Once Upon a True Love's Kiss Page 3

  She nodded, her blush darkening.

  "Were you meeting someone in here?" he asked, intrigued by everything about this woman.

  "I was waiting for someone," she murmured, casting a sideways glance at him from under her lashes, which he would have missed had he not been staring like a transfixed virgin and wondering what other parts of her body were pinked with her blush.

  He watched her as she ran a finger along a shelf of books, trying to decide if she had been waiting for a lover, her husband, or a friend. Normally, he could put a woman in a solid category seconds after meeting her, but not Lady Barrows. She was an interesting contradiction of appearance versus action. Her creamy skin made her seem delicate, but she'd confronted Lavinia, proving Lady Barrows was no wilting flower.

  Her thick red hair, perfectly in place, made her appear proper, yet he knew her behavior just now would be viewed as improper. He allowed his gaze to wander over her body, since her attention was still on the books. She had voluptuous curves, displayed rather enticingly, which seemed to hint that she was looking to be bedded, but his gut told him no.

  As if she sensed he was thinking of her, she turned and their eyes locked. Damn, but her eyes were beautiful—emerald and framed by thick, dark-red lashes. He knew he should look away—staring wasn't gentlemanly and he needed to be a gentleman—but he couldn't seem to make himself do what he should. What was it about her eyes? He'd seen plenty of females with lovely eyes in his time. Above him in bed, winking at him, imploring him, but none that held the look in hers. Interest, but not invitation.

  His lips parted with his inhalation and filled his mouth with cool air. Most the women of the ton he was acquainted with so far had wanted to bed him, not get to know him. The only exceptions had been the wives of his recently acquired noble friends, Sutherland, Davenport, and Primwitty. Those three women never sent him come-hither looks with their eyes, and he prayed to God they never did. He liked their husbands and didn't want to have to avoid them because one of their wives wanted to fulfill her fantasies in bed with him.

  Lady Barrows moved toward him, reached out as if she were going to touch him then awkwardly let her hand fall to her side. "What that woman said was cruel and untrue. I'm positive any gentleman who cares for his child as you appear to will find a woman who will see his worth."

  "Are you married?" he teased, wanting to see her flush again and enjoying how playing with her seemed to be easing the tension that had been with him all night.

  "I'm widowed," she blurted.

  Damn. He quirked his mouth with regret. He shouldn't have teased her. "I'm sorry. I should not have asked such a personal thing. I'm afraid I lack the manners of the gentlemen of the ton."

  "In my estimation, that's a good thing," she replied with a wan smile.

  "I think you may be in the minority with that opinion." In fact, he was changing his life because of the belief. In the last several months, he'd made a move to join Sutherland in his shipping business to gain respectability, which in turn would hopefully make him appear more like a gentleman for his daughter's sake.

  Lady Barrows shrugged, the movement somehow alluring in the way her slender shoulders moved so gracefully. "I think perhaps I'm in the minority on a great many things."

  "Such as?" he said, fascinated with her lack of guile.

  She opened her mouth as if to answer, then with a glance around and a lifting of her eyebrows, appeared to realize how openly she was speaking. Her hand fluttered to her hair as she clamped her jaw shut. Round and round her finger she twined a red lock of hair. The innocent gesture heated his blood in a way no purposely-provocative movement ever had. This woman was different from the hard women he had known.

  A forced smile came to her face. "Such as the fact that I wish to leave this ball. No doubt, every other person here wants to stay all night long."

  "Not every person," he said. He wouldn't be here at all but he'd needed to confront Lavinia to ensure she was still a coldhearted viper before committing to finding a proper mother for Maggie. No concern there. She'd not shed her skin and turned into a creature that would ever care for her daughter.

  "Then I suppose we are in the minority together," Lady Barrows said softly. "I imagine you'd wish to stay if you had stumbled upon better company. First, that cruel woman and now me, who wants nothing more than to leave— I am sorry."

