Читать книгу Every Night I'm Yours - Christie Kelley - Страница 9

“I’ve decided to take a lover.”

Avis couldn’t believe she had just blurted out her news in such an indelicate manner. It was not quite the way she’d imagined telling her friends.

Jennette held her floral teacup halfway to her lips. Sophie’s mouth gaped open. Hardly the reaction Avis had expected from either of them. Silence filled the small room, deafening her with the empty sound.

“You cannot be serious,” Jennette finally said.

“Think of your reputation,” Sophie added. “You have always managed to keep your reputation intact even when you scorned your cousin’s generosity and decided to live on your own. Taking a man to your bed will ruin everything you have strived to keep sacred.”

“Why would you do such a thing?” Jennette implored.

Avis stood and paced the carpet by the fireplace. “I have given this much thought.” She had thought of little else for the past week. She knew she couldn’t tell them the truth. They just would not understand. Instead, she recounted to them the lie she’d practiced all week. “I never feel I capture the true…true…essence of the relationship between my characters. I don’t understand physical love.”

“Surely you have been kissed before?” Sophie asked.

“No,” Avis denied far too quickly and then turned to avoid Jennette’s prying stare. Only Jennette knew about her one and only kiss. A kiss on a wager, and not her wager.

“Really?” Sophie shook her head as if unable to believe a person could reach the age of six and twenty and never have kissed a man.

“Avis, why now?” Jennette asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You haven’t been yourself since your birthday last week. Is there something you’re not telling us?”

Avis sighed. “I am twenty-six. There are nineteen-year-olds who know more about what happens between a man and a woman than I do.”

Sophie tilted her head and asked, “Can’t you just read a book about it?”

She had tried that already and look where she landed—feeling even emptier than before. “A book will not give me the answers I need,” she finally replied.

“You must rethink this plan,” Jennette started again. “Your reputation would be at risk. Everything you love—your chances of publication, the parties and balls you enjoy, even our friendship. My mother would never let me associate with you again if word of this reached her ears.”

“And if you get with child?” Sophie asked softly.

Avis had to admit this one complication had not crossed her mind. A child. She could never have a baby—a child meant a husband and she would never have one of those. “It will only be one time. I certainly won’t get pregnant the first time.”

Jennette chuckled. “Remember Susanna Lindsay?”

“How do we know she really did that only one time?” Avis asked.

“She swore it was one time in the garden at Lady Wentworth’s ball.” Jennette twirled a strand of black hair around a finger. “One time, Avis.”

“There are ways to prevent conception,” Avis countered. Although she had no idea what that might entail.

“There are ways to prevent an unwanted pregnancy but they aren’t foolproof,” Sophie said. “I’m a perfect example of that. I wouldn’t be here today if these methods were perfected.”

Avis supposed a bastard daughter of an earl and an actress might just know a little about prevention. She sighed and sat back against the sofa, deflated.

“What if you change your mind regarding marriage?” Sophie asked. “Many men would not be pleased to learn you’re damaged goods.”

“I will never marry,” Avis replied with conviction. “I understand my reputation might be at risk, and I understand the other risks. If I get with child I can sell my house and move to the country as a ‘widow.’”

She sipped her tea and continued before her resolve weakened any further. “But I have decided on the perfect man. One who would never let a soul know what we have done.”

“Who is your victim?” Sophie asked.

Of course they wanted a name. “I really shouldn’t say.”

“I daresay she doesn’t wish to kiss and tell,” Sophie said with a laugh. Her comment brought giggles from Jennette.

Her censorious glare did nothing to stop their irreverent laughter. “Very well. Emory Billingsworth.”

All laughter stopped and a strident silence filled the salon. Sophie frowned. Jennette looked concerned and neither of her friends spoke for a full minute.

“Mr. Billingsworth?” Sophie echoed.

Jennette shifted in her seat. “I’d heard a rumor of him with Lady Hythe recently. They have become quite close. Some even speculate she would be willing to accept an offer from him.”

