Brash (2 page)

CHAPTER THREE

“You look splendid this evening,” Robert said to Stella. She was accustomed to kindness from her brother, but tonight, she knew she looked her best. She’d worn a pretty gown of watercress green, the same color as her eyes, but it was not such a rarefied bit of froth that he would suspect she had an ulterior motive for wearing it.

“Thank you,” she responded with a dismissive air. “I asked Cook to keep it a simple supper,” she said, hoping to turn Robert’s attention from her appearance. She felt self-conscious enough. “I did not think your guest would care for course after course…”

“You are right, Stella. He’s had a long ride today and…” He looked up, past her. “Ah. Here he is. Come in, James.”

 Stella took a quick breath, calmed her nerves and somehow managed to paste a pleasant smile upon her face. She turned. “Lieutenant Norris, how glad we are of your visit.”

He was even more beautiful than she remembered – if such a rugged face could be called beautiful.

To the lieutenant’s credit, he took Stella’s hand and bowed over it, without ever glancing away to see if her sister was in the room. Stella addressed the issue directly. “I’m afraid you’ll have to do with Robert’s and my company only,” she said.

A fleeting expression of confusion – and perhaps regret? – crossed his features but Stella refused to allow her heart to sink. She’d always known James would never be hers.

“The rest of the family has gone to Brighton to see about Grandmama,” Robert said. “She has recently taken to her bed.”

Lieutenant Norris hesitated only a fraction of a second, hardly betraying his disappointment. “Of course my visit will not be lacking at all, Lady Stella. I am very pleased to see you and Robert.”

But even as he said the words, Stella knew they were not quite true. “You are not wearing your uniform,” she said as she took her seat at the table. Robert and Lieutenant Norris followed.

“No. I’ve left the navy.”

“What?” Robert’s surprise was quite obvious. “I thought you would always—”

“No.” He said firmly. His face colored as a shadow of deep emotion crossed his features. When he spoke again, his voice was softer, but the tone no less rigid. “No.”

“Well, then,” Robert said awkwardly, for it was clear Lieutenant Norris did not care to speak of the reason for his resignation.

Footmen began to serve the meal, but Stella had little interest in food. She was familiar with dismay. She knew disappointment and disillusionment, and recognized it in Lieutenant Norris now. Something had happened. Something so distressing, it had caused him to resign from the navy.

“I’m very glad you decided to stop at Barrington Manor before you… Well, what will you do now?” Stella asked.

“I am somewhat unsettled at the moment, Lady Stella,” he said. “But I have a notion…”

“What kind of notion?” Robert asked.

“Not that I’ve made any solid plans…”

“Yes?”

“I’m thinking of building ships.”

* * *

“I suppose if there’s anything about which you would know a great deal, Lieutenant Norris,” said Stella, “it’s ships.”

Aye, he said to himself. That was exactly it. For years, he’d had an allowance from his father as well as his navy pay, and he’d spent little of either. Now he had money enough to begin with one or two ships, if he could convince an architect and a builder to commit to the project.

James had not meant to speak aloud of his plans, for though they were not the least bit nebulous, they were not firm, either. He’d intended to tell Virginia about them when he proposed, then explore all the possibilities before informing anyone else of his ideas – especially her father. No doubt he would have some opinion about the man his daughter wed.

“I am no builder,” he said.

“But you can hire builders and designers,” Stella countered with some enthusiasm.

Her cheeks flushed with color, and James’s gaze caught her eyes for the first time. He wondered how he’d failed to notice them before. They were a very fine shade of green, both rich and transparent at the same time. And her mouth… Her smile was infectious, causing him to relax the muscles in his face, perhaps for the first time since that horrible night in Plymouth.

It felt like a long time since he’d smiled. A long time since he’d appreciated the soft line of a woman’s chin and the delicate curve of full, feminine lips.

He realized he was staring, and turned toward Robert. “Yes, I can,” he said, surprised by the strong pull of attraction he felt toward Virginia’s sister.

Why, Stella was striking in her own right. She resembled Virginia to some extent, though at the moment, he could not quite recall the color of Virginia’s eyes. Or her hair. He believed it was lighter than Stella’s… more of a… was it reddish brown?

Stella had an impish dimple in her chin, and an inquisitive arch to her shapely brows. “Where will you start, Lieutenant? Do you think you will build ships for the navy?”

He shook his head, as much to reply in the negative as to try and clear his senses. It was Virginia whom he’d come to see. Virginia who interested him. And yet—

“With Napoleon gone…” Stella began. “Do you think there will be greater demand for new trading ships, Lieutenant Norris?”

