A Scandalous Deception Page 17

  Lissy stared down at her niece. She was a pretty little girl. Georgina’s eyes fluttered shut and she was instantly asleep. How wonderful it would be to fall asleep so easily.

  “Do you need anything, princess?” Luke asked, stepping closer to Juliet’s bedside.

  “I’m fine now that Lissy’s here.”

  “On that note—” he smiled at his wife “—I am suddenly feeling outnumbered. I think I shall go find our son and see how he is.”

  “He’s in the nursery,” Lissy said, “With Fin. Or at least they were a few moments ago.”

  “Perfect.” The expression Luke cast her made it quite clear he was very aware of everything that was going on between her and Fin, which should have sent her fleeing for safety but it was, instead, oddly reassuring. “He’ll help even out our numbers if you don’t run him off.”

  Lissy’s cheeks warmed, but she refused to be baited by Luke. He might suspect or even know what was going on, but Lissy wasn’t prepared to discuss the situation with him, at least not right now.

  “Go on with you,” Juliet urged. “I want to talk to my sister.”

  Luke nodded in farewell, then took his leave.

  “How are you?” Juliet asked as soon as they were alone.

  An embarrassed laugh escaped Lissy. “I should be asking you that. I’m so sorry I was no help at all to you. I’m the worst sister alive.” She lifted her gaze to meet Juliet’s. “If you never want to see me again…”

  Her sister scoffed in response. “Always so dramatic. You fainted, Felicity. I don’t think you had control over that.”

  “No,” she agreed. “But I was hardly any help.”

  “Luckily, I’ve done this before. I didn’t need help. I just need to make certain you’re all right.”

  Lissy nodded quickly. “I’m fine now. Fin—”

  “Yes, Fin,” Juliet interrupted. “What exactly is going on with Fin?”

  “Everything.” Lissy’s cheeks heated anew. Was she so easily seen through? She supposed it didn’t matter, not with Juliet. “Everything is going on with Fin. I’m not even certain how it started, but I am most in love with him. And he is quite in love with me.”

  The broadest smile Juliet had ever worn stretched across her face. “I had wondered how long it would take for the two of you to come to your senses.”

  Lissy’s mouth fell open. “I beg your pardon?”

  “Oh, don’t make me laugh,” her sister said on a chuckle. “It hurts to do so.”

  “What do you mean you wondered how long it would take us to come to our senses?” She got the feeling all of a sudden that something else was going on that she didn’t know a thing about.

  Juliet’s brown eyes twinkled happily. “You’ve bickered like a married couple forever, Lissy. He’s always trying to protect you from whatever scheme you’ve concocted and that’s exactly what he needs to bring a little excitement and levity to his life. And while you have complained endlessly about his staid and steady nature, you’ll never let anyone else utter an unkind word about him. You are the opposites of each other, but you balance each other out perfectly. You always have.”

  Lissy could only stare at her sister.

  “Why do you think I urged you to attend this season alone?” Juliet asked. “We thought…Well, truly, Caroline Staveley gets the credit for the plan. She—”

  “Caroline Staveley?” Lissy breathed out. “I barely even saw her in London.” The famed matchmaker couldn’t have plotted this all out. She just couldn’t have. Wouldn’t Lissy have realized if Caroline Staveley was behind all of this?

  “I’m sure Fin did. You don’t think he’d suddenly start showing up at social functions on his own, did you?”

  An uneasiness washed over Lissy. “You all played us.”

  Juliet shook her head. “We eased the way for the two of you to see each other in a new light. The rest was up to you.” Then her brown eyes twinkled once again. “Do tell me everything, Lissy. He is such a wonderful man. Do tell me you’re happy.”

  And she was happy. Happier than she’d ever been. But she was annoyed with her sister and Luke and Caroline and anyone else who sought to interfere in her life too. There was, after all, a rather large reason she’d never sought another match. And that reason had yet to be dealt with. “There’s something I should tell you, Jules,” she began, not certain how much she would tell her sister in the end. She certainly didn’t have it in her to tell her everything, not for the second time in one day.

  “What is it?” The twinkle in her eyes dulled a bit and her brow furrowed.