“I am quite certain he would have told me about that,” Avis said with a wave of her hand in dismissal. “He tells me everything.”

“Why would he tell you about another woman when you are—”

“He tells me everything,” Avis said before Jennette could speak of the money Avis loaned Emory when he needed it. Only Jennette knew about the money, and only because she had overheard them one day.

“I know my brother thinks rather poorly of him,” Jennette remarked.

“Why?” Avis asked, not that it mattered one way or the other what Lord Selby thought of Emory. She had known Emory for three years and he was a perfect gentleman and friend to her.

“I don’t know for certain. I just know he doesn’t have a good thing to say about him.”

“Have you spoken with him yet?” Sophie asked.

“No. The last time he called was on my birthday. He’s been occupied writing his book.”

“Oh,” she said in obvious relief. “Are you certain he is the right man for you, Avis?”

“Of course. He is a writer like me. He’s a wonderful and caring friend.”

“Yes, but do you truly desire him?” Sophie asked softly.

Sophie’s question stopped her short. Emory was quite handsome with his blonde hair and brown eyes. Just because her dream lover appeared to have much darker hair didn’t mean anything. Besides, Emory would do anything she needed and not because he was in wild, passionate love with her, but because they were close friends. She had no need for wild, passionate love. She only wanted to discover what happened between a man and a woman and how it felt. Perhaps then her dreams would stop frustrating her.

“I do think Emory is perfect for me.”

Sophie’s gray eyes bore into hers. “If you say so.”

“I will talk to him at my cousin’s ball tomorrow night. It will be far easier for us to slip away from the crowd unnoticed.” Avis smiled up at her friends. “You will be there, won’t you?”

“I have plans with my Aunt Harris,” Sophie said quickly. Which Avis knew meant her cousin had scratched Sophie’s name off the guest list.

“Yes, my brother said Lord Watton has some business to discuss with him so we must attend,” Jennette replied.

Avis wasn’t surprised. The new Lord Watton had not been pleased when he discovered the title came with the ancestral pile in Wiltshire and not much else. The majority of wealth her father had generated during his lifetime went to Avis upon his death two years ago. More than likely her inheritance provided him some relief from his guilt, not that the money offered a salve to her wounds.

A knock on the door sounded and Lord Selby’s low voice resonated from the hallway.

Jennette glanced toward the doorway then leaned in closer. “Think carefully on what you are about to do, Avis. You might be making the biggest mistake of your life.”

Avis grimaced. “I am quite certain I am not.”

“Only time will tell,” Sophie said in a haunting voice. “Only time will tell.”

Avis looked over to see Jennette’s highly annoying older brother Banning standing at the threshold. She pressed a hand to her stomach at the sight of the Earl of Selby. His black hair gleamed from the drops of rain he hadn’t yet wiped away.

He was wet, dripping water all over her marble floor. Now was her chance. She had waited weeks to get back at his last spiteful comments to her.

“You look like a drowned rat, Selby.”

His lips twitched slightly. “Hardly a rat, Miss Copley. Much more like the legendary selkies of Scotland.”

A selkie! The arrogance of the man astounded her. “Oh but I think the human form of the selkies is supposed to be irresistible.”

“And most women would say that was true of me,” he said with a wink and a smug smile.

“Not all women,” Avis replied tartly.

“I understand you recently had a birthday. So just how old are you now?”

“Still younger than you,” she bit out.

“Also true. But an aging man is seldom looked upon in the same light as an aging, unmarried woman.”

“Banning,” Jennette exclaimed. “That is enough.”

Avis turned her back on him for a moment. She hated how his comments always struck so deep with her and once more, he’d responded only to her waspish tongue. She should have bit her tongue rather than behave like such a shrew. Why after eight years couldn’t she put their animosity behind her?

