Lady Fiasco, A Traditional Regency Romance (My Notorious Aunt) (22 page)

“Lord Wesmont, please forgive me for making you wait
.
Aunt Honore didn’t tell me what hour you were coming
.
We
were out very late last evening, at L
a
dy Castlereigh’s card party and I’m afraid I overslept.”

“
I can hardly call you to task for oversleeping if you didn’t know at what hour to rise.” He inclined his head in a bow and smiled at
her
.

She laughed. “You are right
.
” Linking her arm in his and catching up her train in the other hand
,
she said
,
“
Did you bring Kip to act as groom
?
I asked Aunt Honore if I might borrow one of hers, but she refused
.
She said she doesn’t tax her grooms with such nonsense, and that I am perfectly safe with you.” Fiona added with equal lightheartedness
,
“Of course, my aunt doesn’t know you as well as I do, does she?”

He felt a thud in his stomach. Her words
,
true though they might be, struck him hard. He lapsed into his trademark scowl, and decided to give her a dose of her own medicine
.
“I brought Kip, but, not to act as your groom
.
I brought him to hold my cattle while I waited for you
.
I didn’t bring a mount for him. But if you’re that afraid of me, we might let Kip ride behind you on your horse
.
”

“You k
n
ow full well that would be ludicrous
.
”

“Yes
, a
nd
since it is ludicrous, let us dismiss the subject altogether.”

“As you wish.” It pleased him to see her feathers were now just as ruffled as his
.

Kip whistled softly at the surly set of his master’s face and Miss Hawthorn’s stubborn expression. Tyrell set Fiona up in the saddle of a roan
mare
with white socks. The mare danced to the side and snorted.

Kip handed Fiona a riding crop, which she looped over her wrist
.
“She
’
s a mite fresh
,
miss
.
But she’ll settle down if you
show ‘
er who’s master.
”

Tyrell swung up onto Perseus and trotted off down the street. Fiona cast an angry look at his backside as she tried to control her excitable mount. He posted to the end of the street without so much as a backwa
r
d glance. Fiona exhaled loudly and dug her
heel into the roan’s side. Her mount lurched forward and sprang past Tyrell.

When s
h
e was ab
l
e to re
i
n the hor
se
back in, Fiona la
u
ghed at herself
.
What a balmy thing
to
do riding such a feisty mare
,
s
h
e
thought
.
I
would have looked like a great idiot
tearing through London on
a
runawa
y
hors
e.

Tyrell cantered up beside her
.
“
Can
yo
u handle her? I thought for a moment she was bolting with
y
o
u.”

“My fa
u
lt entirely.” Fiona assured him. “I was angry with you and I must’ve ki
c
k
e
d he
r
a trifle too hard.”

T
y
rell cocked an eyebrow at h
er
and smirked. “Angry at me, eh?”

He could be so dratted appea
li
ng when he smiled, even if it was to mock her
. Fiona’s
heart beat a little faster. “Yes, my lord
.
It seems we are forever at odds with one another. Perhaps we might start anew today.” She shifted the reins and extended her other hand to him. “Frie
n
ds?”

But her mare skittered sideways and Fiona struggled to maintain her seat
.

Tyrell touched the brim of his hat in a salute
.
“Friends,” he said.

“Good,
”
She beamed back at him.

The warmth of her smile sent an electric charge through Tyrell. It caught him off guard. He took a deep breath, stiffened his spine, and trotted alongside her mare. He grabbed the harness of the recalcitrant animal and brought it under control
.

She looked up at him catching her lip apprehensively. “I must confess a dark secret to you, my lord.” Her horse lurched sideways and nearly unseated her. She clutched the pommel and shook her head. “I’m accustomed to ridi
n
g astride at home. It is a shameful practice, I know. But the worst part is,
I
appear to be a rather inept horsewoman riding sidesaddle. See how I must fight to hold her in check.”

“Not your fault. She’s
b
een standing in the stable too long. She wants her head
.
I should’ve guessed you race about the countryside riding like a boy.” He smiled. “Can you manage her till we get to Hyde Park? No one will be there this time of morning. I think it will be safe for us to have a gallop there
.
”

“Oh , that would be marvelous
.
” Enthusiasm sparkled in her eyes like waves splashing against the shore. Lady Alameda was right. Tyrell had the urge to pull Fiona off her horse and kiss her senseless right here in the street
.
Instead
,
he concentrated on find
i
ng the shortest route to Hyde Park
.

