Dominic winked. “My dear, I shall help you more than you anticipate, but you have to agree to work with me on this. I have a plan, and I believe it will work.”
“What’s your plan, my lord? I’m most eager to hear.”
Dominic threw back his head and laughed. Enthusiasm bubbled inside her until she almost couldn’t stand it. But she would be patient, because having Trey’s love was the only thing that would make her happy and complete.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Trey paced thefloor of the drawing room while his mother looked through Judith’s prospective husbands checklist for the tenth time. She jotted down notes of what she knew about them. He passed the window and stopped to gaze across the meadow, watching for Judith and Hawthorne to return. They’d been gone a good hour.
Surprisingly, Judith looked more refreshed this afternoon when she entered the drawing room than he figured she should. Especially after last night. She didn’t have dark circles under her eyes from lack of sleep. Instead, her eyes gleamed with luster when she’d first glanced his way.
Had he been the only one who’d lain in bed, tossing and turning, wondering why they could never be together?
Trey stopped by the window and looked out again. His life was torture, and knowing she was out with his best friend didn’t help matters, either. Although Judith tried to assure him she was in good hands, Trey knew the way his friend worked. Hawthorne courted the women he wanted to make his mistress, making them think they had a chance to become the next Lady of the manor. Hawthorne didn’t have a heart when it came to women. He used them for the same reasons Trey did.
Yet, somehow, he believed Judith didn’t have those feelings for the marquess. Not when she looked at Trey with adoringeyes, and stroked him with a lover’s touch like she had by the stairs earlier.
Groaning silently, he rested his forehead on the glass pane. He knew that look. It had been on Judith’s face for a few days now. The same look most women gave him when they were infatuated. Judith didn’t have a reason to love another man now. Could he have replaced Mr. Cutler in her heart already?
Although the idea caused excitement to stir in his chest, he tried to convince himself he didn’t want her to think of him in such high regard. He didn’t want her love, and to be sure, he didn’t deserve it.
Or did he?
“Trey, dear?”
His mother’s shrill voice jerked him out of his thoughts. “Yes, Mother.”
“Do you think Lord Hawthorne would like to court Judith? He has been coming around quite often, but he has not made his intentions known.”
Inwardly, Trey seethed. “I would not know, Mother.”
“Well, I think Lord Hawthorne and Judith suit very well. I think he will make her a perfect husband. Do you not agree?”
He balled his hands into fists and shoved them into his pockets. Taking deep breaths, he tried to calm his ire. Why couldn’t his mother see how wrong it would be to pair Judith with Nic?
“Mother,” he began through clenched teeth, “I think it has slipped your mind that Lord Hawthorne is a titled rogue. Therefore, pairing him with Judith is out of the question. She does not need a man like that.” He took another deep breath. “She requires a man who will stay faithful to her, who will love and cherish her forever.”
He turned to look at his mother. Her frown deepened as she sank into the sofa, her shoulders drooping. He closed his eyesand cursed his inability to think before speaking. His mother had also deserved a better husband than the one she married. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a thing his mother could have done about her marriage, short of divorcing, anyway.
“Mother, forgive me.” He walked to her and touched her shoulders, giving them a gentle squeeze. “I didn’t think—”
“No need to apologize, my dear,” she said softly. “You are absolutely right. Judith is a very special young woman, and she deserves only the best.” She patted his hand and looked up at him. “However, whether you have heard this or not, I have been told reformed rakes make the best husbands.”
He grinned. “They do?”
“Mind you, I don’t know this first hand, but I have friends who swear this is true.”
He bent and kissed her cheek. “Then I’m quite certain Lord Hawthorne will make some lovely creature a wonderful husband. Unfortunately, it will not be our Judith.”
She pulled back to look him in the eyes. “And pray, why not?”
He straightened. Once again, irritation flowed through him like water over jagged rocks. He didn’t want his best friend touching and kissing the woman Trey could not get out of his mind.
“The subject is closed, Mother. Hawthorne will not be considered.” He folded his arms and stalked across the room to the window again. “Dominic is my friend, and as my friend, he better have the decency to remain a gentleman in Judith’s presence. I will not ever consider this match, so I expect you to drop the matter.”
“Yes, dear.”
His mother remained on the sofa as she looked at the list of prospective suitors. He’d like to toss the paper in the fire and never think of it again. The list turned his stomach in the worst way.