“So where is the rest of the Spinster Club?” he drawled, leaning a broad shoulder against the door-frame.

The Spinster Club. The name he coined for the five of them years ago, before they were even considered on the shelf. Now most of the ton thought of Avis and her four friends as spinsters.

“Victoria and Elizabeth could not join us today,” Avis replied.

“Banning, I think we should take our leave now,” Jennette said.

“But I would be remiss in not wishing Miss Copley a belated happy birthday,” Selby retorted. “Happy birthday, Miss Copley.” He took her bare hand and gently kissed the top of it.

Sparks leapt up her arm from the brief contact. She tugged her hand back and looked away from him.

He moved back toward the doorway near Sophie but didn’t leave the room.

“I forgot to show you what Mr. Billingsworth gave me for my birthday,” Avis said to her friends. She held out the small pearl chain.

Selby muttered something, which made Sophie’s eyes widen but Avis couldn’t make out his comment. Most likely another derogatory remark about her age.

“It’s lovely, Avis,” Jennette said.

“Yes, lovely,” Sophie concurred, and then sent another strange glance toward Selby.

“Happy birthday, Miss Copley,” he said. “We really must take our leave now.”

“Good day, Lord Selby,” Avis said. She breathed a sigh of relief as his footsteps echoed down the hall.

Banning climbed into the carriage after Sophie and Jennette. The two women seemed unusually quiet after their visit with Avis. But after calling on Lady Ledbury’s daughter, Anne, and listening to her endless prattle about the musicale she attended last night, the silence of the carriage was more than welcome. There wasn’t one young woman currently out that made him want to consider marriage. His father had always spoken of the importance of finding the right woman for a wife. She must come from a good family, no scandals attached to her name, and wealth would only be a plus.

Lady Anne had all those qualifications, but the idea of spending the rest of his life with her set his stomach roiling. He had promised his mother he would seriously pursue marriage this Season. At one and thirty, he knew it was long past time to settle down and have children. The idea of children made him smile. The idea of a wife set his lips in a downward position.

Sophie’s light cough drew him out of his musing. Banning glanced at both women and knew something was going on between them today. Instead of talking, they kept giving odd looks to each other, which they appeared to understand, but he certainly did not. He wondered if he should ask them about their lack of conversation and then decided it was best to let the normally chatty ladies stay quiet.

Until Sophie could no longer hold her tongue and blurted out, “We can’t let her do this.”

“This is not the time,” Jennette warned, with a quick nod toward Banning.

“This may be the perfect time. Your brother might just be able to help us.”

Help them? With what? Instead of asking, he decided to wait to see what they would do. He leaned back against the velvet squabs of the carriage and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Sophie, she needs our help. Banning could never help her.”

Sophie raised an eyebrow. “Tell me, Lord Selby. What do you know of Emory Billingsworth?”

Warning signals flared throughout his brain. Was there more to Billingsworth and Avis’s relationship than friendship? “He is not a man I would want a friend of mine associating with.”

Sophie gave Jennette a smug smile.

“Why not?” Jennette asked.

“He’s not a man to be trusted,” Banning said.

“Could you give us a little more information?” Jennette complained. “Why can he not be trusted? What has he ever done to you that leads you to believe he is not a good man?”

Banning grimaced. Dreadful memories flashed through his mind. He couldn’t tell them everything he knew about Billingsworth, but he could give the women a reason to warn Avis if she was indeed the reason they were worried.

“Emory Billingsworth has a sordid past. His last three books have not sold. He is living on handouts and not just from Miss Copley.”

Sophie played with the folds of her gown. “So Mr. Billingsworth is using Avis for his own gains,” she concluded.

“I believe you understand me.”

The carriage pulled to a stop in front of Selby House in Grosvenor Square. Banning climbed down and held out his hand to assist both women from the carriage while a footman attempted to cover them all with an umbrella. Assuming their conversation finished, he walked inside his home, handed his wet greatcoat to Battenford and headed straight for his study. He didn’t need to know any more about what Avis Copley had in her head. In fact the less he knew, the better…at least for him.

