No Choice But Seduction
Page 19

Dinner had been announced, and he offered his arm to escort her to the dining room. She took his arm without thinking, too relaxed in his company to remember that she shouldn’t be touching him.
“My mother,” she said. “We used to play once or twice a week in the evenings.”
“Did you lose to her so easily?”
She sputtered a laugh. “You call that easy? I nearly had you all three games!”
“Nearly never counts—except like this.”
He demonstrated what “this” was when he pulled her aside next to the doorway, out of view from anyone in the hall, and trapped her there with an arm on either side of her, her back to the wall. Judith had run ahead. They were alone in the room now. And while he wasn’t actually touching her, she sensed he would be at any moment.
“Don’t,” she said—or did she? She was staring at his mouth, breathlessly waiting for his kiss as he slowly leaned in closer to her.
“Katey?”
It was Judith calling from the hall to see what was keeping her. Boyd sighed and stepped away from her. Then he put her hand back on his arm and continued to escort her to the dining room as if he hadn’t almost kissed her.
Katey was incredulous. Did he think she’d forgiven him? He certainly seemed to be acting as if it were a foregone conclusion. Not once today had he mentioned his regret, but then she hadn’t once mentioned the incident either, so he could be basing assumptions on that. He did make assumptions too easily, she reminded herself, including ridiculous ones….
“Boyd,” she began.
But they’d reached the dining room, and what she would have said couldn’t be said now with the Malorys already gathered there. But he got another word in.
“Sit next to me?” he whispered.
Katey took her hand from his arm and said simply, “No,” as she moved to the seat next to Judith again, rather than the two empty seats on the other side of the table. She saw that Boyd was slightly frowning now as he took one of those seats across from her. That was too bad. He needed to remember what she’d told him last night in this very room, and now that they were back in it, maybe he would. Just because she had been somewhat sociable with him today for the Malorys’ sake didn’t mean anything had changed.
She vowed to ignore him for the rest of the evening. That would make her point. And it would have worked well if her eyes weren’t drawn to him so often. So she started a conversation with Jason Malory, to keep her attention directed away from Boyd.
She hadn’t had the nerve last night to ask Jason about his neighbors. The large man had intimidated her too much with his serious looks and reticence yesterday. He was blond and green-eyed like his brothers James and Edward—only Anthony had the dark Gypsy looks. Judith had tried to assure her that Jason was only a tyrant where his brothers were concerned, that he was like a big, cuddly bear with the rest of the family. Whether that was true or not, he was much more friendly today, had spoken to her several times, and had even stood with his arm around Judith and watched the chess game for a while.
So she asked him what he could tell her about the Millard family. Unfortunately, it wasn’t much.
“They were never very sociable here in the country,” he told her, then added with a grin, “Not that we’ve ever been a whirl of parties out here. But they weren’t part of the London circle either. Neither was I, but my younger brothers all were, and I don’t recall them ever mentioning the Millards being part of that crowd. I think the Millards favored Gloucester, at least that’s where I heard your grandmother Sophie was from, before she married the earl, so they did most of their socializing in that city.”
“Did you know my mother, Adeline?”
“I’m afraid I can’t recall ever meeting Lady Adeline. There was a rumor that she’d married some baron on the Continent. Not so?”
“No.”
“Her older sister, Letitia, I vaguely recall seeing in Havers Town from time to time when I was much younger. Actually, now that I think of it, I used to see her there quite often. Seemed like every time I went to town back then, there she was, doing some sort of shopping or other. She used to be a friendly girl. Always stopped to have a few words with me.”
“Used to be?”
“If I happen to come across her these days, she completely snubs me. For whatever reason, she never married. It turned her quite disagreeable, or that seems to be the general consensus. Oddly, I have few memories of the friendly girl, but the bitter one I recall clearly. I suppose an unpleasant person tends to stand out in one’s mind.”
That little bit of information was more than Katey’s mother had ever given her, including the names of her relatives. “My father” or “the earl” or “my mother” was how Adeline had always referred to them, and she’d never even mentioned a sister! And Katey would meet them tomorrow. Hopefully.
Chapter Twenty-Four
KATEY HADN’T PLANNED on taking Grace with her to the Millard estate. Her maid had a way of either attempting to bolster Katey’s courage with her sarcastic remarks, which could goad Katey into showing her maid that she was wrong, or adding to any nervousness that was besetting her. But Boyd’s appearance at Haverston changed Katey’s mind about leaving Grace behind. Returning to the marquis’s estate after her visit to the Millards’ just to collect her maid was the worse of two evils—with Boyd still there.
But Grace surprised her. She barely said a word on the short drive to the Millard home, and it really was a short drive. Haverston was in the country on one side of the small town of Havers, and the Millards lived out in the country on the other side. The drive between the two estates was less than twenty minutes. It seemed odd to Katey that with such proximity the two families didn’t know each other better, but as Jason had said, this part of Gloucestershire wasn’t known for much socializing.
“I’ll wait here in the coach,” Grace said when they pulled up in front of the stately country manor. “Just don’t forget I’m out here if you plan on a long visit.”
Grace’s reticence was almost palpable now. She had pretty much pushed this visit down Katey’s throat, but now she was obviously just as worried about the outcome as Katey. If it didn’t go well, Grace would be blaming herself.
But that was only in the back of Katey’s mind as she stood at the front door of the large country manor. The estate wasn’t nearly as big as Haverston, but it was still imposing, and in the forefront of her mind was a fear she’d never known. No, that wasn’t so. She’d felt the same fear the first time she’d come to Havers Town. She’d succumbed to it then and hadn’t got this far, right to her relatives’ door. She was about to do the same thing again, to turn around and race off in any direction other than here…
“Can I help you, miss?”
