you'll be leaving alone."

"We'll see. As I said, I think I know you, Anne." He lowered his voice to be certain none of the lurking servants would be able to hear. "And I know that you crave being with me again. Think about that."

Chapter 7.

Ah, Valentine's Day. This Author personally detests the holiday. A girl must take the measure of her worth by the number of cards and bouquets she receives, and a young man is forced to spew poetry as if anyone actually spoke in rhyme.

It's a wonder the holiday hasn't been banned from the capital. Or the nation, for that matter.

But This Author supposes that there are those with more sentimental hearts, because Lady Shelbourne's first (annual? This Author prays not) Valentine's Day ball is sure to be a ma.s.sive crush, if the number of affirmative replies is any indication.

And since this is Valentine's Day, This Author would be remiss if the question were not poseda" Will any young couples make a match of it? Surely Lady Shelbourne cannot consider her party a success if the words "Will you marry me?" are not uttered even once.

Or perhaps that will not be enough. After all, what is a proposal without the proper reply of "I will?"

LADY WHISTLEDOWN'S SOCIETY PAPERS,.

14 FEBRUARY 1814.

Anne slammed the Atlas of Britain closed as her father entered the library. "Good morning, Papa," she said, trying to sound casual, and dismayed at the distinct squeak in her voice.

The earl lifted an eyebrow. "Good morning. What are you doing in here?"

"Reading." She forced a careless laugh. "What else would I be doing in the library?"

"Daughter, has anyone ever told you that you're an abysmal liar?"

One man had a" not that that had endeared him to her. "Don't you have a meeting today?"