  But there was one thing she would learn anyway at this point. “You’ll find out one way or the other. And I’d rather you hear it from me, than from someone else.”

  “I don’t like the way you said that.”

  Lissy looked back down at little Georgina, asleep in her arms. Such a sweet little girl. She was much easier to look at just now than at her sister. “I’m not widowed,” she admitted. It was a bit easier to say that now that she’d told Fin everything. “My husband is an awful man. Three years away from him and I still have nightmares.”

  “You’re not widowed?” Juliet breathed out.

  “He is quite alive.” Lissy shook her head. “Fin says he can do something, I’m not sure what. But something to gain me a divorce or dissolve the marriage somehow. I don’t hold out a lot of hope for that, but I am willing to let him try.”

  “How are you not widowed?” her sister asked, shock and uneasiness lacing her voice.

  “It’s a very long story and I truly don’t want to dwell on the facts at the moment. Someday I’ll tell you all of it, but for now, please believe me when I say that if I didn’t escape when I did I would most likely be dead now.”

  “He hurt you?” Indignation seemed to rise up inside Juliet. “I’ll kill him myself.”

  Lissy couldn’t help but smile. “You don’t know how often I wished for your bravery, Jules.” She shook her head. “But that’s all in the past.” She heaved a sigh. “If Fin isn’t able to free me from this marriage, I’ll have to let him go. It wouldn’t be fair to him otherwise. And when that time comes, I’m going to need your bravado then.” If she wasn’t holding her niece, she’d have swiped at a tear that trailed down her cheek. “He’s so honorable, he’ll never leave me; but I couldn’t live with myself if my past foolishness stole his future.”

  She lifted her gaze to meet her sister’s once more just in time to see Juliet swipe at a tear of her own. “Why don’t we cross that bridge when we come to it, Lissy? If Fin says he can free you from this marriage, then he can. I would never bet against him.”

  Lissy nodded in response. “But if he can’t, I’m going to need your support, more than I’ve ever needed it.”

  A sad smile settled on her sister’s face. “Lissy, you have always had my support. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you. But don’t count Fin out.”

  “I have a daughter.” Luke Beckford’s face was slightly pale as he stepped just inside the nursery.

  Fin glanced toward the threshold from his spot in one of the chintz chairs and said, “And a son.” He gestured to Ben, stacking a pile of blocks on the floor at his feet.

  Luke glared at Fin as though he was most inept. “A daughter, Phineas.” He stressed the word as though there was some sort of secret meaning in it.

  “Yes,” Fin agreed, not knowing what was suddenly wrong with the man.

  “A daughter who is going to grow up and…And there are men like me out there.” Luke scrubbed a hand across his brow, then crossed the floor in just a few strides. “I have no idea how I’ll protect her.”

  Ah, now it made sense. A reformed rake might be a bit terrified at the prospect of raising a daughter versus a son. “That is a long time off, my friend.”

  “Not long enough.” Luke raked a hand through his hair and then dropped into the chair across from Fin.

  “I’m sure when the time comes, you’ll be prepared.”

  “I
wanted a boy.” Ben dropped his block and scrambled over to his father’s chair.

  Luke tousled his son’s hair. “That would have made things easier,” he muttered, but then he plucked the boy off the ground and settled him on his lap. “But girls can be delightful, Ben. Mama’s a girl, you know?”

  “And Aunt Lissy,” Fin tossed in.

  At that, Luke’s gaze shot to Fin’s. “Speaking of Aunt Lissy…” he began; his ever-knowing green eyes seemed to assess him. “She seemed well, just now.”

  He couldn’t help but grin widely in return. “We had a productive conversation today.”

  “And?” Luke prodded.

  “And,” Fin continued, “I’ll leave for London tomorrow. She’s in a bit of a predicament, but once I untangle her from all of that…”

  “Then you’ll be Ben’s Uncle Fin in more than just name?”

  Fin chuckled. Who would have guessed Luke Beckford was as much of a matchmaker as his sister? “I am hopeful she’ll agree to that, but it may take some time, and perhaps a fair amount of convincing.”