The park, he postulated
,
would be deserted this early. If he made love to her on the grass, hidden in the trees, no one would be there to stop them
.
After all, Lady
Alameda
had
given him permission
.
He ached to do it
.
But in his heart, he knew he wouldn’t
.
Couldn
’
t
. His conscience wouldn’t let him ruin Fiona
.
Why did he even speculate
a
bout such a thing? He was a heartless cad
,
that’s why. He
’
d known her since she was a baby
.
She was an innocent
.

Or was she?

Of course
,
she was.

Yet, how could she be, living at Alison Hall with her depraved aunt and that cur Alameda? He glanced back at her and caught her staring at him. Her cheeks turned pink
and she looked away
.

Tyrell frowned
.
She aroused such overwhelming passions in him.
Could a true innocent do that? She seemed to possess some mystical skill or womanly art that made him incoherent with desire
.
Perhaps, while he
was
away fighting Napoleon, she’d exchanged her innocence for pleasure.

A blaze of enlightenment awakened him to the obvious. It must be true. He nodded
,
agreeing with his own conclusions. She was far too adept at seducing him to be an innocent
.
That would explain Honore
’
s willingness to offer him Fiona’s virtue without a second thought. There was no virtue left. In that case, why should he not take advantage of
her offer? He ached for Fiona and he would have her. Damn the consequences!

He lied to himself all the way to Hyde Park. Perseus trotted eagerly through the gate while Tyrell continued to weave a glorious tapestry of convenient self-deception.

Why should he not make her his mistress?
Her family knows she’
s
no longer an innocent, and that’s why they didn’t invite her to their ball. They wouldn’t want a tainted daughter spoiling Emeline
s
come-out. Which explains why she doesn’t even know they’re in town. They don’t want her. Well, I want her. I’ll set her up as my mistress. When we’ve grown tired of one another, I’ll pay her off with a handsome diamond bracelet, or emeralds, or anything else she wants. That’s how it’s done.

He grinned, excessively pleased with himself, and patted Perseus’s neck.
An ideal situation. No responsibilities. No obligations. No expectations. I’d be a simpleton to pass up the opportunity. The woman drives me mad with want, so why not satisfy myself? It might take a year, or two, or perhaps three, but what does that matter?

A niggling voice in the back of his head begged a question.

Suppose she gets with child? My child?
Tyrell sucked in his breath. The image of Fiona naked, her belly swollen with his child
,
increased the unbearable pressure in his groin.

Pe
r
seus snorted and reared slightly, urging his master to a faster pace as Fiona’s roan shot past him.

Tyrell shook his head
.
The fog of his irreverent imaginings lifted
.
Fiona galloped violently across the field
i
n front of him
, h
er horse wildly out of control
.
The mare swerved left then right
,
kicked up her hind legs, and tore across the tu
rf
as if jackals were after her. Fion
a
held her seat, but only just
.
When the mare bucked again and threw her head down, it was all over
.
Fiona catapulted out of the saddle
.

Tyrell spurred Perseus into a gallop
.
He saw Fiona’s body bounce like an India rubber ball and tumble to a stop. She lay unmoving on the grass. Tyrell heard a deafening shriek
.
Was it he
r
s?
N
o. It had bellowed from his throat
.

He felt tr
a
pped in a thick soup,
unable to gallop fast enough
. It seemed a
n eternity before he reached her fallen body. He leapt down and knelt beside her.

Her hat was gone. Her hair fluttered about he
r
face, blowing like the autumn leaves. Her eyes were closed. Mud flecked her pale cheeks. Silent and still, she lay
.
Too still
.

A low keening moan came from unbidden his throat.
He lifted her shoulders onto his lap and bent over her, smoothing her hair, rocking back and forth
.
His mind returned to the battlefield
. T
he bloodied faces of his soldier
s
flashed before his eyes, young men dy
i
n
g,
his
men. He held Fiona
,
and shook his head. 

“No!” he cried. It was a command.
I
t was
a
ple
a.
“
N
ot her!”

“
Not her.” He rocked and clasped her to his chest
. “Fiona!
Fiona, wake up!” He ordered
.
He b
e
gged
.
“G
o
d
,
l
i
sten to me—
not her
.
Don
’
t let her die. You can’t let her die
—
I
love
her.”

The truth d
i
dn’t startle Tyrell. He supposed he’d known it all along.
“God forgive me. I
’
ve been a fo
o
l
.
I’ve always loved her
.
Always
.
Just bring her back
t
o me.” He hugged her to him.

H
i
s lamentation was so deep
,
he didn’t he
a
r Fiona sti
r
ring until she choked,
“You
’
re hurting me.”