“Now that there is peace, commerce will increase. Travel, as well,” James said with an appreciation for Stella’s insights. “I believe we’ll see a great demand for all kinds of ships.”

“You’re right, by God,” Robert said. “Your timing is impeccable.”

“I hope so.”

“I know someone in Portsmouth,” Robert remarked. “A ship’s architect who was looking for a sponsor when last I saw him.”

“Are you speaking of Mr. Hewlett, Robert?” Stella asked, and James sensed her enthusiasm for his scheme.

Robert nodded.

“You will not find a better man, Lieutenant Norris,” Stella remarked. “I’ve known the Hewletts since I was a child, and they always—”

She stopped abruptly.

“They always what, Stell?” her brother asked.

“They always… ’Tis naught.” She shrugged. “But please go on, Lieutenant Norris. Tell us more of your plans.”

Robert laughed. “’Tis fortunate Virginia is not here, else we’d never learn of your intentions.”

“What do you mean?” James asked.

“Only that she would insist upon spending the entire evening speaking of fashions and fripperies.”

“She is not as bad as all that, Robert,” Stella said, defending her sister.

“Aye, she is, and you know it. But go on, James. Tell us what you’re planning to do.”

James spoke of his intentions, but he was far more fascinated by the interest in Stella’s eyes and the salient questions she asked about his plans. The hour grew late, and when the clock chimed ten times, James glanced around in embarrassment. Robert had already gone, and he had not even noticed.

“My apologies, Lady Stella, for monopolizing the conversation… And for driving your brother from the room! I am not usually such a bor—”

“Nonsense,” Stella interjecting, hesitating before pushing back her chair. It was almost as though she was loath to leave. “Robert was up quite early this morning, exercising one of his new geldings.”

James stood and assisted Stella from her chair. She moved slowly, and he remembered her affliction. She was not quite crippled, but… disabled somehow. Lame. And yet he saw no cane, no crutch nearby. Perhaps her disability had been mended.

She stood, taking his arm as they left the dining room and started for the staircase. “You must be fatigued as well, from your travels today,” she said.

“Some. Although it is quite pleasant to spend an evening with friends.” And even more agreeable to feel the warmth of her hand on his arm, and the skirts of her gown brushing against his leg. He suppressed a wildly inappropriate urge to stop and turn her toward him. To see if she would respond to his touch as enthusiastically as she’d conversed about his shipbuilding plans.

For the first time in weeks, James’s every thought had not been turned toward that awful night in Plymouth.

“I am very glad you enjoyed it.”

They walked to the stairs and she removed her hand from his arm. “I will bid you goodnight now, Lieutenant Norris.”

“You are not going up?” he asked. Her skin was as smooth as alabaster in the flickering light of the sconces, her lips the color of roses. He managed to restrain himself from touching her chin, from drawing her close and…

“Not yet. My dog recently delivered a litter of new pups, and I… Well, I always pay them a visit before bed.”

“I should like to accompany you, if you don’t mind.”

CHAPTER FOUR

Mind? If she didn’t mind?

“Of course I do not mind,” Stella said, somehow managing to keep her composure. James Norris wanted to accompany her. Accompany Stella Barrington – the lame one.

The lieutenant’s talk of ship designs and wood and decks and galleys had fascinated her as much as the golden strands in his hair, as much as fine shape of his mouth and the heavy masculinity of his hands. It was far too easy to imagine those hands touching her, caressing her face, her body.

She swallowed and started leading him toward the back kitchen. “This way is best.”

“I remember this route from years back, during my visits on school holidays.”

Stella remembered those days as well. Virginia had accompanied their elder brother and his friends all over the estate while Stella had been restricted to the house because of her weakness. In those days, her frail health had held her back as much as her lameness. There’d been no running or climbing for her. No laughing and playing like the other children.

None of those young boys had seemed to mind Virginia tagging along, for her beauty had entranced them even then. She’d learned how to flirt and play with their affections while Stella had been relegated to a bench in the garden or to her room with only her books and drawing implements for company.

Stella shook off memories of the acute loneliness she’d felt and decided to enjoy these few moments with Lieutenant Norris. They would be over and done all too soon.

She took a shawl from a hook near the door before leaving the house, then strode carefully along the path to the barn, quite unwilling to display any of the weakness that had kept her so isolated. But then a little dip in the lane tripped her up and she started to fall.

She’d have gone down to her knees at least, but for Lieutenant Norris’s quick action. He caught her up with one strong arm about her waist.

