The Desires of a Countess (18 page)

“Ginny!” It was her mother who spoke this time. She
stepped forward with eyes were filled with tears.

Ginny stared at the group of them in utter shock.
Was she asleep? If so, she would do almost anything to wake from
this nightmare.

“Oh, my dear, you look so lovely,” her mother
continued.

No, it wasn’t a dream, her entire estranged family
stood before her and she felt… well, there was anger, but also a
twinge of joy.

She spun to face Simon because she was unable to
think of anything to say to her family.

“What did you do?” she asked, shaking his arm from
hers as she stared up at him.

He drew back from her anger with a shake of his
head. “I wrote to your family. I thought-”

She blinked back sudden tears as emotions bubbled to
the surface. “You had no right. No right.” She took Jack from his
arms and turned toward the stairs. Doing her best to avoid looking
at her family, she began to climb up to her chambers.

“I don’t want any of you here.”

Then she bit back a sob and hurried to her room to
escape the flood of memories and emotions that assailed her when
she looked into her mother’s eyes.

Chapter Thirteen

Simon stared at Ginny’s retreating back in utter
shock. Though she’d claimed she didn’t want to see her family, he
had been certain that when they actually appeared in her sitting
room, she would be pleased. He couldn’t imagine being estranged
from those he loved as long as she’d been. Yet her response was one
of anger and upset, which took him completely off guard.

Harriet muttered an apology to the group and hurried
upstairs after her friend.

Simon was drawn back to Ginny’s family when her
mother let out a low sob and covered her eyes. The woman who he
assumed was Ginny’s sister put her arm around the older woman.

“We didn’t expect anything different, Mama. It’s
going to take time,” she said as she comforted her mother by
smoothing her hand over her arm.

Noah Jordan let out a long sigh and gave Simon a
forced smile. “Forgive our manners, this must be very awkward for
you. Perhaps we should have a round of introductions. I’m Noah
Jordan and this is my wife, Marion.” He motioned to the
chestnut-haired woman who’d taken his arm with a sad smile. “My
sister Audrey and her husband, Griffin Berenger. And our mother,
Lady Tabitha Jordan.”

Simon nodded to the grim group. “And I’m Simon
Webber, Ginny’s… Lady Westdale’s late husband’s cousin. I’m the
trustee of Jack’s inheritance.”

Noah nodded, then turned to his brother-in-law.
“Grif, why don’t you take the ladies home? There isn’t anything
more to be done tonight. I’ll follow in a moment, I’d like to talk
to Mr. Webber.”

Marion Jordan touched her husband’s arm gently.
“Noah, would you like me to stay?”

Noah raised her hand to his lips and placed a gentle
kiss on her wrist. “No, love. Go with Griffin and Audrey. I’d like
to speak to Mr. Webber alone.”

“Thank you for trying anyway,” Tabitha Jordan said
to Simon as she passed by. “We appreciate it.”

Noah folded his mother into a hug. “Chin up, Mama.
We’ll get another chance.”

Tabitha smiled at her son and then once more at
Simon before the Jordan clan filed out to their waiting carriages.
Simon marveled at how much a family they truly were. They
practically radiated love. Why would Ginny ever want to leave
that?

He felt Noah’s eyes on him and turned to the man.
His face was unreadable.

“Have a sherry with me?” he asked with a smile.

“Yes.” Simon motioned to the room where Noah and his
family had awaited Ginny’s arrival. He sat while Noah prepared
their drinks. He handed Simon one, then sank into the chair across
from him to stare at him with dark blue eyes. They were the same
startling color as Ginny’s and put Simon to mind of Noah’s sister
when she was angry, as she undoubtedly was at the moment.

He cleared his throat uncomfortably. “You probably
don’t remember, but we met a few years ago-”

Noah nodded instantly. “Yes. I was a bit trapped in
France.” The other man grinned sheepishly. “You helped my sister
and I escape a sticky situation with one of your ships. I haven’t
forgotten that.”

Simon smiled at the memory. “Do you still work for
the government?”

