Chapter Thirteen − A Favour to Ask

The next morning, Abigail woke with a smile on her face. For although she knew very well that they had agreed to merely assist each other with their respective dilemmas, she could no longer pretend that she was immune to Lord Amb…Griffin’s charms. There was something about him that spoke to her. Not only was he kind and attentive, respectful and honest, but he seemed to respond to her in a way as though he had known her for years.

Had Winifred been right? Were they truly suited to one another?

Later that afternoon, Abigail watched her heart most carefully as Griffin picked her up with his open chaise and they took a turn around Hyde Park. “Is there a particular reason you chose to come here today?” Abigail asked laughing as her eyes drifted down the path they had walked together not too long ago.

Beside her, Griffin grinned, a teasing gleam in his eyes. “To be honest, I thought it would present the perfect opportunity to discuss your methods of torture.”

Laughing, Abigail felt her eyes widen. “Excuse me? My what?”

“Your methods of torture,” Griffin repeated, bringing the horses to a slow trot. “I must say your act was quite refined and judging from the utterly shocked looks on people’s faces last night, no one saw your…transformation coming.” A slight frown drew down his brows as he looked at her. “How did you invent this person you pretended to be? All these details?” He shook his head as though truly impressed by such an accomplishment.

Abigail shrugged, unable to deny that she enjoyed his admiration. Never would she have thought it possible that someone would see her act as an accomplishment. “It was actually quite simple. I merely did what was considered in bad taste,” she said shrugging. “We all have our little faults and imperfections no matter how hard we strive to be…well, perfect. All I did was pool them all into one being.” Satisfied, she grinned. “Me.”

Griffin laughed. “I admit you did well. That afternoon at the lake,” he said, drawing the horses to a halt as they approached the Serpentine, glistening in the late afternoon sun, “I couldn’t believe my eyes when the real you suddenly came through. I must have stood there for a small eternity gaping at you like a fool.” He laughed, shaking his head as though he could not believe how blind he had been. “Still, I am grateful that I was here to see it.” His gaze held hers as he swallowed, a touch of fear in his eyes. “I might never have realised who you truly were if I hadn’t been here that day, if I hadn’t seen you…change.”

Abigail drew in a deep breath, realising how close they had come to simply parting ways without even realising what they would have lost. “Well, I suppose at least your toes must regret coming here that afternoon,” she laughed, trying to lighten the mood. After all, he had been here that day, and everything had turned out the way it should have.

Had it been fate? What had been the odds of him being here with her and not another?

Griffin laughed, “I admit my toes were terrified of seeing you that day.” Then his face sobered, and his gaze locked on hers. “I used to dread your company, but not anymore.”

Abigail smiled. “Truly?”

Griffin nodded. “Now, I look forward to it. More than I ever thought possible.” His hand gently came to rest on hers. “Knowing the real you was worth the pain. Any pain. I would not trade it for the world.”

At his words, Abigail felt her heart dance with joy for she had to admit that deep down she had not been pretending from the moment they had agreed to help each other out. Even then her heart had recognised him as someone she could love.

But did she?

 

***

 

Quick footsteps echoed to Griffin’s ears from the other side of the door, and without waiting for it to open, he knew it to be his sister. More so, he knew she was on a mission.

As expected, the door to his study flew open a moment later, and Winifred marched in, yanking her bonnet off her head and flinging it aside. “I demand to know what’s going on here,” she snapped, her eyes narrowed as she fixed him with a scrutinising stare. “You all but sneaked away at the ball the other night, and then I hear from Lady Hamilton that you were seen out in Hyde Park in the company of Miss Abbott.”

Looking up, Griffin smiled. “Yes, I was.”

Her eyes bulged. “Is that all you have to say?”

“I thought you wanted me to give Miss Abbott a chance,” Griffin said, ignoring his sister’s riled emotions. “I thought you’d be pleased.”

“I am!” she huffed, the look in her eyes quite clearly stating that she was on the brink of throttling him. “But−”

“You wanted to be kept informed?” Griffin asked as he rose from his chair and stepped around the desk. “You wanted me to−?”

“Certainly!” Winifred snapped, her eyes widening in a way intended to make him feel like a fool for thinking otherwise. “Tell me what is going on.”

Griffin shrugged, enjoying the aggravated look on his sister’s face. “Nothing. I’m merely doing what you asked of me.”