Banning flexed his fists in frustration as he paced in his study. The woman made him insane.

What was she about? And how was Billingsworth involved?

Bloody hell. Avis Copley meant nothing to him.

Instead of thinking about her any further, he walked to the decanter on the corner cabinet and poured a brandy to chase away the chill from the cool June rain. The smooth liquid eased his irritation and warmed him. He dropped into the leather chair behind his mahogany desk, determined to put the infinitely frustrating woman out of his mind.

He stared at the papers in front of him. Only a few more weeks of Parliament then he could leave London and Avis behind for a few months. He shuffled through the missives and invitations until he heard a delicate cough. Glancing up, he saw Sophie standing there but looking behind her as if she wanted to make sure no one saw her.

“Miss Reynard?” He stood up, waiting for her to say something.

She turned her head back toward him. “Lord Selby, I must speak with you in private.”

“Where is Jennette?”

Sophie walked into the room and closed the door behind her. “Your mother needed her upstairs. I don’t have much time before she returns looking for me.”

“What is the matter?” He waited for her to take a seat across from him before returning to his chair.

“It’s Avis.”

“I assumed that from our conversation in the carriage. What about Miss Copley?”

“She plans to take Emory Billingsworth as her…her…”

“Her what?”

“Lover,” she whispered. Her cheeks reddened in embarrassment.

Banning’s blood went cold. “I had no idea she was in love with Billingsworth,” he said, staring at the desk.

“I don’t believe she is. They act far more like friends than lovers or even people in love with each other. If they love each other at all I fear it may be only in a sibling manner.”

“Then why?”

“She told us she believes this will help her write more realistic characters.”

Bloody hell it would. Yet something in Sophie’s voice gave him pause. People said she had visions and read futures. He wondered idly if perhaps she sensed the truth about Billingsworth.

“But you don’t believe her, do you?”

“No.” She raised her head slowly and looked him square in the eye. “But I don’t know her true reason. It might come to me in time, as in a dream. But for now…” Sophie shrugged.

“So why are you bringing this matter to me?” Avis Copley could do whatever she wished with whomever she wanted.

“Because I believe you have information that could stop her.”

He might, but Avis would never believe him. She thought far too highly of Billingsworth.

“And you must stop her,” Sophie whispered.

“Miss Copley and her love affair is none of my concern,” Banning replied harshly.

Miss Reynard glared at him. “Indeed? She is your sister’s dearest friend. Do you want Jennette’s reputation sullied by her association with Avis if she takes that libertine as her lover?”

Banning clenched his fists on the desk. As much as Jennette might not care if her reputation were tainted, he cared.

Miss Reynard continued to glare at him. “You will stop her.”

“Why me? You should stop her. After all you are her friend, not I.”

“I have no information about Mr. Billingsworth that would influence her. I’m quite certain you do. Tell her what you know about the man.”

“It is highly unlikely that Miss Copley would even believe me.”

“You must try,” she implored in a quieter tone. “If not for Avis, then do this for your sister.”

“Very well.” He stood to his full height and crossed his arms over his chest. “Miss Copley despises me. How exactly do you propose I prevent her from involving herself with him?”

“I am certain you shall devise something,” she answered sweetly. “If all else fails, lie to her.”

She rose and quickly headed for the door. Before she reached for the knob, she looked back at him.

“She intends to slip away at her cousin’s ball tomorrow night with Mr. Billingsworth. He normally leaves for his crumbling estate in Devon as soon as the Season ends. Prevent her from asking him before he leaves. Hopefully by the time he returns, she will have forgotten her mad idea.” She inclined her head toward him. “Good day, my lord.”

He mumbled something as she shut the door behind her but it certainly wasn’t “goodbye.”

One day.