  “Still, that sounds more promising than it did this morning.”

  So much had changed since that morning. Lissy had finally confided in him. He’d learned about the awful existence she’d suffered in Boston, which was worse than anything he could have ever imagined. And he’d vowed to help her in any way he could. It felt like much more than just one day had passed. “Our path isn’t without its pitfalls, but I am more confident than I was at breakfast that things will turn out like I hope.”

  A genuine smile lit Luke’s face. “I am glad, Fin. You deserve happiness. You both do. And while a St. Claire girl can drive you to distraction, they are worth it.”

  But that Fin already knew.

  Lissy smiled as Fin’s hand landed on the small of her back as she ascended the staircase, headed to the family wing. Spending the day with him, with Juliet, Luke, Ben and little Georgina had been the balm her soul had needed. But the small pressure from his fingers warmed her from the inside out and her sister’s words rushed to her mind once more. She’d always loved Fin, but had she been in love with him for longer than she’d realized?

  She reached the top of the stairs and spun around to face him. With him a step lower than her, she was almost his height, as close as eye-to-eye as they could be. Surprise lit his dark eyes and Lissy’s heart overflowed with love for him. “You are the most remarkable man. Do you know that?”

  His lips tipped up to a most charming smile and his hands slid around her waist pulling her to him. “Flattery will get you everywhere, Lissy.” Then, ever so gently, he pressed his lips to hers.

  Her eyes fluttered closed and her hands settled on his shoulders. It was so hard to believe that her life was turning out so well, better than she could have possibly imagined. But she was starting to believe it, starting to picture a future with Fin, starting to hope that ugly shadow of Aaron Pierce would vanish forever.

  She pulled back slightly from him. “Will you stay with me tonight?”

  He looked rather smug all of a sudden, but then he was still a member of the male of the species. “Can’t live without me now, hmm?

  She quirked him a smile and said, “I’m certain I can hold out longer than you, Uncle Fin. Shall we put it to a contest?”

  His dark eyes narrowed perceptibly. “Felicity, if you ever call me that again…”

  “Yes?” she prodded. “What will you do, Uncle Fin?”

  “I will tickle you mercilessly, until you beg me to stop and even then I won’t. Not until I secure your promise to never call me that again.”

  Well that hardly sounded so bad, especially when it was such a simple way to get under his skin. Besides, she had the upper hand, at least right now. Lissy stepped slightly away from him, shot him what she hoped was her most impish smile and said, “You’ll have to catch me first, Uncle Fin.” And then she turned on her heel and bolted down the corridor towards her room.

  She almost made it. But just as she reached for her handle, Fin caught her about the waist and rasped against her ear, “You are in trouble now, my little minx.”

  He pushed the door open and scooped her up into his arms. Lissy squealed as he kicked the door closed behind them and then dropped her into the middle of her bed.

  His brown eyes flashed playfully as he yanked at his cravat. “I will show you no mercy, Lissy.”

  She giggled in response. “You don’t like ‘Uncle Fin’, is that what you’re saying?”

  “You’re only going to make it worse for yourself.” He tossed his jacket onto the floor.

  “It’s not formal enough, is it?” she teased. “You prefer Uncle Phineas, don’t you? Honestly, you should have mentioned that long before now. I am quite embarrassed.”

  A smile played about his lips but he said nothing else as he dropped his waistcoat onto the floor and tugged his shirt over his head.

  The sight of Fin’s bare torso made Lissy’s breath catch in her throat. He was handsome. His straight nose and strong jaw. His broad shoulders, his strong muscles and the light dusting of brown hair across his chest. Much more handsome than Michelangelo’s David. Much more handsome than any man in the world, she was most certain. “I love you, Fin,” she said softly, and she’d never meant anything as assuredly as she did those words.

  Fin shook his head, a most boyish expression on his face. “Oh, it’s too late for words of love to save you, Lady Felicity.” And then he dropped onto the bed beside her, grasped her waist in his hands and tickled her most feverishly.

  Lissy twisted and turned to get away from him, but she was laughing too hard to truly escape. “I pr-promise! I pr-promise!” she giggled.

