Chapter Three
Liam hated travel.He enjoyed a long ride on horseback as much as the next man, but rapid travel from London to Edinburgh required either a coach and many, many horses—which he did not possess—or a seat on the mail coach. Thankfully, the weather was good and the cheapest seats—on top of the vehicle—were actually the finest. He could set his face to the wind and not smell the onion vinegar stench rolling off the person next to him. He could lean against the luggage set at his back and dream of what he would do with all of Lady Clara’s money. And—on the return trip to London—he could plot the best and most dramatic way to save Clara’s best friend Lilah from a potentially unwanted marriage.
Still, the entire trip had been exhausting and he barely managed the time to clean up before rushing to the big ball that marked Aaron’s ascension to his title as the Earl of Kittrel. Liam was dressed in his best English finery, but he still had trouble making it inside the ball. In his haste, he’d left his invitation in his rooms and the new staff appeared to be very good at their jobs.
When had Clara figured out how to manage her servants? She was notoriously bad at it.
In the end, he had to slip in through the back where the entertainers were departing and then duck through the guests just in time to disrupt Aaron’s very public proposal to Miss Rees.
Oh hell.
But before he could explain himself, one lady—the most important one—cried out.
“Liam! You’re back?” cried Lady Clara.
He flashed a smile at her and would have winked, but he was momentarily struck by her beauty. She was not a lady who cared about her appearance unless she was deliberately going against trends and wearing something outlandish, as she had on their walk in Hyde Park. But this time she had dressed as hostess to her brother in a gown that reflected her family’s colors.
She wore burgundy in a shimmery dress that emphasized her height and plumped her breasts enough to show an enticing shadow of cleavage. Her hair—normally trapped in a tight bun—now flowed in soft brown curls that caught the light enough to give her highlights of gold. Even her eyes picked up the golden hue, turning her normally green eyes into a mesmerizing cat’s eye as she unconsciously stepped toward him.
He’d caught her, he realized. She was coming to him now, happy to see him, and anxious to be by his side. All he need do was close the trap. But first they had to wait until Aaron finished his proposal.
It was a surprise to see the normally unflappable man drop to his knee before Miss Rees. The lady was a lovely woman, but a known bastard. Liam never would have guessed that an earl would propose to a by-blow, even one as sweet as Miss Rees. But he was learning that when it came to Lady Clara and her brother, nothing was exactly as it seemed.
Except, of course, for now when it seemed that the two were desperately in love. Hopefully, the romantic scene softened Lady Clara’s heart as well. With that thought in mind, he took Clara’s hand, intending to take advantage of the moment.
“Let’s step outside,” he began, but she cut him off.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were going to Scotland?”
Because he’d run out of ways to capture her wandering attention. That meant it was time for a sudden, mysterious absence. He’d hoped to spark a longing in her for him, and from the way she was beaming at him now, he’d succeeded.
“There wasn’t time,” he said.
“Is Lilah really a Scottish heiress?” she asked. “I cannot believe it.”
Neither had he, at first, but the clues were there. All he’d had to do was follow them. “She has to go to Edinburgh to claim it, of course. But now she need not marry your brother for fear of poverty. She has her own money.”
“But she loves Aaron!”
He nodded. “I can see that, and now so can he.” He’d managed to get them walking, heading away from people who tried to get her attention. She was in a talkative mood, and he was loath to share the moment with anyone else.
“Lilah wasn’t impoverished. She runs a registry office.”
He nodded. But he knew much better than Clara how very little profit came from that endeavor. “In my experience,” he said sadly, “money or the lack thereof taints every human endeavor.”
The lady frowned at him. “That is a very cynical statement.”
Only a wealthy woman would think that. “Perhaps you can persuade me differently as we dance?”
The musicians were starting again, and he had already noted that she did not wear a dancing card upon her wrist. That wasn’t so unusual. She was the hostess of the event, and would have other tasks beyond dancing the night away. But it also allowed him to claim her hand whenever she was free. Which was now.
“Oh, my lord,” she said with a rueful smile. “I would much prefer to take a walk. Perhaps we could stroll to the refreshment table.”
The idea appealed. He hadn’t eaten since early this morning and was very hungry. But something in her expression told him she was lying. He hadn’t quite determined what exactly was her “dishonesty tell” but he knew it, nonetheless.
“Are you perhaps embarrassed to be seen dancing with a Scot?”
Her eyes widened and she drew back with an angry glare. “Of course not! Whyever would you say that?”