He had one day to determine the best course of action. How had he allowed himself to be pulled into this? He did not even like Avis Copley. Well, that wasn’t exactly the truth. But like and lust were two very different emotions. It was the lust that always caused his frustration with her. Every time they were near each other they bickered. It kept the desire at bay and seemed a much better course of action than carrying her to his bed and keeping her there until their attraction waned.

Keeping her away from Billingsworth would not be easy. She would be wary if he suddenly followed her around at a ball. And Billingsworth would be suspicious if Banning attempted to befriend him after all that was between them.

Banning would have to make certain she never had the opportunity to speak with Billingsworth alone. It sounded like a simple plan, but everyone in the ton knew he despised Billingsworth, and everyone in the ton knew Avis Copley despised Banning.

The Ice Maiden had a long memory.

“Excuse me, my lord,” Battenford said from the doorway. “Lord Kesgrave is here.”

“Show him in.” Perhaps Trey could help him.

“Banning, I have news you might not want to hear,” Trey said upon entering the room. He sank into the nearest chair, pulled out a handkerchief, and wiped the droplets of rain from his face.

Banning poured a brandy and handed it to Trey before picking up his own snifter and slipping into the leather chair across from him. “All right, go ahead.”

“I stopped by Tattersall’s this afternoon and discovered Arthur’s Pride has been purchased in a private sale. It’s a damn shame. He would have made a great addition to our stables.”

“Yes, he will make a wonderful addition to our stables. Mate him with Delilah when she is ready.”

Trey shook his head. “Damnation, Ban. Do you get your way in all matters?”

“I certainly try,” he said with a smile. “Besides, I couldn’t let you get outbid. We needed another stud.”

Banning sipped his drink, wondering how to bring up the subject of Avis Copley and how best to solve her problem.

“Are you attending the Watton affair tomorrow?” Trey asked. “I understand he is very interested in investing some money. He might wish to throw some money toward the horses.”

One dilemma solved. “Yes, I am attending. And I could use your help, but not with Watton.”

“Oh?”

“I need to stick close to Emory Billingsworth.”

Trey raised a brow in question. “I see.”

“I need to keep someone from speaking with him.”

“Anyone I might know?”

Banning glanced down at the amber liquid in his glass. “I don’t believe you do.”

Trey leaned his head back and laughed. “Right. In other words, you are trying to prevent someone, and by someone I can only assume a woman, from contacting him.”

“Perhaps.”

“I know how you loathe the man. Of course I can help you.”

“And no questions about whom I’m trying to protect, or why?”

“Absolutely not,” Trey replied with a slight grin. “So how am I to help you?”

Trey sipped his brandy, then swirled the remaining liquid around in his glass as if bored with their conversation. Banning knew him well enough to be certain Trey was anything but bored.

“I need to stay close to Billingsworth, and you know it would be too irregular for me to suddenly interject myself with his crowd.”

Trey’s always-present smile faded as he stared into the empty firebox. “So we must find a mutual friend in Billingsworth’s group that we can talk to.”

“Anyone come to mind?” Banning had only one thought, but he wasn’t certain Trey would agree.

“Unfortunately, it has to be Somerton.”

Banning blew out a long breath. “Are you certain?”

“Yes.”

There was no one who could discover information on people like Somerton. He had contacts everywhere. And Banning wanted to know exactly what Billingsworth was about now.

“I shall talk to him.” Trey blew out a long breath. “Somerton and I go back to Harrow. While we may move in different circles now, I believe he may still owe me one favor.”

“So, if he agrees, then all we have to do is pretend I wish to speak with him.”

“We wish to speak with him. You don’t know Somerton as I do. Which is more than likely a good thing.”

“Very well, then,” Banning replied, holding his glass up in salute. Now he had to determine how to deal with Avis Copley’s anger if she discovered his plan. The woman was more stubborn than a mule. Like his sister, once Avis had an idea in her head there was no dissuading her. But he would stop her, for her own sake.