AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Titus had conversed briefly with the Satterfields’ butler before coming upstairs. Just as he’d been surprised by Titus’s arrival at the tea the other day, he’d seemed taken aback to learn that Titus wasn’t leaving as soon as he’d completed the favor for Lady Satterfield.
Titus shrugged and sipped from the glass of whisky he’d poured from his stepfather’s cabinet. “I just needed some quiet.”
“Do you mean to return to the ball?” she asked, with perhaps a touch of hope.
He shrugged again.
She shook her head but smiled. “You needn’t stay. I appreciate you dancing with Nora.”
Nora.He tried to think of her as Miss Lockhart, but from the moment he’d heard her name and experienced the sensuality it seemed to spark in his brain, he’d had a rough go of it. Maybe he’d abandon the pretense—at least in his head.
“Did it help?” he asked.
His stepmother exhaled. “I’m not sure yet. She’s just received her second invitation to dance, and Lady Dunn, bless the woman despite her penchant for gossip, has given her stamp of approval.” Her lips curved down. “However, there are other women—who I think knew Nora in the past—who have not been as gracious.”
Titus felt an urge to return to the ball and glower at the termagant who’d been bothering Nora. “Yes, I overhead one of them speaking to Miss Lockhart. I don’t know her name, but ask Miss Lockhart. You mustn’t ever invite her to Satterfield House again.”
His stepmother arched a brow at him. “Indeed? You sound as if you leapt to her defense.”
Titus didn’t want to expose his guilt regarding Nora or the fact that he felt beholden to help her. “I am doing what you asked—elevating her status.”
“And I appreciate it. Perhaps then you won’t mind lending just a bit more of your support. We’re to attend Lady Fitzgibbon’s picnic at Brexham Hall in a few days. Will you join us?”
Titus couldn’t think of anything he’d rather do less. The thought of spending an entire afternoon at an insipid Society event made his skin crawl. Once upon a time, he’d enjoyed such nonsense, but now he’d rather meet with his secretary or dig into a treatise or a book.
However, this event would include Nora. Surely that would lift its potential from certainly dull to possibly entertaining?
“You needn’t come for the entire time,” his stepmother said. “Hopefully by then she will have garnered a bit of favor, perhaps even a potential suitor or two, and your continued attention will only solidify her status.”
Of course there would be suitors. She was looking for a husband, was she not? Still, the thought of a gentleman courting her inexplicably provoked his irritation. “I will put in an appearance. Will that suffice?”
Her brows climbed into a graceful arch of surprise. “More than. I expected you to say no.”
If it had been anyone other than Nora, he would have. But he felt a specific responsibility to aid her cause. He may not have been the one to compromise her, but he may as well have been standing there encouraging Haywood.
“Perhaps you’re finally letting down your guard.” His stepmother lifted a shoulder and gave him a sly smile. “Who knows, maybe you’ll even take a wife.”
“Let’s not put the cart before the horse.” He tossed back the rest of his whisky.
She chuckled. “Never. And anyway, I’m quite content playing sponsor to Miss Lockhart. Once I’ve secured her future, I may take on another young lady. It’s quite invigorating.” Her smile was tinged with sadness. “It makes me think of Eliza.”
She was speaking of Titus’s half sister who’d died at the age of three, when Titus had been ten. There had been no other children after that, so it made sense that helping Nora appealed to her. He set his empty glass on the sideboard and took his stepmother’s gloved hand. “I’m sorry this is dredging that up.”
She squeezed his fingers and let him go. “I’m not. And anyway, there is no dredging involved. Eliza is always with me.” She briefly touched her chest above her heart before tugging her glove more snugly over her elbow. “I do worry about you, though. Are you truly happy on your own?”
“As happy as I need to be.” He would’ve saidas I deserve to be, but that would have invited unwanted questions and concern. “I shall be happier in a short while when I am away from this ball.” Indeed, why hadn’t he left already?
An image of Nora—the proud angle of her head and the confident jut of her chin as she’d put that woman in her place—rose in his mind, and he silently chided himself. He’d wasted a perfectly good hour—more than that now—that he could’ve spent at his club or in his library. Or better yet, in the arms of his mistress.
His stepmother walked toward the door. “I’m afraid I must return downstairs. I’ve been gone an age.” She paused at the threshold. “Will you come with me, or are you leaving?”
“Leaving.”
“Good night, then.” She blew him a kiss and left.
Titus followed her from the room, but as he escaped down the back stairs, he wondered if he’d really go to his mistress. He hadn’t been to see her since that first night, what, nearly a week ago? The night before he’d met Nora.
Clenching his jaw, he resolved to visit Isabelle. He needed to return to his normal London routine, which included regular appointments with his mistress. But as he climbed into his coach, he wasn’t thinking of his beautiful courtesan. No, he was thinking of tawny eyes and dark pink lips that belonged to a woman he could never have.
