Seduced By a Lady's Heart (Lords of Honor #1)(11)

Yes, the loss of her husband had shown Eloise that there were never adequate words to capture an appropriate level of sympathy for death and impending death. Eloise longed to share the burden she’d carried these many years, but had been alone for so long, she oft forgot how to speak freely, and unfortunately with marriage to Colin, she’d been thrust into a society that did not value or welcome those honest, unfiltered words.

So, the secrets she’d carried, the same ones that haunted her dreams and days, remained firmly buried beneath the surface seen by none, suffered only by her.

“Whatever you or…” Emmaline looked to the door. “Mr. Jones may require, you need but ask.”

It was a gracious, sincere offer from an equally sincere woman. “Thank you,” she said. Though she could not impose upon the woman’s kindness more than she’d already done. Any other noblewoman would have had her tossed out for her clear orchestration of a meeting with their lead servant. Eloise finished her tea and set the cup down on the table. She came to her feet.

Emmaline immediately followed suit. “You must promise to visit again.” A mischievous sparkle reflected in her eyes.

Eloise widened her eyes with a sudden understanding. And for a moment, the two practically strangers, forged a bond as two ladies who according to what she’d gleaned from the gossip columns, both had known a similar unrequited regard. She gave a slight nod. “Thank you.” She paused. “For everything.”

Emmaline inclined her head and with a final smile, Eloise started for the door and then froze. She spun back around.

A question reflected in Emmaline’s eyes.

“It…I…my visit to the hospital, it was not solely about…” She flushed. “Arranging a meeting with you.” She’d needed to see the place Lucien had called home for too long. She’d needed to know about his life after war and Sara and Matthew. And she’d hated the glimpse she’d had into his world. All those words went unspoken.

“I know,” Emmaline said simply. She crossed over and rang the bell. “I could tell that with a single glance of you at London Hospital.”

Eloise wrinkled her brow. “How—?” The words on her lips died as Lucien appeared.

Emmaline smiled. “Jones, will you please escort Lady Sherborne out.” She held Eloise’s gaze. “Again, I look forward to your continued visit.”





Chapter 5


He always possessed powerful, long legs. Unfairly long, she’d always said as a girl. He’d always raced faster than her, an unfair advantage made all the greater by the skirts she’d donned as a small girl.

Eloise grit her teeth, quickening her steps to keep up with the deuced pace he’d set for them. He stalked purposefully through the enormous townhouse. She drew to a stop and waited for him to note her absence.

He turned right at the end of the corridor.

Filled with annoyance at his high-handedness, she tapped the tip of her slipper on the thin, red carpet and folded her arms across her chest.

Lucien came back around the corner, a thunderous expression on his face.

At the menacing stare trained on her, a desire to flee this fierce, scowling stranger consumed her. Eloise dug her toes into the carpet, refusing to be cowed. This was Lucien. He continued, coming closer. The boy who’d taught her to bait her hooks and fly fish. Gone were all traces of the grinning person he’d been.

He stopped with five feet of space between them. “My lady,” he bit out.

Eloise searched for Lady Emmaline before realizing… “Are you referring to me?” she snapped.

“What else would you have me call you, my lady?” She flinched at the coarse, clipped tones of his speech. Gone were the smooth, polished tones perfected by a nobleman’s son. “What?” he taunted. “Do you wonder what has happened to the fine gentleman you remember?”

“Yes,” she said with a bluntness that momentarily froze him. She quirked an eyebrow. “Come, now? Surely you’d not believe I would not note this transformation in you.” A transformation she didn’t like but certainly understood. When life robbed you of innocence and introduced you to ugliness, you either retreated into yourself, or allowed it to destroy you. She’d retreated. Eloise passed a sad glance up and down his beloved frame. Lucien had been destroyed.

She shook free the chill of that thought. No, she had to believe there was still…

“I see the look in your eyes,” he spat. “I know what you are thinking.”

“Do you?” she tossed back, not knowing where she found the courage to hurl a rejoinder at his harshly beautiful face.

“You wonder what happened to me.” He continued as though she’d not spoken. “You see the boy of your youth. A viscount’s son.”

She sucked in a breath. “That isn’t fair,” the child’s words tumbled from her lips, unheeded, unchecked. “I never cared about that, Lucien,” she said wounded by this charge. “It never mattered to me if you were…”

“A nobleman or a servant,” he said, his lips curled up in a jeering smile.

Ah, he saw her as a lady now. One who surely valued her new station and likely spurned the life he’d crafted as a servant. Then, he’d been gone many years now. He did not know she’d entered into a glittering world to which she’d never, nor would ever, truly belong. Wedding an earl didn’t make a young lady who’d not left the countryside until her eighteenth year a lady or hostess. It merely made her a countess. Eloise took a step. “Do you imagine I would judge you for being a servant?”