  He almost chuckled. She seemed to be the exact sort of lady he hoped to eventually meet. The kind who would actually care for Maggie, raise her to be a proper lady, and help launch her into Society when the time came. Not that he was going to say any of that. He gazed at her. Her eyes held a faraway, sad look. He didn't want to pry, but maybe she needed to talk. "Has your husband been gone long?"

  "Everyone says so, but to me it seems like yesterday."

  Each word she spoke throbbed with her pain and twisted his gut with sympathy and jealousy. No one had ever loved him in that way, and likely no one ever would. What must it have felt like for that man to know his wife loved him with all her heart? Was she here in the library meeting a lover to help her forget her husband and ease her pain? "I suppose the man you're waiting for will be here any moment. I'll depart now so he won't get the wrong impression."

  "Oh, yes," she said, her hand fluttering to her long, slender neck. "That's probably a very good idea. David is rather impetuous. He'd probably get the wrong idea and punch you if he came upon us. I wouldn't want you to get hurt."

  "You're concerned for my safety?" he asked, astonished. That was another first from a woman, besides his self-adopted mother, Esther. In many ways, Esther had loved him as he thought a good mother might love her child. But there was always a slight wall between them that he suspected Esther had built long ago to not be hurt by anyone ever again. He didn't begrudge her for the way she was; street life had made her hard out of necessity. He understood that.

  Lady Barrows nodded to herself. "David is well known at Gentlemen Jackson's. Or at least my husband had always said so. I don't want to be responsible for him hurting you."

  Behind her, a stocky man filled the doorway, a dark frown upon his face. His gaze lingered on Lady Barrows for a moment before piercing Nash with a narrowed look, which turned immediately to surprise.

  "You ought to be more concerned about my well being than Mr. Wolverton's, Julianna." The man motioned in Nash's general direction. "He's a renowned boxer."

  Julianna—because now that Nash knew what she was called he'd never be able to think of her as anything but the name that rolled so pleasurably on his tongue—faced him with another lovely blush. "How silly I must have sounded to you."

  "Not silly at all," he reassured her, fighting his desire to reach out and stroke a hand over her flaming cheeks. "I appreciated your concern. It was a novel experience, but most welcome."

  Her eyes widened, and she jerked her head in a nod. "Do you box regularly? That seems awfully dangerous what with your, er—" she cast her gaze toward the man in the door then back to Nash "—small responsibilities."

  "I appreciate your worry for my small responsibilities," he replied, relieved she seemed willing to keep what she'd learned a secret, "but I don't box for money anymore."

  "Oh, that's good."

  Her breathless tone of relief made Nash grin, but when he met the hostile glare of the man in the door, he schooled his features for Julianna's sake. The man did not seem keen on their acquaintance.

  "Julianna, how the devil do you know this man?" the gentleman in the doorway snapped, confirming Nash's suspicion.

  Julianna's cheeks reddened as she looked at Nash. "I'm sorry for my brother-in-law's rude behavior."

  Before Nash could tell her not to concern herself, the man pointed at Nash and grumbled, "He's a gaming hell owner."

  She eyed her brother-in-law while her mouth formed a lovely smirk. "And how do you know that, David? Have you visited his establishment, per chance?"

  "Absolutely not. That was my brother's affliction, not mine."

 
; "What? I don't believe it!" Julianna exclaimed.

  Nash wanted to punch the man—Barrows, he supposed—for throwing out such a careless statement. Julianna obviously had not known her husband had gambled. It couldn't have been much in his club, though, or Nash would have remembered the name Barrows. He had an excellent memory.

  Before Barrows could answer, he was shoved aside by Lady Davenport, who charged into the room. "There you are," she exclaimed and rushed to Nash, surprising him. "My husband and Mr. Sutherland would like to speak to you about some boring business regarding the contracts for your partnership with Mr. Sutherland."

  Barrows's brow furrowed. "You're in business with Mr. Sutherland?"

  "He will be," Lady Davenport answered for him. "They are going to be partners in Mr. Sutherland's shipping company. Isn't it grand? Just think how England is changing when a man can go from street orphan to shipping tycoon."