The door had opened. An old fellow stood there in the kind of meticulous black suit that servants usually wore. The Millard butler? No, her family’s butler. Damnit, it was her family who lived here. They might have disowned her mother, but that didn’t negate her being a part of them. And that disowning had happened long ago. Adeline might never have forgiven them for it, but perhaps her family now regreted their actions. And Katey would never know either way if she didn’t tell them who she was.
“I’m Katey Tyler.”
The old fellow’s look was completely blank. He didn’t recognize the name Tyler at all. Well, perhaps he was new to the household, or more likely, perhaps the family didn’t discuss personal matters with their servants. Or perhaps a name like Tyler simply wouldn’t be remembered twenty-three years later.
“I would like to speak to the lady of the house, if she’s available?”
“Come inside, miss.” He extended an arm. “That wind is a bit chilly.”
She hadn’t noticed the wind until he mentioned it. The rain had stopped at some point in the night, but a solid bank of clouds kept the sun from shining this morning.
The butler showed her to a large room furnished as a parlor. That she’d even been let inside meant that her grandmother must be at home. And her queasy stomach worsened. But mixed in with that uncomfortable feeling was a good deal of awe that tightened her throat with emotion. This was the house her mother had grown up in! Had she sat on that brown and rose brocaded sofa? Had she warmed her hands at the fireplace? Who was the man in the portrait above the cherrywood mantel? Brown-haired and distinguished-looking, he was not tall, but was quite handsome. Adeline’s father? Her grandfather? An even older ancestor?
God, how much family history must be in this house! And the stories. Would they tell them to her? Would they share their memories?
“My mother is sleeping. She hasn’t been feeling well. Can I help you?”
Katey swung around. The woman was middle-aged with faded brown hair and emerald eyes. Katey’s eyes. Her mother’s eyes. She could feel some moisture gathering in her own. This had to be her aunt. She had only a vague facial resemblance to Adeline, but those eyes…
“Letitia?”
The woman frowned. It changed her appearance dramatically, adding a sternness that was actually intimidating. At least Katey found it so. Someone else might not be impressed at all, but this was Katey’s aunt, one of her few remaining relatives, and the woman didn’t know that yet.
“It’s Lady Letitia,” the woman said with a heavy dose of condescension, as if she were speaking to someone she was sure was far below her own class. “Do I know you?”
“Not yet, but—I’m Katey Tyler.”
“And?”
No open arms. No delighted cries. No joyful tears of welcome. Like the butler, her aunt didn’t recognize the Tyler name.
Katey had been sure the Millards would at least remember the name of the man they had refused to allow into the family. Surely the two sisters must have discussed her father at some point. They weren’t that far apart in age, perhaps five or six years. But Katey was making assumptions based on little information.
And the best way to get beyond that, before her nerve completely deserted her, was to say, “I’m your niece. Adeline was my mother.”
Letitia’s expression didn’t change. Not even a little. But it had already been twisted sour, apparently at the realization that she was dealing with someone from the lower classes.
“Get out.”
Katey questioned her hearing. Surely she was mistaken. But if she wasn’t, perhaps young Judith’s idea might be useful after all. Anything was worth trying at that point, if there was nothing wrong with her ears.
“I’ve come a very long way to meet you,” Katey said, trying to ignore the desperation in her own tone. “The Malorys of Haverston were nice enough to—”
“How dare you mention those scandalmongers!” Letitia cut in, her voice rising angrily. “How dare you presume you’d find welcome here, you little bastard! Get out!”
Katey bit her lip to stop it from trembling. She couldn’t stop the tears though, or the pain that rose up to choke her. She ran out of that room, and out of that house.
Chapter Twenty-Five
WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT SAILED!” Katey shouted at the dockhand who’d just told her she’d missed her ship.
“Cast off with the morning tide,” the fellow said with barely a glance her way as he went about loading crates into a wagon. “Most ships do.”
He was the only one standing near the berth she’d been directed to whom she could question. And finding an empty berth, she wasn’t exactly in a calm state of mind.
“Why wasn’t I told that! Why wasn’t it printed on these tickets?!”
“Did you look at the tickets?”
She snapped her mouth shut and marched off. No, she didn’t examine the tickets closely. She wasn’t accustomed to sailing. She’d only sailed once before! And she couldn’t believe she’d missed her ship!
“It’s really gone?” Grace asked hesitantly when Katey climbed back in the coach. The hesitancy came from hearing the door slammed shut as well as the shouting that had just taken place outside.
“Yes.”
“The sun’s only been out an hour. How early did we need to get here?”
“Too early. I see now why that ticket fellow had mentioned that we could board the night prior to sailing if we cared to. He shouldn’t have made it sound like a mere option. He should have stated that it was the only option.”
Grace sat back with a sigh. “So we’re back to the ticket office?”
“And another long delay? I think not. I’m going to find Boyd Anderson instead.”
“What for?”
“To rent his ship.”
Grace started to laugh. Katey didn’t. When the maid noticed that, she said, “You weren’t joking?”
“No, I wasn’t. He pretty much begged me at Haverston to give him a way to make amends. And I’m not talking about demanding the use of his ship without recompense. I did say rent it, didn’t I?”
“Yes, but you can’t just rent a ship and its entire crew at a moment’s notice.”
“I can if it belongs to him.”
“I’ll wager he won’t agree to something like that,” Grace predicted.
Katey remembered Boyd’s expression when he’d beseeched her to let him do something, anything, to make things right with her. “I’ll take that wager.”
They had returned to London early enough yesterday to collect the clothes that had been finished and delivered to her hotel—and to find a new hotel. Hers hadn’t had any rooms available. She’d left so early in the morning for Gloucestershire that she hadn’t thought about reserving her room for another night upon her return. But at least the hotel clerk had held her packages for her and directed her to another hotel.