An Earl To Save Her Reputation. Laura Martin
Читать онлайн книгу.
glasses of champagne as they passed a table lined with sparkling flutes and offered her one.
‘I’m doing all the things I cautioned Beatrice against,’ Anna said, still allowing Harry to lead her out on to the terrace.
The raised patio stretched the whole length of the back of the house and was well illuminated with lanterns. Coy young women strolled arm in arm with swaggering young men, while the more daring of couples whispered in darkened corners. Steps led from the raised terrace into the garden, with only the first few feet visible in the moonlight. Every debutante with hopes of a good match would have been warned from straying any further from the ballroom, but inevitably someone would be caught where they shouldn’t tonight.
‘Did you enjoy our waltz?’ Harry asked as he led her to the stone balustrade. They leaned on the smooth stone and gazed out into the garden, their forearms almost touching.
There was no point in denying it. Anna knew her love of dancing had been rekindled and any onlooker would have been able to tell with a single glance how much she enjoyed her first waltz for many years.
‘I did, thank you.’
‘Your late husband wasn’t much of a dancer?’ Harry asked.
Anna shook her head, not trusting herself to speak. Early in the marriage they had attended various balls and functions together and Anna had made the mistake of accepting a young man’s invitation to dance after Lord Fortescue had made it clear he would not be making an appearance on the dance floor. Her husband had seen the dance as a betrayal and Anna had paid a high price for her few minutes of merriment.
‘I thought you didn’t like champagne,’ Anna said, motioning to the half-empty glass in Harry’s hand, latching on to the first thing she’d seen to try to steer the topic of conversation away from her disastrous marriage.
‘I thought it best we didn’t sneak through the house in search of something more palatable and get caught in a compromising position a second time within two weeks.’
‘Probably for the best,’ Anna murmured.
‘Tell me,’ Harry said, turning to her, ‘what made you agree to be a chaperon for your cousin?’
‘My uncle asked.’
‘That was all?’
‘I owe him a lot, not that he would ever ask anything I wasn’t comfortable with.’
‘He took you in after the death of Lord Fortescue?’
‘Among other things.’
He’d done so much more than take her in. Anna had been broken, barely surviving when Uncle Phillip came and swept her into his loving home. He’d given her space to heal and provided gentle reminders that not everyone was a monster.
‘I think he is the only person to ever love me unconditionally,’ Anna said quietly.
‘What about your parents?’
She shrugged before she could stop herself. Shrugging was a habit she’d always had, but Lord Fortescue had hated the miniscule movement of her shoulder. This past year she still repressed many of her natural reactions, but slowly they were creeping back.
‘My mother died when I was a young child, I barely remember her. My father...’ She paused, wondering how best to describe him. ‘I’m sure he did care, he just didn’t think a gentleman should be affectionate, so most of the time I had no idea what he was thinking.’
‘I’m glad you have someone to care for you.’ There was a softness to Harry’s voice that made her turn and look at him. He was smiling at her, a smile filled with warmth that crinkled the skin around his eyes and suddenly Anna was aware of just how attractive her companion actually was. As her pulse quickened she tried to gain control of herself with a sharp reprimand, but found her body swaying towards Harry before she could stop herself.
Their arms touched, just a sliver of contact, but enough to cause a spark of excitement to jump through Anna’s body. Here in the moonlight, with the beautiful music from the ballroom drifting on the evening breeze, Anna felt the first surge of hopeful anticipation.
Shaking herself, she managed to look away and as soon as she did the spell was broken. Quickly she took a step back, pretending to adjust her skirts to cover her confusion. It was the warm evening’s air, and perhaps a touch too much champagne, that had caused her momentary lapse in sanity, nothing more.
Harry was looking at her with an amused expression and she wondered how much he’d been able to read on her face.
‘You should be ashamed,’ a low voice hissed behind them.
Quickly Anna spun around, stepping back as she recognised the woman striding towards them. Before she had time to react Miss Antonia Fortescue, her spiteful stepdaughter, had stepped much closer than Anna was comfortable with, only stopping when their noses were almost touching.
‘Miss Fortescue,’ Anna said, her voice devoid of emotion, ‘I did not expect to see you here.’ It was the politest thing Anna could bring herself to say.
‘Look at you, making merry with my father barely in the ground.’
‘Your father died over a year ago, Miss Fortescue. My mourning period has finished.’
Anna thought her stepdaughter might reach out and strike her at that comment, but her disdain was limited to a narrowing of the eyes.
‘Miss Fortescue?’ Harry asked, stepping between the two women.
‘Yes?’ Miss Fortescue snapped, glancing at Harry before returning her unwavering gaze to Anna.
‘I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure of being introduced. I am Lord Edgerton.’
His title, and no doubt his reputation, earned him another glance from Miss Fortescue. Anna prayed he would keep silent about their sham engagement. The last thing she needed was for her late husband’s family to find out she’d become engaged again.
‘I hope you know what company you keep, Lord Edgerton.’
‘Lady Fortescue is the most amenable of companions,’ Harry said.
Antonia snorted, an unladylike sound that required her to screw up her nose and turn an already unattractive face into something pinched and malicious.
‘Your stepmother was just explaining how she gained an entire family when she married into the Fortescue clan,’ Harry said, without a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Anna looked at him appraisingly—he might come across as easy-going and mild-mannered, but her companion was sharp and intelligent along with it.
‘She is no stepmother of mine.’
Silence followed. There wasn’t really much else to say, but Antonia seemed reluctant to move on.
‘I understand you haven’t seen much of Lady Fortescue since your father’s passing,’ Harry said, his voice suitably sombre. ‘Perhaps we should remedy that.’
Anna felt her jaw clench as she turned slowly towards Harry. She tried to communicate how much she would like him to be silent with just a dramatic widening of her eyes, but he flashed her a smile and wilfully ignored her, pushing on with his invitation.
‘I’m having a little house party, the weekend after next. It’s at my country estate, just south of Sevenoaks. We’d be delighted if you could attend. And your brothers, of course.’
Anna didn’t know who was more shocked, her or Antonia, but they both stood with mouths slightly opened, unable to utter a word.
‘Fantastic,’ Harry said. ‘We look forward to seeing you there.’
Anna felt him grip her arm and guide her along the terrace, no doubt planning on escaping before she or Antonia had a chance to collect themselves and protest at the idea of spending more than a few seconds in each other’s company.
* * *
Harry