Page 42 of How to Best a Marquess

Chapter Eleven

Hugh walked into a tavern and chose an empty table in the corner. The tavern was doing a brisk business tonight, and several tables were crowded with men wearing corduroy jackets and patched trousers who had arrived straight from the factories to drink their ale. Well-dressed young gentlemen sat at another table, deep in their cups, exchanging crude jokes and coarse laughter. University fops away from school.

Hugh was in no mood for company. His thoughts were consumed with the Raven Club, but not with his plans for the boxing room.

With Ellie.

He’d told her the truth that afternoon. He had attended Lady Emberly’s garden party because he knew Ellie would be there. He needed to speak with her, and he wanted to do it away from the club, away from the place where her competitive nature flourished and was a constant reminder of both of their goals.

Things were changing between them, at least for him. The night he’d discovered her hidden activities to protect Lady Willoughby had opened his eyes. He began to understand more of why she desperately wanted to win the club. She’d put herself in danger to aid another for a few hours of respite in her hidden room. He hadn’t lied when he’d called her admirable. But that didn’t mean he’d approve of her putting herself at risk. His mind had clouded at the thought, and he’d wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss sense into her.

Thank God she’d consented. But what had started as a simple kiss had quickly changed. Her kisses had affected him even more than he thought they would. She was brave, loyal, and oh so stubborn.

Most men would find the last trait undesirable in a woman. They sought compliance, complicity, a stable household.

Not Hugh. He would find a docile partner boring and not one who would hold his interest for long.

No matter how admirable, he could never condone Ellie’s dangerous activities. Hiding a lady, even for the evening, was risky. Baron Willoughby had been angry, jealous, and drunk—a volatile combination in any man, let alone a bastard like him. A man that treated his wife the way the baron had hurt his wasn’t worth the dirt beneath Hugh’s boot. And when he’d glared at Ellie with fury, Hugh wanted to tear the man from limb to limb.

A buxom, blond tavern maid approached with a tray of ale. “A drink, me lord?”

He nodded and she leaned far over the table as she placed the mug before her, her ample breasts on display in her low bodice. “Anything else I can get ye, me lord?”

Not long ago, he would have been tempted. He would have easily accepted her offer and eased his worries in a warm, willing body. But now he found himself unmoved by her…unmoved by the thought of any other woman.

“Just the ale.”

She looked at him, her bold stare trained on his face. “Ah, a lady has seized your heart.”

“Hardly,” Hugh scoffed. “I’ve business on my mind.”

She gave him a sly look that said she didn’t believe a word out of his mouth. She took her leave, her hips sashaying toward the kitchens. He wanted to call her back and argue.

Just because he did not want to see Ellie hurt, did not mean she’d seized his heart.

Damn.

His mind turned as he drank from the tankard. It wasn’t just Baron Willoughby that bothered him. Things hadn’t gone as he’d planned at the garden party, either, and soon after he’d stepped foot through the garden gate, he’d been waylaid by Lady Fabry. He’d seen the moment Ellie had spotted Isabelle beside him. Ellie’s delicate brow had furrowed, her eyes had widened with astonishment, not with joy or recognition, but with torment, and she’d fled into the gardens.

Without a thought, he’d followed her.

He’d wanted to tell her Lady Fabry meant nothing to him—then or now. But how? And would she believe him?

Instinct told him never to bring up Isabelle or speak her name, but to somehow confirm that Ellie was the only woman on his mind.

She hadn’t believed him. Or at least, she hadn’t wanted to. In her mind, she’d returned to a place from years ago, a different hostess’s garden, and the event that had altered both of their futures. He never liked Isabelle and he hadn’t enjoyed their kiss. He’d already told Ellie once, but he knew telling her again without revealing the entire truth would be fruitless and even more harmful.

He hadn’t lied today. He could not care less about Isabelle, or any other woman in society.

After returning into Ellie’s life, how could it be any other way?

…

He was avoiding her.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t forget their brief encounter by Lady Emberly’s pond. His words had left a mark on her mind just as his kiss had left a tingling on the back of her hand. This attraction to him was perilous and would do her no good. She needed to keep her mind on her goal: the Raven Club. Too much was at stake to behave recklessly and risk heartache.

So she’d kept to herself, careful not to run into Hugh on the casino floor. She’d been successful. At first, she’d thought it was because of her evasive efforts. She’d carefully look out the window onto the casino floor before leaving the second-floor office. If Hugh was within sight, she would remain upstairs. That’s when she’d spotted one of the boys who worked in the boxing room open the door to glance out and then return inside. Only then did Hugh step outside.