And did not let her go.

For one very long moment, he continued to hold her, and every beat of Stella’s heart sounded loud in her ears. Oh, to be held like this whenever she wished. To reach out for James Norris’s strong embrace at any time of the day… or night.

But she knew how remote such a possibility was for her. She extricated herself from his grasp and spoke lightly. “Thank you, Lieutenant. I wish I could say I was not usually so clumsy, but alas…” 

She moved ahead, as quickly as she could toward the barn. He hesitated behind her, but then she heard him move after her, catching up in only a step or two. She went around to the side and pushed open the small door.

“Is there a lamp?” Lieutenant Norris asked just as Stella started to reach for the one that hung beside the door.

“Yes, here.”

He lit it and they went toward the cozy nest where Tilly lay with her six pups. Lieutenant Norris let out a low whistle. Surprise was often the reaction when one first lit eyes upon Tilly. “What is she?”

“A Great Dane,” Stella answered, scratching behind the dam’s ear. “Hello, my girl. How are you and the bairns?”

“She’s the size of a colt,” James said with some amazement in his voice.

“Aye. She’s so large and strong, she’s been quite a help to me.”

Stella felt his questioning gaze on her. “Sometimes I find it…” She looked up at him. “I often have difficulty walking. Tilly has kept me from falling many a time. And she went for help once, when I turned my ankle…”

“She’s a good lass, then.” He crouched down near the pups. “Will you keep them all?”

“Likely not,” Stella replied. “As Tilly is such a marvel of a dog, several of the neighbors have requested one of her brood. But perhaps I’ll keep one or two.”

* * *

Stella was an unexpected pleasure. James had not expected to find a woman so interested in his work, in his plans. But she’d been surprisingly knowledgeable about ships – even more so than her brother.

He had not remembered Stella as being quite so pretty, so… engaging. She was not one of those annoying chatterboxes who…

James did not want to think of Virginia now, though he couldn’t help but recall a few of her letters. They’d been effusive and girlish and vaguely entertaining. But it occurred to him that she’d posed nary a question for or about him. She’d asked nothing of his travels, his situation.

Perhaps she believed she was so entertaining that it was unnecessary for her to ask. And maybe he had been so enamored of the idea of binding such a fetching beauty to him that he’d ignored her self-absorption.

Stella’s quiet laugh interrupted his musings and he watched as she picked up one of the pups – the smallest, most wobbly one with white feet – and moved it closer to its mam.

Her care for the littlest and weakest gave him pause, and he wondered if anyone had so cared for her.

James helped her to her feet. “Tell me about Mr. Hewlett.”

They started for the door, but did not go out. James admired the deep, rich color of Stella’s hair and her thickly lashed eyes. He found himself wanting to trace the line of her jaw with his fingers, and the urge to slide one hand about her waist and pull her close was nearly overpowering. And this, in spite of his feelings for Virginia.

“The Hewletts are friends of my parents. Whenever my family went away on long journeys, Mr. and Mrs. Hewlett took me in.”

James frowned. “You stayed behind? Why?”

Stella hesitated before speaking. “I was thought to be unwell.”

“Unwell? But you were not?”

She said naught, and James saw a flicker of hurt in her eyes as she gave a quick shake of her head.

“Because of your lameness.”

“It was years ago.” She swallowed, but he was not deceived by her dismissal of her family’s slight. It had wounded her to be left behind. Badly. But it was clear she did not care to speak of it. “We should go back.”

“Not yet,” James said, loath to end the quiet moments with Stella in the warm barn. He was attracted to her, fascinated by that dimple and the spark of awareness in her eyes. She was utterly charming, and yet she was not the woman he thought he wanted.

Virginia was beautiful, with red-gold hair and pretty blue eyes. But now, tonight, he wondered if pretty Virginia was anything more than a vacuous beauty.

He’d met Stella on numerous occasions, and she’d always seemed a sweet-tempered girl with more important things to do than waste her time on the playful jaunts he’d shared with Robert and Virginia. But tonight he could not help but wonder whether her preoccupation with reading and drawing had masked a desire to join in the activities shared by her siblings and their friends.

“What is it?” she asked, perhaps noticing the confusion in his eyes.

“Naught. Just that I’m very glad you were left behind this time.”

* * *

Stella awoke smiling for the first time in ages. It was cool in her room, but the sun was shining, and Lieutenant Norris might possibly be lying asleep in a guest room just down the hall. She turned to her side and gathered her blankets close, dreamily reliving those last few moments in the barn when he’d delayed their return to the house.

