Tenacious Trents 03 - A Reluctant Rake (8 page)

“We haven’t been able to locate them,
yet,” Elizabeth answered. “We believe they arrived in Town a few
weeks ago. They spent one night at an inn outside of Oxford and
told the owner they were going to spend the Season in London. They
left no further direction.”

“Have you checked the hotels in Town?”
Jordan demanded.

“Yes, but we haven’t located them,”
John answered.

“She registered as Lady Bentley at the
inn in Oxford,” Elizabeth added.

There was a gasp from Eleanor, the
current Lady Bentley, married to Jordan’s oldest brother, Clayton,
the Earl of Bentley.

“She hasn’t registered under that name
anywhere else, has she?” Madeline demanded from her place on the
settee.

“If she had, we would have found her,”
John assured his sister.

“What could she mean by using that
name?”

John shrugged. “She is entitled to use
it. She and Father never divorced, so technically she is the
dowager now.”

Clayton stepped forward. “It is simple.
She must know we are looking for her, or she wants us to know she
has returned.”

“Or, she learned Father died and wanted
to come home, not carrying how it affected the rest of us,”
Madeline offered. Jordan couldn’t blame his sister for being
angry.

Brachton gently squeezed her shoulder
and Madeline looked back at her husband. “I don’t care about me,”
she explained. “I worry about what will become of Mother when the
truth becomes known.”

Silence settled over the room once
again, each lost in his or her own thoughts.

“We won’t give up looking,” John
insisted.

As much as Jordan wished Adele had not
returned, he wasn’t so certain he felt the same about Julia. The
girl had been two-years-old when her mother took her away. She was
an innocent in all of this and it didn’t seem fair that she should
be forced to run and be in hiding for the rest of her life. Jordan
assumed her life had not been easy and she was five and twenty now.
Perhaps it was time to bring her home. Surely they could come up
with a plausible excuse that society would accept.

Besides, he wanted to apologize. It was
his fault Adele ran away in the first place.

Audrey stepped into the drawing room,
already full with guests invited to Lord and Lady Brachton’s
dinner. This was to be a small affair, to help Grace ease into
society, as she had never attended the Season before and knew few
outside of the family she married into. In truth, Audrey wanted to
decline the invitation, fearing Jordan Trent would be present, but
she could not abandon her dearest friend.

She glanced around the room and
realized everyone present was married. She stifled a groan. This
evening just went from uncomfortable to most assuredly
unbearable.

“Miss Montgomery, I am so happy you
could join us,” Lady Brachton stated as she came
forward.

Audrey forced a smile. “It was kind of
you to include me.”

“Nonsense,” Lady Brachton insisted.
“You and Lady Lydell are Grace’s closest friends. I wouldn’t have
dreamed of excluding either of you.”

Audrey glanced around the room looking
for Millicent. She stood with her husband but she was watching
someone across the room. Audrey turned her head in that direction.
It was Jordan Trent. How had she missed him when she first walked
in? He was in a back corner in discussion with Lord Ainsely and his
wife. Also speaking with Trent was Lord Hearne and his wife. If she
recalled correctly, Lord Hearne was the older brother to Lady
Ainsely.

“Ainsely and Hearne are friends of my
husband,” Lady Brachton explained. “As well as my brother, Mr.
Jordan Trent.”

Just hearing his name did queer things
to Audrey’s stomach. How would she get through this night and why
hadn’t she stayed with Millicent today until she had talked sense
into the woman? It was not done to be so fixated by a gentleman
that was not your husband in a room full of people when said
husband was standing by your side.

“You know my brother John and his wife,
Elizabeth,” Lady Brachton pointed to the couple not far away. “With
them are Lord Marston and his wife, Louisa. She is Elizabeth’s
younger sister.”

Audrey nodded. She knew John and
Elizabeth from last fall when they had come to visit Mr. Matthew
Trent, before he married Grace. She knew who Marston and his wife
were, though they had not met.

On the settee were Matthew and Grace
and beside them, the eldest Trent, Lord Bentley and his wife.
Audrey had the honor of meeting them Christmas Eve and had made the
acquaintance of Miss Eleanor Westin last spring, before Miss Westin
left in the middle of the Season to return to the
country.

“Can I get you anythin’, Miss
Montgomery?” Lord Brachton asked as he approached.

She was parched and would dearly love a
cup of tea but everyone appeared to be drinking wine or brandy. “A
glass of wine, please.”

He bowed and strode toward a servant
who stood beside a cart that held various liquors and
glasses.

Lady Brachton led her across the room
to Millicent and Lord Lydell.

“Good evening, Miss Montgomery,” Lord
Lydell greeted her. Millicent didn’t even acknowledge her presence,
still watching Jordan Trent across the room. Audrey had half a mind
to kick her friend in the shin to get her attention.

“Dear,” Lydell said, turning toward his
wife.

Millicent jumped as if shocked then
rubbed the inner part of her arm. Had Lydell just pinched his
wife?

But at least Millicent was now paying
attention to her husband, as she should.

“You haven’t greeted your dear
friend.”

Millicent looked at Audrey and barely
smiled. “Hello, Audrey.”

Audrey stifled a sigh and moved in
place to block Millicent’s view of Jordan Trent. It was the least
she could do before her friend embarrassed herself
further.

