.
Justin saw her the moment she stepped from the carriage.
The day was clearer than most. Light blanketed the ground and brightened the park, making things visible as far as a mile through the trees and beyond. Alex was much closer than that. Still, even knowing he could pick her out of a crowd wearing a blindfold with only his hands and sense of smell to guide him, Justin hadn’t been sure the woman he’d spotted was Alex because of her unusual company, until Selina spoke.
“Isn’t that your friend, Ms. Alexandra Smith, Justin?” She was using the word ‘friend’ as a joke, but Justin said nothing about her tone since it was a far better word to use than the others she and Lucy Ann kept in their verbal arsenal.
“Is that Lady Emma Honeysett at her side?” Lucy Ann gasped and pulled on Justin’s arm lightly before saying, “Now, surely, you see that she is not fit company for you, Justin. Look how they parade through the park as though the very sight of them—”
“Lucy,” Justin whispered.
His sister immediately closed her mouth. She tightened her hold on Justin but said no more, and that in itself was progress.
Neither of his sisters had changed in the past two days, and he wasn’t sure they ever would, but since the night he’d apologized they’d both curbed their tongues and tried to be more pleasant around him. He’d made it clear the next day at breakfast that neither he nor any other gentleman would find their rudeness flattering, and they’d seemed to take it to heart.
Until Alexandra came up, and they were always the ones to bring her up, never him. He was working to put her aside in an effort to deal with his own issues, but somehow, his sisters thought it pertinent to point out all of Alexandra’s many failings, and all of those failings were centered on circumstances that Alex could not control.
He’d taken them out to the theatre that night and had smiled when they’d laughed at the jokes, but even still, his mind had been drawn to Alex, wishing she was there. He knew that if his sisters tried, they would like her.
Who could not like her?
He thought this as she came more into view. Without even realizing it, she was heading their way, taking the path that would curve right toward him and his sisters.
He noticed more than a few eyes on her and also noticed the way she was dressed. Her family had begun making her every bit of an earl’s ward, which she was, even if she didn’t live in his house.
There was no way he could take her in now. While the ton would understand the story of taking her in as repayment to a deed her father had done for him, Justin would never manage to keep his hands to himself. It was as though his fingers burned, and she was the only one who could cool them. The fire that she’d set to his chest days ago had not diminished in the least. Instead, it was a blazing inferno as he took in Alex’s soft smile and the way the white muslin draped over her every curve. It was a much better fabric than cotton and allowed him—and other men, he noted with grimness—to take notice of her shapeliness.
He thought himself prepared to meet her eyes when her gaze finally found his. She’d been so deep in her conversation with Lady Emma that she’d not noticed Justin and his sisters until they were no more than three feet away.
Then she stopped, and her eyes fell to his sisters before returning to him.
He remained steady as shock hit her, and then less steady at the glimpse of pain and anger before it vanished. Her face became a mask.
Why were women always doing that to him? The mask was the absolute worst expression to deal with. Anger, he could take, he could handle. He could always reason with an angry person, but not with someone who looked as though they’d closed the door that gave him access to their being, locking the door and throwing the key into the Serpentine never to be seen again.
He became aware of the way Lucy and Selina’s arms gripped him more firmly, nearly pulling him in two. The movement jarred him from his thoughts and prompted him to remember his manners. “Good afternoon, Lady Emma, Miss Alexandra. I believe you both remember my sisters, Lady Lucy Ann and Lady Selina.”
His sisters dipped but didn’t loosen their hold on him, which caused him to move side to side like a boat rocked by wild currents.
Lady Emma and Alex did the same. Justin wasn’t sure if it was simply the dress that gave Alex more poise, but she definitely had it.
“It’s good to see you, Lord Chantenny, Lady Selina, Lady Lucy Ann,” Emma said with a smile that was pretty enough to cause an entire room to grow silent in reverence, something which she’d done a few times in the past before she’d fallen into addiction. Had her husband been alive, Justin knew she’d have been committed to Bedlam, but since she was now a wealthy widow, the only way she could be touched was by giving her the cut direct, which many of the ton did, and what he was sure the pulls from his sister conveyed they wished to do without upsetting him.
He went stiff, and they stopped their pulling and shoving. From the corner of his eyes, he noticed their mouths both pouted slightly.
“How are you?” Justin asked.
“Well, and I hear you’re much better.” Emma dipped her bonnet-covered head toward Alex’s.
His eyes moved to Alex, and his heart raced as he did it.
Her eyes were steel, peeking out from the shadow of her bonnet and cutting him deep. He realized then that he’d made a mistake in leaving her alone for so long. He’d thought two days long himself but had also thought he was being selfish to want to seek her so repeatedly and so quickly after the incident in the basement.
He had gone again to her house, but not to call on Alexandra.
He knew all about the plans for to get Alex a lady to tutor her and about the expansion of her closet and the search for her mother. He'd not completely left her alone. He couldn’t.