Noah laughed. “If I were, I couldn’t tell you, but
I’m not anymore. I’m just a Marquis now.” He cocked his head and
his smile fell. “But I think we’re both avoiding the true subject.
I take it you haven’t had an easy time with my sister.”

That was one way to put it. “Not always.”

“Then you’ve earned that drink. God knows when Ginny
gets it in her head to be difficult, she can be the most
exasperating person to deal with.”

A prick of anger streaked through Simon at Noah’s
subtle deprecation of his sister. He couldn’t just let a comment
like that sit. His voice was cold when he said, “But what man
wouldn’t be intrigued by such a challenge?”

Now the Jordan blue eyes narrowed with interest.
“Indeed.”

That one word said it all. Simon was well aware he
was being sized up, analyzed for weaknesses as well as strengths.
And he didn’t blame Noah Jordan one bit. If he had a sister who had
arrived in London with a strange man, he would have done the very
same. In fact, it pleased him that despite Ginny’s obvious
difficulties with her family, they continued to protect her.

Noah motioned to Simon’s left eye with one hand.
“Did she give you that?”

Simon drew back in surprise. After a full week of
healing, his black eye was no more than a faint shadow. Most people
wouldn’t have even noticed it. But then, Noah Jordan had once been
a spy. His life’s work had been to notice the small details most
people overlooked.

What would the man think if he knew Simon had been
with Ginny in the most intimate ways possible?

He shrugged off the Noah’s question. “Perhaps you’d
like to tell me what happened here tonight?”

Noah tilted his head. “Perhaps. Why do you want to
know?”

Simon grimaced. He wondered that himself,
sometimes.

“Because I have the feeling Lady Westdale will make
me pay for it later. I could see in her eyes the betrayal she felt
because of my meddling.”

“It’s a long story.” Noah rose from his chair and
moved to the fire. He turned to lean against the mantel as he
spoke. “My mother always encouraged my sisters to marry well. To
seek out good matches rather than love. It wasn’t that she didn’t
want them to be happy, but she wanted them to be taken care of
first.”

Simon nodded. He could understand that. If his
mother had married for status rather than what she perceived as
love, perhaps she wouldn’t have been forced to endure a man who
left her without a backward glance. Love was fleeting but security
was forever.

Noah smiled. “My sister Audrey bucked my mother’s
rules and ran away to work with me. After that, Mother put an even
tighter rein on Ginny, and my younger sister did as she was told.
She married the man my mother chose without argument. Of course,
that marriage turned out to be one that caused Ginny so much
pain.”

“I’ve seen some of the trouble my cousin brought to
her,” Simon answered with a grim nod. He downed his remaining drink
in one fiery swig. “He didn’t deserve her.”

Noah arched an eyebrow at Simon’s outburst. Simon
thought the other man would say something about it, but instead he
sighed. “No, he didn’t. My mother tried to apologize once we
realized how unhappy she was, but Ginny was already angry. And her
anger only intensified when Audrey returned. She married the man
she always loved. Then I married for love, as well.”

Simon let out a long breath. “And Ginny felt like
she had been sacrificed while the rest of you were allowed the
happiness she would never have.”

Noah’s gaze raked over him with shrewd observation.
“Yes. You’re starting to know my youngest sister very well, Mr.
Webber.”

Simon shrugged. Lord Woodbury didn’t know the half
of it. But he certainly understood Ginny more now that he’d heard
the story. No wonder she hadn’t wanted to see her family. She’d
taken the pain and disappointment she felt about her own unhappy
marriage and turned it on them.

“It isn’t a rational reaction,” he murmured.

“No.” Noah shrugged. “But it doesn’t really matter
because it’s how she feels. I can only hope she’ll let go of that
anger now that Blanchard is dead.”

Simon had never been so happy about that fact
before. At least dead, his cousin couldn’t harm Ginny.

“Your cousin took the joy from my sister’s eyes and
replaced it with bitterness. And I wonder what you plan to do to
change that,” Noah continued with a pointed stare.

The other man’s statement hit him like a punch in
the gut. Simon lifted his eyes. “What do you mean by that?”

Noah arched an eyebrow. “I saw the way my sister
looked at you when my family and I came out of the parlor. No woman
feels that depth of betrayal unless she’s tied to a man in some
way.”

