All information that she had been able to discover over the years had not swayed her from her belief that the mummy and other stolen valuables were hidden away somewhere at Wyndhill Park. Not that Garretson had taken the items, but someone had and Eliza was determined to finally find the mummy and this time she would not be caught until she had completed her task.
“You watch Garretson in a manner that I am not certain if you wish to kiss him or kick him.”
Kiss him was her automatic reaction, which Eliza would never admit to her friend, Lady Victoria Westbrook, or anyone else for that matter.
“I simply find pleasure in irritating him.”
“As you have done these past nine years.”
“One must take enjoyment where they can.” Eliza chuckled.
“How did you end up at Wyndhill Park all those years ago?” Victoria asked. “You never did tell us. Nor did you tell us why you were never allowed to return.” She leaned in close. “Is it because he nearly ruined you?” Mischief twinkled in Victoria’s eyes.
Eliza’s face burned and she quickly glanced around to make certain that none of the guests had heard her friend’s whispered question. “It is not important.”
Only Olivia and Victoria knew of that encounter because they would never tell another soul.
The moment that Eliza had laid eyes on the Earl of Garretson, she had been smitten. After she had fallen into the lake and witnessed how he had looked into her eyes and then at her body, his blue eyes darkening, she had taken a risk and kissed him.
She knew that he had enjoyed the kiss as much as she, and it hadn’t simply been a kiss because he had pulled her close, so close that only their clothing kept their skin from touching as his hands roamed up and down her back, his heated kisses devouring and her first real taste of passion. Then he had set her aside and rejected her.
Somehow that rejection had hurt twice as much as when her parents kept forgetting to bring her home from school. Nobody liked to be forgotten or set aside. But at least she still had her four dearest friends, even if they did not see each other as often as they wished.
Chapter2
What the blazeshad Eliza meant that one could only hope? What kind of trouble did she want to get up to being chaperone free?
Did he even want to know?
That question had bothered him all last evening and into this morning, and even now as he watched her at the far end of the table while guests enjoyed the wedding supper that had followed the nuptials.
Eliza Weston was the type of woman who would drive any man to Bedlam. Now she was to be his neighbor for the next two months, at the very least.
There was something about Eliza that made Lucian forget reason and he could not begin to understand why as it made no sense. She was the last person who should occupy his thoughts.
He was calm, reasonable, mature, and not given to flights of fancy.
She lived in a world where she let her imagination rule and had once believed in the possibility of witches, vampires, and ghosts. She possessed not one ounce of decorum and lacked discipline. It was no wonder that she had never married. What kind of man would want a woman like her as a wife?
Still, no female before or since they had kissed had ever tempted him the way Eliza had and still did.
She had taken a seat next to his brother, Micah, and the two seemed to be having quite a delightful discussion. Occasionally their laughter drew the attention of the other guests, and while Lucian should be irritated, he was not and wished there were times that he too could let go of his control.
He had been freer with his emotions once. Laughed easier and found enjoyment, but the weight of the earldom had settled on his shoulders at the age of sixteen and grew heavier with each year. By the time his sister had married and brothers had grown into men, what humor Lucian had once possessed was gone, leaving behind a serious, responsible gentleman.
And he certainly had not experienced a great passion since his encounter with Eliza by the lake years ago.
That did not mean that he’d been chaste. He’d had mistresses over the years, but that was to fulfill a need and intimacy that only involved the body, and no part of his soul, unlike the one time that Eliza’s lips had touched his.
Lucian also could not be angry with Eliza and Micah’s enjoyment simply because this was the first time that Lucian had seen his brother truly laugh since he returned from war. Just like responsibilities had stolen Lucian’s happiness, he had feared war had stolen the same from Micah. While Micah’s body may never heal from his injuries, perhaps his soul had.
Eliza laughed again.
She was everything Lucian was not, but what he wished he could be. Perhaps that was where the attraction began. He had become a recluse because he became nearly overwhelmed in crowds. Perhaps it wasn't the crowds of people, but his experience after he came to realize that everyone was listening to anything he said while in Society, and if a wrong word or phrase was muttered, it was commented upon. Except not to him but whispered in ears behind raised fans.
Bloody gossip!
He hated it and it stripped away any privacy anyone may wish to hold. And because Lucian was a private person who wished to keep his secrets, he became more silent. The last thing he ever wanted was for him or anyone in his family to be the topic of conversation, especially by ill-intentioned members of theton.