  She patted Nash on the arm and smiled at him. He happened to know Lady Davenport took perverse pleasure in ruffling the feathers of those she considered too snobby. It was one of the reasons Nash had liked her as soon as he'd met her.

  "England will never change that much," Barrows retorted, spearing Nash with a hostile look. "There are still lines of distinction in the classes that cannot be erased by money."

  "I certainly hope not," Nash replied lazily, thinking of Maggie. But one glance at Barrows's flared nostrils and Nash knew the man thought he'd meant Julianna. Nash didn't bother to correct his misconception. It served him right for being such a stiff arse.

  Julianna gave her brother-in-law a tight smile before offering Nash a sympathetic one that made his heart twinge oddly.

  "If that's the majority opinion then I am happily in the minority," she announced. "Now, David, please do take me home. My head aches terribly."

  Grumbling, Barrows nodded and bid Lady Davenport a courteous good evening and Nash a humorously, rigid one. Nash didn't care about the man's departure; it was the lady he hated to see go.

  As Julianna was leaving, she looked back and met his gaze. "It was a pleasure to meet you. I hope all turns out well for you." With that, she disappeared like a vision. A very tempting one, with lush swaying hips. He would almost believe he'd imagined her, but her sweet fragrance lingered in the air. He turned to find Lady Davenport studying him, her brows drawn together.

  "What did you do to her?"

  He grinned at the blunt question. There were not many women in the ton who spoke their minds, but he'd learned quickly that Davenport's wife was one of them. "Nothing. I didn't touch her, I swear it."

  She swatted him on the arm. "That is not what I meant. I'm not worried that you'll lead Julianna into a liaison. One could only hope for such a miracle. The thing is, she was smiling. Do you know, Mr. Wolverton, I have not seen my friend truly smile since her husband died."

  An insatiable curiosity made him speak. "Tell me about her husband."

  Lady Davenport frowned. "Why?"

  "I don't know. I'm interested what sort of man she was married to. She's very different than any lady I've met so far."

  "Let me give you a piece of advice, Mr. Wolverton, since I know you are looking for a wife to open ton doors for you. Julianna would prove incredibly challenging to tempt into marriage."

  He wanted to respond to both statements, so he started with the first. "Please don't mistake my character, Lady Davenport. I would care less if your expensive ton doors stayed slammed in my face forever, but for my daughter, I desire them to open."

  "Yes, yes. That's what I meant. Believe me, I've been around you enough times now to comprehend you are your own man." She leaned in a bit as if to tell him a secret. "Which, by the way, is why I do so admire you and am glad my husband counts you as a good friend. And for the record, though I told you that you would need to acquire a bit of polish for most ladies of the ton to consider you a true gentleman worthy of their time, let me clarify that I think most ladies of the ton are priggishly proper and boring. Except my friends. But unfortunately, they are all married."

  "Your friend Julianna isn't."

  What the devil had made him say that? Stupid fool. Lady Davenport's gaze suddenly seemed probing. They stood in silence for a minute before she spoke. "Julianna is married to a ghost, and I'm afraid she always will be."

  Nash rubbed at the sudden tension in the back of his neck. He needed to put Julianna out of his mind. She didn't want to be married ever again, and he had to marry a proper lady for his daughter's sake. Julianna's smiling face danced across his mind, teasing him. He caught Lady Davenport's eye once again. "Do you think ghost can be banished?"

  Lady Davenport sighed. "Not easily," she mused. "The right gentleman would have to steal her heart. Are you a thief?"

  He thought about how Julianna seemed to have loved her husband with all her heart. He knew better than to expect that for himself. Eliciting desire in women was one thing, but he'd never elicited love. Well, except for Esther, but that was love born out of a need to survive.

  "No." He shook his head. "I'm simply a man looking for a good mother for my daughter. Life taught me better than to expect more than that."

  Lady Davenport linked her arm through his. "I'm going to make it my personal mission to help you meet a lady that will teach you otherwise."