“You must be mistaken.” Simon clutched his drink
with suddenly trembling fingers.

Noah ignored him. “And no man gets as upset about a
woman’s anger as you are unless he feels something for her in
return.” He crossed over to Simon where he held out a hand to him.
Simon took it and the two men shook. “I should be off. My wife will
wait up until she can make sure I’m not brokenhearted about my
sister.”

Simon managed to nod though Noah’s words still
echoed in his head and affected him more than he wanted to admit.
He followed the other man to the front door. There, Noah stopped
and turned back.

“Though my sister may put on a face of steel, you’d
do well to remember she has a heart underneath. One that has been
broken in the past. If you forget that, you’ll have me to contend
with.” The other man leaned closer. “I am a good friend to have,
Mr. Webber. But I’m a terrible enemy.”

Simon nodded grimly. In any other situation he
wouldn’t have tolerated being threatened. But he understood why
Noah Jordan made his expectations clear. He respected him for
protecting his sister now, the way he hadn’t been able to in the
past.

“I understand.”

“Good evening.” With a nod of his head, Noah
left.

Simon turned to look up the long staircase where
Ginny had gone. Part of him longed to see her. To talk to her about
what had gone wrong in her past. But the emotions were too raw. For
him, as much as for her.

Tonight he’d let her get over her shock, but
tomorrow he would speak to her. Perhaps he could even help her find
her way back to her family. Because the longer he knew Ginny
Blanchard, the more he wanted to bring the joy back to her eyes
that his cousin had stolen all those years ago.

***

Ginny stood on the front step of Simon’s townhouse
with a scowl on her face that would have withered a weaker person.
Which Simon’s butler was not.

“I said I wish to see Mr. Webber.”

“And if you give me your card, my lady, I will see
if he is in residence at the moment,” the man said in a calm voice
that only upset Ginny more. She’d come here for a showdown and she
wasn’t going to leave until she had one.

“I
know
the man is in residence!” she
snapped. “I arrived in London with him last night. Now let me see
him.”

With a tolerant look she was sure this man had
practiced for at least the last two hundred years, the butler
opened the door enough to allow her to pass. “I will show you to
the parlor while I fetch Mr. Webber.”

Ginny stormed in. The man’s eyes widened when he
realized she had no maid or escort. She didn’t care. If she was
going to have a fight with Simon Webber, she didn’t intend to do it
with witnesses.

“This way, my lady.” He motioned toward a room. Once
she was inside, he pulled the door closed behind him.

Ginny threw herself into a chair to wait. Her anger
cooled the moment she looked around her. The room, the whole place,
was nothing like Simon. It didn’t have his masculinity or his
style. Obviously he’d bought the townhouse and never bothered to
renovate. And why would he? He lived on his ship most of the time.
His cabin would reflect him.

But how?

“Damn it.”

Rising to her feet, she began to pace the room. She
hadn’t come here for this.

She gasped with a sudden, troubling thought. This
was exactly what she had done to him when he’d first come to
Westdale. She had put him in a room for an hour and a quarter. If
Simon were doing that to her…

No, she wouldn’t let him.

She slipped to the door and opened it a crack. There
was no one around. With stealth, she crept into the hall and headed
up the stairs. Feeling guilty as a thief, she eased down the
hallway and looked at all the closed doors. Any one of them could
hide Simon. She opened the first to find an empty guestroom.
Another was an office, but Simon didn’t lurk inside.

At the third, she found what she was looking for.
She opened the door and could hear the sound of someone moving
about in the next room. It was a private chamber. The room she
stood in was for dressing and the next was probably a bedroom. She
drew in a deep breath and was ready to begin her lecture when the
bedroom door opened and Simon came out.

Completely naked.

She let out a gasp of shock as their eyes met. He
looked just as surprised to see her in his room when he was
indecent, but did nothing to cover himself.

The last time she’d seen Simon like this was in
Henry’s office when they’d made love. The room had been dim, and
she hadn’t gotten a full look at him because she’d been too lost in
sensation to fully comprehend anything else.