“I believe we’re both helping Miss Alex in our own way,” Emma went on, neither blind to the tension in the circle nor caring.
She’d always been that way since they were children, acting with a bravery she didn’t know she possessed. Justin’s sisters had been too young to remember those years of Emma’s innocence and, though Justin confessed that once he became a man he began to spend his time with other gentlemen like Gerard, he'd never stopped counting himself as Emma’s friend. Even after the scandal.
They were simply different now.
“I’m tutoring Alexandra,” Emma went on. “To prepare her for the Season.”
Justin thought that a grand idea, though it shamed him to admit that he’d not have advised Alex to bring Emma outdoors and parade her in front of the eyes of the ton. Her reputation had yet to be shaped, and though Emma had been sober for years, she would always wear the scars of shame.
Justin thought it unfair that his drunkenness only labeled him a libertine and that the ton was willing to welcome him back with open arms whenever he decided to straighten himself out. If only Emma had been male, it would have been the same for her. Instead...
Lucy Ann laughed. “I can only imagine what you imagine yourself an expert at, Lady Emma.”
Emma’s face went pale, and Justin could see the bravery being leached from her flesh.
Alex’s gaze snapped to her teacher before narrowing on Lucy.
“Lucy, apologize,” Justin said quickly. “Lady Emma is a dear friend.” And now he wished he’d not forgotten that. It only proved Alex a better person than himself. He should have been the one to present Emma back to Society when her family had turned their backs on her. It was as though Alex shined a light on sins he’d rather wish forgotten. Part of him wanted to resent her for it, but a stronger part of him knew it was just another reason to keep her close.
Lucy turned to him and grinned. “Then, as your friend, surely you’re wondering the same.”
“Indeed,” Selina cut in, always willing to follow her sister into anything head first. “And I believe I see some pleasant people at the fountain. Let’s go there.”
“Tell me, Emma,” Alex called. “Do they teach courtesy at all-girls’ schools? Perhaps that is where Lucy and Selina should go.” She drove her point home with a direct look at both women, and Justin felt them stiffen like statues at his side.
Alex would never know how those exact words were the perfect threat to them and how Justin had had a hand in making it so.
He could see Lucy’s skin turn ghost white at the thought of being sent away again, but besides a few blinks from her eyes, she didn’t let her fear show too greatly.
This was a disaster, and the very last way he’d wanted Alex and his sisters to meet. Though he’d thought his sisters had made progress, he'd been sadly wrong.
It was a blessing when someone else joined their circle… or so he thought at first.
“Lexie?” A gentleman appeared at Alex’s side, sporting a smile Justin was sure other gentlemen would kill to have. Dressed like a dandy and sporting a walking stick for show, he was everything an English gentleman should be. His suit showed off his tall and lean frame, though Justin noted he still had more than a few inches on the fellow who obviously knew Alexandra in some way.
Alex was the one to turn white this time, and Justin went alert.
The man’s eyes moved to Justin and widened before he said, “Lexie, won’t you introduce me to your friend?” His eyes were pale green, and the curls that were visible from underneath his hat were blond. He could see from the man’s perfect bone structure that many a woman had fallen for his charm, one that seemed to pour off him without him having to say a word.
Both of his sisters regained their color as the stranger’s gaze fell on them and warmed.
“What are you doing here?” Alex asked him.
The stranger looked at her. “I’ve been searching all over for you, but Chris barred me from the house, if you can imagine it.”
Alex seemed taken back by the comment. “You’ve been to the house?”
He frowned in confusion. “Of course, Lexie. I was concerned for you, my love.” He placed a hand on her shoulder, but Alex shrugged it away as gracefully as possible.
Emma’s expression matched what Justin was certain was on his own face. Confusion. “Who are you, sir?” he asked.
The man turned to him and bowed. “I didn’t want to be rude and introduce myself, but I’m Michael Kimberly.”
“Kimberly,” Justin said. “I recognize the name. Are you kin?”
“Only in his sleep,” Alex whispered.
Michael’s face changed swiftly, but then returned to a smile within the next blink. Still, Justin had seen the menacing look he’d directed at Alex before he’d thought better of himself and let it go.
Michael. He remembered Alex telling him about a Michael who'd broken a vase. He recalled the unkind things Chris had said about the man. Surely, the man before him had not been orphaned, for if he had, Justin would have never known it by looking at him.
“Mr. Kimberly, this is Justin Padmore, the Earl of Chantenny, and his sisters Lady Selina and Lady Lucy Ann, and this is Lady Emma Honeysett.”
Either his sisters had missed the look Michael had given Alex or agreed with it, but nonetheless their smiles were bright when they gazed at him, and his even brighter. Justin fought the urge to take a step back. The man looked like a predator, and he wanted him nowhere near his sisters.
Michael looked at Justin. “I’m sorry to have heard about your father’s passing.”
“Thank you,” Justin said slowly.