Lydell smiled gratefully at Audrey.
Audrey knew she needed to speak with her friend once again. This
time she would do so away from her home, where she didn’t have to
worry about suitors, if that is what one could call gentlemen who
visited married ladies, and out of earshot of her husband. Tonight,
she would just have to do her best to distract Millicent from
throwing herself at Jordan Trent.

Really, what was wrong with Millicent?
If Audrey were in her shoes, she would hate Trent with such venom
that it would be impossible to be in the same room, yet Millicent
apparently still carried a tendre for the rake.

Despite where she stood, Millicent was
still trying to see past her shoulder. What would it take to make
this woman see sense?

Lord Brachton placed a glass in
Audrey’s hand and took up a place next to her. His size in
comparison completely blocked the other side of the room. He must
have noticed the improper attention Millicent was showing his
brother-in-law and, if Brachton noticed, most likely everyone else
did as well since the man had been busy being a host since she
walked into the room and the others didn’t have the same
distractions.

“I understand ye, Lady Lydell and Grace
have ken each other since ye were babes.”

Audrey smiled up at the man. “Yes, we
have. It is kind of you and your wife to host this dinner for
Grace.”

He returned her smile. “Grace is
family.” He looked at Lady Lydell. “One should always be most
attentive to family before anythin’ else. Doona ye agree, Lady
Lydell.”

The woman blinked up at him, as if she
were trying to make sense of his words. Surely she understood what
he said, but did Millicent take his meaning?

Probably not. She could be thickheaded
when faced with innuendo. It was a shame since Audrey feared she
may have to just slap Millicent upside the head with a sledgehammer
before she would understands that she should cease her pursuit of
Jordan Trent.

“Supper is served,” the odd butler
announced and the room stirred to follow Lord and Lady Brachton
from the room. Audrey held back, not sure how to proceed since each
wife took the arm of their husband. This did not bode well. A
moment later, Jordan Trent stopped before her and bowed before
offering his arm.

Audrey simply looked at him.

“Ravishing,” he uttered.

“You’re ravenous? Then perhaps you
should go into supper.”

“I was speaking of you.” The corner of
his mouth twitched and that dimple peeked out for but a moment.
“You should wear blues more often. It is very becoming.”

Her cheeks began to warm. She would not
be susceptible to his charms.

“Of course, I think you could wear
sackcloth and still be as beautiful.”

No wonder women fell so easily for him,
but she would not be one of them. “That is utterly
ridiculous.”

“Perhaps your looking glasses at home
are faulty.” He frowned. “I would send you a new one, clear and
without blemish, but I believe that would be improper.”

Audrey gasped. “It most certainly
would.”

“Then you must simply trust that I find
you quite beautiful.” He lifted her hand but instead of placing a
kiss on the back as she expected, he turned it over and placed his
lips at the pulse in her wrist.

Goodness. Audrey grabbed her hand back
so quickly one would have thought she had been burned and perhaps
she had. The heat of his mouth still scorched her skin even through
the glove. “That was very improper,” she hissed.

“No more improper than kissing you in
the garden.”

Her face was now on fire and she
glanced about. Everyone else had gone to the dining room and they
were alone.

“Are you trying to ruin me?” She
hissed. “First you drag me into the garden last night and now you
keep me back after the others have left.”

“Of course not,” Trent answered
indignantly. “And, I most certainly did not drag you into the
garden. You went most willingly.”

Yes, but that was so she could tell him
exactly what she thought about him but he kissed her before she
could. “I am only being polite because we are in your family’s
home.” With that she turned on her heel and marched toward the
entrance.

Trent rushed ahead and blocked her
exist. “At least allow me to escort you in to supper.” He held out
his arm.

She clinched her jaw for a moment and
finally placed her arm through his. Her fingers tingled and her
body heated from his nearness. Why did she allow him to affect her
so and why couldn’t she control her attraction to him? She knew
what he was yet his sandalwood scent engulfed her and all she
wanted to do was close her eyes and inhale, and lean in a bit
closer. But, she would do none of those things. Wanting Jordan
Trent led to destruction.

They entered as the ladies were taking
their seats. Audrey glanced around. Across from her were John and
Elizabeth and next to the couple were Lord Marston and his wife.
Audrey was to be seated between Jordan Trent and Mr. Matthew Trent.
She glanced up the table and noted Millicent was seated closer to
the head of the table and thankfully on the same side as they. Her
appetite would have been completely ruined if she would have had to
watch Millicent moon over Trent all evening. As it was, having him
by her side was going to make eating difficult enough.

Millicent was straining to
look down the table and their eyes met. Her
friend
just gave her the angriest
look Audrey had ever seen. It quite chilled her. Goodness. This
infatuation has gone too far. It was supper and Audrey had no say
as to who she was to sit beside.

Jordan Trent waited until the servant
had pulled Audrey’s chair and seated her before taking his own and
leaned toward her. “I had hoped we could have the opportunity to
become reacquainted,” he whispered.

Audrey fluffed out her napkin and
placed it on her lap. “It is not necessary that we become
reacquainted.”

He turned fully towards her this time.
“I beg to differ. I thought we were becoming close last spring, yet
you suddenly wanted nothing to do with me.”