A gentleman who wants to woo a lady should never call on her without a bouquet of flowers in his hand.
A PROPER GENTLEMAN’S GUIDE TO WOOING THE PERFECT LADY
SIR VINCENT TYBALT VALENTINE
Loretta had gotten up early after little sleep. She’d forgotten how busy and noisy London streets were even in the middle of quiet Mayfair where her uncle’s town house was located. Throughout the night she’d heard the sounds of carriage wheels squeaking, horses’ hooves on packed ground, shouts from the drivers, and even the baying of hounds. None of those things were ever heard during the night at Mammoth House, and seldom were any of them heard during the day, either.
Thankfully she wouldn’t have many more days to spend in the old hunting lodge. To her surprise, the earl had welcomed the idea of Paxton taking over responsibility for her welfare. A young lady’s guardianship usually fell the closest male in the family anyway. Paxton had been far too young for that when their mother died, and then when he came of age the problem was that his allowance came from the earl. He didn’t give Paxton enough money to care for the both of them. And besides, Loretta was supposed to marry and have a husband to care for her. Now, after Paxton married Lady Adele, there would be more than enough for her to leave her uncle’s care.
There were other reasons she hadn’t slept well, she thought, as she looked out the drawing room window at the rainy street before her. She saw her reflection in the pane. Her brow was furrowed, and her lips firmly set. She appeared and felt anxious. Loretta wondered if there would be an opportunity for her to see Hawk. Would he bring the contracts to her uncle’s house? Would the earl and Paxton go to the duke’s home? They might even go to the solicitor’s office to handle them. She hadn’t wanted to ask. She’d rather have hope than disappointment.
She wanted to see Hawk, of course, even though she knew it would be best if she didn’t. Nothing could change between them, but seeing him always made her feel good. It warmed her, and though just seeing him would never satisfy her longing to be in his arms again, it might ease a little of the heartbreak and longing.
But now she had Farley to contend with and help fill her time. She was relieved his cough had improved and that Paxton had convinced her uncle he could come with them to assist his valet. In fact, ever since the earl had heard that the duke wanted Paxton to marry Lady Adele, her uncle had been amiable to everything Paxton had asked. No doubt, he was eager to have them both be someone else’s responsibility, but mostly Loretta knew it was because of the clout having a duke in the family would give him with other peers.
Paxton had gone out some time ago to see if he could find the name of a person in town that she could take Farley to. She’d brought all of her pin money with her, which wasn’t much, but she hoped would be enough to pay for the man’s services. Paxton had added what he could to help her with the expense, too.
Loretta leaned in a little closer to the window when a carriage stopped in front of her uncle’s house. Her stomach quickened. She wiped the foggy pane with her hand. Was that the duke’s crest on the shiny black door? Her breath caught in her throat and held until she saw him alight from the coach and head for the house.
“He’s come to see me,” she whispered aloud to herself. But immediately she shook her head. What was she thinking? He’d come to see Paxton and her uncle. She had rebuffed him and he’d accepted that.
Paxton had said he was going to send a message to Hawk that they’d arrived in London. But her brother had gone out and hadn’t returned. Her uncle was still in his chambers. Hawk would be sent away. She rushed from the drawing room to the front of the house, where the maid was standing in the open doorway.
She saw Hawk across the threshold. He saw her, too. Her heart started pounding so hard she heard it in her ears.
“I’ll just come in and wait for him,” Hawk said, not waiting for the maid to respond. He took off his hat, cloak, and gloves and handed them to the woman.
“Good morning, Miss Quick.”
“Your Grace,” she said and curtsied.
“You don’t think the earl will mind if I wait for him in the drawing room, do you?” he asked.
“Knowing how much my uncle wants Paxton to marry Lady Adele, I’d say he’d be upset if you didn’t.”
“I’ll show you,” the maid said. “And then let his lordship know you are here.”
“Let me do that for you while you alert the earl,” Loretta offered. “I’m sure my uncle wouldn’t want to be delayed in knowing the duke is here to see him.”
“Yes, miss,” the servant said without question.
Loretta heard every step Hawk took behind her as they made their way down the corridor and into the drawing room, where she turned in front of the fireplace to face him. She felt flushed and out of breath. Just looking at him filled her with such longing feelings.
“I can see you wasted no time coming over,” she said. “I’m surprised my brother’s note has even had time to reach your house.”
His gaze caressed her face. “It didn’t.”
“Oh, then how did you know we were here?”
“Gossip passes around fast in London, Loretta. I heard that your brother was in the clubs first thing this morning asking who might be the best physicians in Town.”
“Oh, yes, I see. I suppose that would be the place to go to get information.”
“For Farley?” the duke asked.
“Yes.”
“So he’s no better.”
“Actually, he is a little better,” she answered. “The frequency of coughing spasms has slowed, but when he has them, they are still quite severe. I would feel better if a physician looked at him and confirmed to me whether or not he has consumption.”
Hawk nodded, then reached in his pocket and extended a folded piece of vellum to her. “Here’s the name and address of one for you. I’ve sent him word that you will be around to see him this afternoon and for him to send the amount of his fee to me.”
“Thank you, Your Grace,” she said, taking the paper from his hand, though her gaze never left his face. “I’m grateful for this, but I have money to pay him.”
“I want to do it, Loretta. I would do anything to help you. You must know that.”
“Very well,” she said, knowing that would give her more to pay a hackney, so they wouldn’t have to walk, and for any tonics or elixirs Farley might need to aid his healing. “My uncle will be going to White’s later this afternoon to catch up on all the latest news. That’s when I’d planned to take Farley. My uncle doesn’t know about this and I would rather keep it that way.”