An annoyed chuckle rose from Winifred’s throat, and she shook her head in disbelief. “Don’t try to play me for a fool, dear Brother. I’ve told you so the night at the ball, and I will tell you so again. There’s something odd about you, and I demand to know what it is.”

“It’s nothing,” Griffin said, then walked past her to stand in front of the bookshelf, letting his eyes drift over the spines as he did his best to suppress a grin.

“Nothing? Don’t you dare lie to me!” Although a tad shrill, his sister’s voice held a clear warning as she stomped after him. “Abigail looked quite changed that night and you…you looked like a besotted fool even before she walked in…” Her voice trailed off, and she sucked in a sharp breath as though suddenly realising something that had been right in front of her all along.

Then he felt her hand curl around his arm a bit painfully−quite obviously she was agitated!−and jerk him around, her eyes wide as they searched his face. “What happened between you two?” she asked. “Were you the reason for the sudden change in her appearance? Are you−?”

A knock on the door interrupted his sister’s questioning.

Annoyed, Winifred tried to compose herself as Griffin’s butler entered, announcing the arrival of Miss Abbott as well as her aunt.

As a result, Griffin received one of the most glowering looks he had ever seen on his sister’s face before he hastened out the door, hearing her footsteps on the floor behind him in fast pursuit.

Ignoring his sister’s whispered questions, Griffin pushed open the door to the drawing room and felt his heart almost jump from his chest when his eyes came to rest on…Abby.

Ever since that night at the ball, he had thought of her as Abby. His Abby. That oddly reminded him of the way his oldest friend had always referred to his sister as Fred. A name that was only his. A name no one else was permitted to utter.

And in that moment when he walked in the door and their eyes met, Griffin knew that he never wanted Abby to leave. She belonged here. With him. And he would rather concede that his sister had been right than ever allow Abby−his Abby!−to walk away.

“Shall we take a stroll around the garden?” he suggested in a voice much calmer than he would have thought possible.

When everyone nodded their agreement, he escorted Abby out the door, followed closely behind by his sister and her aunt, both of whom were whispering to one another in hushed voices.

After donning their jackets, Griffin led her down the small steps leading down from the terrace into the garden, quickening his step to put some distance between them and their watchful pursuers. “I’m afraid my sister has become rather suspicious,” he whispered next to her ear. “I doubt she will leave before she knows all there is to know.”

Abby chuckled, her hand tightening on his arm. “She’s your sister, and she has a way of seeing the truth, does she not?”

Griffin nodded, enjoying the weight of her hand. “She does. At least where others are concerned. Perhaps we should have made the change a bit more gradually. She already suspects that your transformation has something to do with me.”

Abby shrugged. “Well, she would be right, wouldn’t she?”

Her grey eyes held his, and Griffin noted with pleasure that there was not a hint of concern or disappointment in them. Did she not mind that his sister was on to them? That she would most likely expect them to become betrothed for real?

Continuing down the path, they turned the corner and vanished behind a tall hedge, cutting across the garden. When they were no longer visible to their pursuers, Abby’s hand slipped from his arm.

Disheartened by their loss of contact, Griffin stopped and watched her walk on a few steps as though she had not even noticed that he was no longer beside her.

Then her feet stilled, and he saw her shoulders rise and fall as she drew in a deep breath before turning to face him. Her eyes held his, and yet, she swallowed as though a lump had lodged in her throat. “I have a favour to ask you,” she finally said, her hands wrapped around one another for support.

Frowning, Griffin stepped toward her, his heart hammering in his chest. Did she intend to end their charade? Had she noticed that for him it had ended long ago? Did she not feel as he felt? “Anything,” he promised, hoping she would not ask him to let her go.

A soft smile drew up the corners of her lips, and yet, there was a touch of nervousness in her eyes. “I have a theory to test, and the way I see it, you’re the only one who can help me prove or disprove it.”

Not having expected that, Griffin found himself staring down at her. “A theory? What theory?”

“I shall tell you once I know the results,” she promised, a hint of a teasing grin lighting up her face. “Will you help me?”

Aware that there was something he was missing, Griffin nodded nonetheless. “All right. What do you need me to do?”

For a moment, her teeth sank into her lower lip as she tried to dissuade the self-conscious smile that took control of her lips. “I need you to kiss me.”