Michael went on. “I think it’s a great kindness you’re doing for Lexie, but I believe she’d feel better if someone she knew intimately was at her side. I don’t suppose you could get me an invitation to whatever events the two of you have planned.”
Justin’s mind was still stuck at ‘intimate’ and even though Michael’s expression was innocent, Justin read between the lines.
At some point in Alexandra’s past, this man had been her lover. Somehow the fool had lost her. Justin had no intention of letting him anywhere near her.
Alex said, “Actually, I’d rather—”
“Quiet, Alexandra. The men are speaking,” Michael said before he turned to Justin.
His sisters smirked, and Justin was surprised by how Alex seemed to shrink away.
The sensation of needles pricked at his flesh before heat spread through his limbs.
“Don’t speak that way to her,” Justin said in a low voice. He didn’t even speak that way to his sisters in public, and he was an earl with every right to do so. This man was nothing to Alexandra but a memory, and a bad one at that if her movements were any indication. “Don’t ever speak to her that way again.”
He felt his sisters let him go, as though they could feel the hostility pouring off him.
Michael lifted his hands in surrender but smiled. “I only jest. Lexie knows it.” He gave no apology and Justin found himself liking the man even less as the minutes went by.
“My schedule is open,” Michael went on and smiled at his sisters. “Perhaps we could all go to a ball or two.” It was clear that the man was willing to attach himself to anyone so long as they took him where he needed to go. He was not a fool to think Michael was smiling at his sisters because he thought them pretty. He was out for money, which was likely the reason he’d shown up at Alex’s door. Whatever had happened between them, it was clear that the promise of wealth and position would bring him back.
That Michael would make mention about his schedule showed Justin that the man intended to get what he wanted.
Too bad he’d not get it from Justin. “I’m afraid that I plan to escort my family and Alexandra to events alone. However, if she does feel the need to take someone along with us, she may pair herself with whoever she wishes... from amongst her brothers.” He said the last so the man understood he was not invited.
Michael understood well, because his smile faded. “Well, I’m surely glad to see you’ve managed to sober up enough to escort Lexie to a few parties. Do call if you find yourself three sheets to the wind once more.”
No gentleman would ever say such a thing to a lord or even a lower-ranking man, for that matter. This man was not just out of his depths, he was a fool.
Justin lost all his composure and opened his mouth to speak, but others got there before he could.
“I beg your pardon?” Emma asked with eyes as round as plates with a hand fisted at her side. There’d been no anger when his sisters had accused her of teaching Alex how to use opium, but for him, there was rage.
Alex turned to Michael. “I had hoped there was more than just hair underneath that hat, but I can see that isn't so. You’re no better than you were at the orphanage.”
His sisters gasped as his truth was revealed.
And Lucy was not to be outdone when it came to a game of insults. “I envy everyone in the world who has yet to meet you.” Her eyes roamed a now pale Michael to emphasize her words. “Selina, do you remember what life was like ten minutes ago before meeting Mr. Michael Kimberly?”
“My world was far more pleasant, Lucy,” Selina said, joining in.
Alex shook with outrage. “If you’ve been looking for me then I can only surmise that you’ve been let go by the lady you left me for. I’m delighted to know she grew wise. You were abandoned, weren’t you?”
“Abandoned again,” Lucy whispered, but only loud enough for Justin to hear. Still whispered, it had been a mighty blow.
Michael seemed to shrink within himself and reached out for Alex. “Lexie—”
“Don’t touch her,” Justin warned. “Don’t you dare touch her. Ever.”
Michael’s hands went up again, this time with pure fear.
“If you have a wit left in your brain, you’ll leave immediately.” Emma grabbed Alex protectively.
“As though I’d prefer to go anywhere with you,” Alex hissed, finding more strength as she went. “Lord Chantenny could be as cup shot as he pleases and still he’d have better sense than you’ve ever had.”
“Amen,” Lucy whispered dully, obviously growing bored with her latest subject.
Selina bent down to pick up the cane Michael had dropped and said, “And do remember to take your cane. You’re going to need it. I’ve been told that shame can weigh heavily on a man.” She smiled brightly at him.
Michael looked around the circle, his cheeks now washed with that very shame Selina had been addressing. He looked at Alex and said, “I had intended to propose to you, but don’t expect me to make an offer for your hand now.”
Alex broke into laughter, a sound rich with true humor that caused tears to fill her eyes.
Michael eventually huffed and threw daggered eyes at Alex before he snatched his cane and stomped away.
It took a moment for Alexandra to calm, and Justin handed her his handkerchief to wipe away her tears.
“Well,” Emma said with a great breath. “I think I need tea.”
“Me as well,” Lucy said.
“Cook makes a lovely brew,” Selina said, stepping toward Alex. “We should reconvene at our house.”
“Excellent idea,” Alexandra said.
The women all turned and started to walk back down the road from which they’d come, heading for Emma’s carriage and speaking amongst themselves as though they’d not just a moment ago been ready to scratch each other’s faces.
Justin decided then that he’d never understand women and probably shouldn’t try.