She was sure he’d been thinking about kissing her. He’d looked at her mouth, then her eyes, then he’d tipped his head down toward her, as though he was considering touching his lips to hers. But then it seemed he’d thought better of it, because he’d withdrawn with a puzzled shake of his head.

He’d been the perfect gentleman after that, escorting her back to the house and taking his leave of her.

Perhaps today she could make him feel a bit ungentlemanly. For she dearly wanted that kiss. And perhaps a bit more.

Stella arose from her bed and performed her morning ablutions before her maid even arrived. She dressed and brushed her hair, then pulled on her boots and got down on her knees in front of the trunk at the foot of her bed. It was full of old drawing pads, and there was one in particular…

She rifled through the tablets until she came upon the one she sought. It was filled with the drawings she’d made during a recent stay with the Hewletts, and she wanted to discuss some of the ship designs with Lieutenant Norris.

Robert would have breakfasted already and be in the stable by now, perhaps even with Lieutenant Norris. Stella hoped not. She hoped James had only just arisen and she would see him downstairs.

She tamped down her impatience to see him again. To determine whether the attraction she’d sensed between them was real. The last thing she wanted was to be a substitute for Virginia.

Stella sat back on her heels and gathered her thoughts. Of course he wanted Virginia. Everyone was attracted to Virginia, and at least half of Robert’s friends were in love with her.

As James was. Stella took a deep breath and steadied herself. She was accustomed to disappointment. Rarely did events go the way she hoped, and she could not allow herself to feel any kind of expectations about James. She knew better. He had come to see Virginia, and Robert, of course. She doubted he had thought of her even once since last time he visited Barrington Manor.

Stella loved her sister. And she wanted her to be happy. But she knew Virginia was completely unsuited to James. She was a born flirt who loved the attentions of handsome men, and was unlikely to give her heart away to one man any time soon. She’d said as much, numerous times.

James deserved someone who would be devoted to him, a wife who would take an interest in his work, for it would be a completely new venture for him.

When Stella’s maid came to her door, she was already dressed and about to leave. “Oh miss, I was just coming to—”

“Good morning, Molly. I don’t need any help this morning,” she said. “Is my brother up?”

“Quite early, miss. He left some time ago for the stable.”

“W-with Lieutenant Norris?”

“No, miss. The lieutenant is in the breakfast room having breakfast.”

Stella thanked the maid and started for the stairs, carrying her drawing pad with her. She had every intention of going right to the breakfast room, but turned at the last moment down to go down the back hall.

She hugged the tablet to her chest and pressed away the sudden ache in her heart. It was best not to let her foolish hopes and desires get the better of her. She was a sensible young woman and knew perfectly well why James Norris had come. And it was not to see her.

Allowing herself to entertain such brash and reckless dreams about James Norris was only going to cause her a heartache from which she might not recover. She was not going to risk it, not when she was about to experience her own season and a chance to find a husband – one who was not already enamored of her sister.

Stella made her way to the barn and smiled resignedly as she set down her drawing pad and whistled for Tilly. A bracing walk in the cool morning air would help to clear her head. It would allow her to consider the future that would begin just as soon as she went to Town for her first ball.

* * *

 James tapped his fingers on the dining table, then caught the attention of the footman. “Will you check with Lady Stella’s maid – discreetly, of course – and ask if she will be coming down soon?”

“Yes, sir.”

James found himself unexpectedly disappointed that Stella had not joined him for breakfast. He’d taken his time in his room, shaving and washing, in order to allow her enough time to awaken and dress…

Perhaps she’d left the house on some early errand he could not possibly know about.

Whatever the case, he had looked forward to spending a pleasant hour with her in the breakfast room – with or without her brother. She was so bright and full of intelligent conversation – something he had not anticipated. And she was so very pretty, besides.

When they were much younger and he had visited Barrington Manor, Stella had always been friendly toward him and Robert’s other friends. But no one had ever invited Stella to come along on their sleigh rides, or to partake in their jaunts to the village.

The only in which activity Stella had joined them was card-playing in the manor’s drawing room. Of course she and James had partnered on occasion, and now that he recalled it, those were the only times he’d won. And won handsomely.

What a sharp mind she’d had, even then. She’d sensed his moves before he’d even made them, and adjusted her own play accordingly.

“I am sorry, sir,” said the footman, returning to the breakfast room, “but Lady Stella has gone out.”

“Out where? To the village?” he asked.

“I believe she has gone walking,” sir.