  “What do you promise, my darling?” Fin returned so smoothly as though he was asking her to dance at a ball.

  She tried to catch her breath, but his assault didn’t lessen in the least. “I won’t c-c-call you Uncle Fin. I won’t.”

  He stopped tickling her. “What will you call me?” He rolled her beneath him and hovered over her, his dark hair falling across his brow.

  Lissy stared up at him. Her wonderful Fin, the most honest and true man she’d ever known. Her heart nearly overflowed for him. “My love?” she asked.

  The smile he brandished could have lit a hundred ballrooms. “I do like the sound of that,” he said before lowering his head and capturing her lips in a searing kiss.

  Tingles raced across Lissy’s skin and before she knew how he’d done it, Fin had tugged her bodice downward, freeing her breasts from their constraints. His gentle fingers caressed her bare flesh and Lissy ached for more. She groaned against his lips, and then those clever fingers of his teased her nipples until they were hard peaks, straining upwards.

  “Once again,” he whispered across her lips, “you are overdressed, Lissy.”

  But she wasn’t for long. Together they made quick work of her dress, her slippers, his trousers, his boots and were joined as one.

  Fin’s languid strokes were so careful, so loving, Lissy was in complete heaven. She might as well have floated right up to the clouds. And when she fell over that invisible precipice, Fin fell right along beside her.

  Then he dropped onto the bed, pulled her into his embrace and simply held her close.

  Lissy toyed with the bit of hair across his chest. “How long will you be gone?”

  His hand tightened on her waist. “I’m not sure, but I won’t be gone a moment longer than is absolutely necessary, sweetheart.”

  She smiled at that and then pressed her lips to his chest. “Do you want to see Edmund…Tell him about…us?”

  “I probably should,” he agreed. Then he kissed the top of her head and smoothed his hand down her side. “But I might just send him a note instead.”

  Lissy couldn’t help but giggle. It was such a wonderful feeling, knowing that he wanted to be with her as much as she wanted to be with him. It was a feeling she hadn’t expected to ever experience in her life. She pushed up against his chest t
o look down on him and said, “I will miss you.”

  “I should hope so,” he returned before pulling her down for another kiss.

  Traveling back to London wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as the trip to Prestwick Chase had been, but that was to be expected as Fin was traveling this leg alone. Borrowing Beckford’s driver, Fin had departed The Chase at dawn and traveled a good distance.

  When the carriage finally stopped at a coaching inn for the night, Fin entered the taproom, and was beyond surprised to hear his name called across the din.

  “Carraway!” Lord Staveley rose from his spot at a table in the far end of the taproom, waving his arm in the air. “Is Lady Felicity with you?”

  “Staveley?” Fin could hardly believe his eyes. Of all the people he thought he might encounter along the road, Viscount Staveley would never have topped his list. The man rarely left his own study. Fin pushed his way through the drunken patrons to Staveley’s table. “What are you doing here?”

  “Caroline said Felicity was traveling with you,” the man replied, gesturing to an empty seat at his table.

  “She was. I left her at Prestwick Chase. I’m on my way back to Town to attend to some business.” He slid into a seat across from the bookish viscount.

  “Ah.” Staveley nodded. “How is everyone at The Chase? Caroline’s been so worried about Juliet.”

  Fin couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face. Everyone at The Chase was fine. Especially a maddening little blonde that he couldn’t wait to get back to. But Staveley had asked about Juliet, and so Fin adjusted his thoughts accordingly. “She is quite well. She had her babe yesterday. A girl. Georgina.”

  “Georgina?” Staveley smiled as well.

  Fin laughed. “Born on Georgie’s birthday, actually.” And while in the past, even mentioning Georgie’s name would twist his heart, that wasn’t the case now. Oh, he’d always love her. She’d been his first true love. She was kind and compassionate. Honest and sincere. Perfect in nearly every way. But Lissy had somehow healed his broken heart, made him feel things he never thought he’d feel again. And for the first time in what seemed forever, the future didn’t seem as bleak as it once had. Just as soon as he dealt with the business of Lissy’s marriage, their lives together could truly begin.