  He chuckled, recalling a few of the stories her husband had told him about his wife's cracked matchmaking schemes. "No matchmaking. I'm capable of finding a wife on my own."

  "Why do men always seem to think they must do everything on their own?" Lady Davenport grumbled. "Never mind that I have lived my life in the ton amongst the women you will be picking from. I suppose you know all the secrets they may be hiding." Her lips came together in lovely pout he was sure she used on her husband regularly to bend him to her will.

  He felt himself giving in to her. "There is a way you can help me."

  She clapped her hands together and grinned. "Excellent. What do you need?"

  "I need help finding a lady willing to tutor me and my daughter in etiquette. I have the money to capture a bride of the ton, and I now have the connections since I'm going into the shipping business with Sutherland. What I know I lack is the correct manners. Are you aware of anyone who could fill this position? So far, I've not had good responses to my inquiries. The problem is finding a lady who is willing to come to Norfolk and live in the house while teaching us. Ladies don't want to do that."

  "Norfolk, you say? How odd. I didn't realize your country house was there. We have a sea cottage in Yarmouth, but we never get there."

  "My house is in Yarmouth, as well. How funny."

  "I'll put my mind to trying to come up with a lady who'd be willing to take a position as a tutor to you and your daughter. It won't be easy. Most women of the ton don't need employment, nor do they want it."

  "Believe me, I know. I appreciate whatever help you can give me."

  She winked at him. "Just remember that! My plans often take on lives of their own."

  "Duly warned," he said with a chuckle as they exited the library.

  After Forever: Chapter Three

  JULIANNA MADE HER WAY TO THE breakfast room the next morning with a sense of determination. She had wanted to question her brother-in-law last night about his insinuation that Henry had once had an issue with gambling, but David's wife had appeared in the hall as they had exited the library. Julianna had held her tongue, afraid David would not speak freely about the topic in front of Helena. He treated Helena as if she were a fragile piece of china, when in reality, her sister-in-law was made of hardy stock.

  Surely, if Henry had been a frequent visitor to the gaming hells she would have known. Julianna's stomach clenched. It wasn't that she was naive and thought men didn't gamble and imbibe a bit. Her father, God rest his soul, had done both. What bothered her was that if Henry had done those things, he had purposely kept it from her. She paused at the bottom of the stairs. That simply could not be possible. They had not had secrets from each other, or at
least she had shared everything with Henry. If he'd felt the need to keep part of his life hidden from her, it begged the question…why? She simply had to talk to David and get some answers.

  She hurried toward the breakfast room, hoping to catch David alone. Helena was usually up much later than the two of them. As she neared the room, the distinctive sound of two voices, David's and Helena's, came from within. Frustration filled Julianna. David would never talk freely now. She started to push the door open but paused. Maybe she'd go visit Liza first and break her fast after. She started to turn away but stopped when she caught her name in their conversation. Eavesdropping on others' conversations was terribly wrong, but—

  Did Helena sound irritated with her? Julianna leaned close without touching the door, so as not to disturb it.

  "Last night was a disaster," Helena huffed. "What are we going to do? David, you simply must tell Julianna the truth."

  "Yes, I know," David said on a long sigh.

  Julianna blinked. Did David sound weary? The truth about what?

  "I had hoped she would pull out of her melancholy once she came back into Society," David said.

  A chair scraped across the wood floor, followed by the tap of light footsteps—Helena's? Then another screech of wood and then a feminine sigh. "I hate to do this to her as much as you do, David. Likely more. I'm a woman, after all, and can understand her pain of losing her husband better than you ever could, but Julianna is sensible and reasonable, and she will see that marrying again, quickly, is her only choice."

  Julianna's stomach plummeted. Something was terribly wrong. She knew they loved her and would never ask her to remarry unless there simply wasn't a choice. Slowly, she pushed the door open and stepped into the room. Helena's eyes widened and David turned to gape at her, his ears turning a deep crimson at the edges, just as Henry's used to do when embarrassed.

  David tugged a hand through his hair as he stared. "How long have you been listening?"