Hawk smiled. “I can help you with that, too. I’ll make sure to see the earl while he’s at White’s and detain him as long as possible.”
The rate of her heartbeat kept increasing. “That’s very kind of you, considering—”
“Considering what? That I’m not usually such a nice man?” Hawk said as the corners of his mouth lifted just enough to let her know he was teasing her.
Loretta smiled, too. “That’s not true, and it’s not what I was going to say. Considering you aren’t that fond of Farley.”
“It’s never been that. It’s that I don’t trust him. It’s been that way from the beginning.”
“I know. And he doesn’t trust you.”
He nodded once. “I think he and I came to an understanding of each other that night of the storm.”
“You never told me what you two said to each other.”
“Nothing of any importance,” he offered. “How have you been?”
“I’m well. And you look”—magnificent—“well, too.”
His gaze swept down her face again and then back to her eyes. A tingle ran from her breasts down to the core of her womanhood. There was no denying she loved the way he looked at her and the way it made her feel when he did.
“I am. It’s good to see you.”
She didn’t want to get into a personal conversation with him. It made her want him to reach over and touch her cheek, slip his arms around her waist, and hug her close to his strong, wide chest and wrap her in his arms.
Denying her desires, and returning to a safe subject, she asked, “Are the contracts for Paxton ready? If you don’t mind me asking?”
“You can ask me anything, Loretta. They’re ready. My solicitor will be sending them over to the earl’s. I expect his lordship will want some adjustments. That will be fine. I’ll do them to make him happy.”
She nodded. “And that will make you happy.”
“I know you don’t want to believe it but pleasing Adele has always been important to me. She’s in London with me,” he added.
“I didn’t know. Perhaps I’ll get to see her.”
“I’ll make sure you do. She’d like that, too. She and I had a long talk after Paxton’s last visit.”
“He told me.”
“But perhaps you don’t know that she’s agreed to attend the Season before they marry.”
“No, I didn’t know, of course. I’m glad, but—perhaps a little confused, too. I mean, will you still go ahead with plans for the betrothal contracts?”
“Yes. I want everyone to know she’s engaged. This has been my goal since we met, as you know.” He moved closer to her.
“How could I forget that?” she stated ruefully.
He walked closer still. “I also told her she’s free to revoke the engagement at any time for any reason. If she falls madly in love with someone during the Season or even if she’s standing in front of the altar, with the church filled with people and she’s about to say I do, she is still free to change her mind and there will be no unfavorably repercussions. Your brother is free to change his mind, too. Though, I won’t look as favorably on him as I will Adele, if he decides to do so.”
Loretta’s heart swelled with gratitude. “You told her that?”
He nodded.
“I don’t know what to say other than that’s most uncommon and very generous and understanding of you.”
“Though I detest having to admit it, there is one thing your uncle has taught me. I learned from him that people should be allowed to change their minds without being punished for the decision for the rest of their lives.”
Loretta suddenly wanted to hug Hawk tightly, but knowing the folly of doing so in her uncle’s home, she simply said, “He taught me something as well.”
Hawk questioned her with his expression.
“How much easier it is to live with forgiveness in your heart than with bitterness.”
“That shows how strong you are,” Hawk said.
She wasn’t feeling very strong at the moment. In fact, she was feeling extremely weak against her loving feelings for the duke. She was very near to the point of rushing him and burying her face in his neck and the consequences be damned.
Hawk moved close enough he could have touched her cheek. “You’ve always known if Paxton married Adele he would have enough income to provide for you. That you could leave Mammoth House and your uncle’s control, yet you have always talked against this marriage and tried to keep the betrothal from going forward. Why, when it would have made your life so much easier to bear?”
She inhaled softly and enjoyed being so close to Hawk. “My fate was set long ago, and as lonely as it has been at that large stone house, I knew that if I couldn’t be happy, I wanted to do my best to see that Paxton would be.”
“I want you happy, too, Loretta.”
Hawk reached to touch her cheek just as she heard her uncle lumbering down the corridor. She stepped away from Hawk just as the earl walked into the room with a grunt, a limp, and a surprised look in Loretta’s direction.
“Your Grace,” the earl said and bowed.
“Earl,” Hawk answered. “Miss Quick just walked in and offered refreshment. I told her I couldn’t stay. I only stopped in because I was out. I wanted to let you know that the contracts of marriage were delivered to your solicitor this morning.”
“Ah. That’s good to hear. Thank you for letting me know,” her uncle said, stretching his leg out straight as he eased into an upholstered armchair with a fair amount of huffing and puffing. “Loretta, get me that stool to prop my foot on.”
“Yes, of course, Uncle.” She reached for the stool but Hawk grabbed it first and positioned it to where her uncle could use it.
“Most kind of you, Your Grace,” he said, continuing to adjust his body in the chair. “It’s a nuisance that I can’t get around as I want to anymore.”
“Do you need anything else?” Loretta asked. “Perhaps a pillow would help?”
“That might work. Let’s try it.” The earl then looked at Hawk and said, “We just arrived last evening, but I’m not surprised you heard so quickly we’re in Town.”
“Mr. Quick sent a note around early this morning. Now I must take my leave. Perhaps I’ll see you at White’s this afternoon?”
“Ah, yes,” the earl said. “If I can get my knee to cooperate with my leg and allow me to get in and out of the carriage again, I do plan to be there.”
“Good. I’ll see you later.”
Hawk glanced over at Loretta and nodded.
She gave him a grateful smile.