Tenacious Trents 03 - A Reluctant Rake (10 page)

Lady Lydell reached out and grabbed his
jacket. Jordan tried to shake her off but the woman had a death
grip.

“Come to me tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?”

“Yes,” her voice was low and sultry as
if she were trying to be seductive.

If she were trying to seduce him it was
having the opposite affect and Jordan couldn’t wait to get out of
her clutches, literally, since she had both hands anchored on his
jacket preventing him from going anywhere. He kept backing up until
his was stopped by the hard plaster on the wall.

“After Lydell leaves for Parliament.”
She ran a tongue over her upper lip. “I’ll be waiting for you so we
can renew our relationship.”

“Relationship?” Was this woman
mad?

“One night was not enough for me and I
am certain it wasn’t for you.”

“One night?” His throat was closing.
What the bloody hell was she talking about?

“I need you, Jordan. Don’t make me wait
any longer.” She went up on her toes as a hand came around the back
of his head, trying to force his face towards hers. He was not
going to kiss her. For one thing, he had absolutely no desire to
taste those lips and second, she was married to Lydell. He wasn’t a
close friend, but friend enough and even if he wasn’t, Jordan never
toyed with married women.

He fought against her hand and grabbed
her upper arms, forcing her away from him. “I am afraid you are
mistaken.”

Lady Lydell’s bottom lip jutted out in
a pout. “I should have known you would be this way. The entire
situation must have hurt you deeply.”

“What situation?” Jordan knew he
shouldn’t have raised his voice but the woman was not in her right
mind.

“My marriage to Lydell of
course.”

Jordan pushed her further away and
stepped into the hall. He wasn’t about to let her get him against a
wall again. “I wish you much joy in your marriage. Now, if you will
excuse me.” He turned to find Lydell standing in the doorway of the
dining room. Lydell shook his head sadly and returned inside. Good
Lord, how much had the man witnessed. Hopefully he saw enough to
know that Jordan was not the pursuer. Jordan turned on his heel to
march toward the drawing room where the ladies had gathered only to
find Miss Montgomery watching him and Lady Lydell. He stifled a
groan. Would she believe him if he explained, or did she assume the
worst?

“Bloody hell!” he muttered under his
breath and left the house. He would give his sister and Brachton
his excuses later, once he figured out how to explain this odd
situation.

Audrey took a deep breath and exhaled
as she stepped inside Hyde Park. This was exactly what she needed.
A quiet walk in the fresh air to clear her mind. It was early
enough so she shouldn’t be disturbed. The only people in the park
at this time were nurses, nannies or governesses with their charges
and a few gentlemen riding along Rotten Row. She needed to think
and make sense of what she had witnessed last evening and her room
had become far too confining, especially after tossing and turning
all night.

Had she been wrong about Jordan Trent?
Whatever notions Millicent had about their relationship were
fanciful indeed, but just how fanciful. If she read Mr. Trent’s
expression correctly, the man almost panicked and had a look of
utter terror on his face when Millicent had him backed against the
wall. While Millicent was going on about meeting him and talking
about their relationship Mr. Trent had been dumbfounded. Had
Millicent invented the entire situation?

No. Audrey shook the thought from her
head. What woman would create a tale as damaging as being bedded
without the benefit of marriage? Yet, she couldn’t believe her
parents wouldn’t have forced Mr. Trent to marry Millicent if he had
seduced her.

But why claim Mr. Trent to be the
father if he hadn’t even been intimate with her?

Audrey rubbed her temples, wishing the
headache that had plagued her since yesterday would
disappear.

“Are you alright, Miss
Montgomery?”

Audrey turned and offered her maid a
weak smile. “I am fine. I just need to work something
through.”

The young woman nodded and continued
walking a few paces behind Audrey.

“Audrey, is that you?”

She turned to find Millicent strolling
beside a carriage being pushed by a servant. She was the last
person Audrey wanted to see at the moment.

Her friend hurried to catch up and
Audrey stopped to wait for her.

“I am so glad I found you.”

Audrey straightened. “Were you looking
for me?” Did she wish to warn her away from Jordan Trent
again?

“Well, not you, just anyone who could
help break up the tedium of strolling in the park at such an
unfashionable hour.”

Audrey fought the need to roll her
eyes. “If you don’t wish to be out, why are you?”

Millicent groaned. “Lydell said that I
take the baby for a walk.” She gestured toward the carriage. “It is
uncivilized to be out so early. That is why we employ a nurse, but
Lydell insisted.”

She had not yet seen the child and
Audrey walked around to peer into the stroller. The round-faced
cherub with light blue eyes stared up at her. Audrey felt a hitch
in her heart. Would she ever have a child?

“Isn’t she the image of her
father?”

As much as Audrey had tried in the
past, and today, she could never recognize a parent in the features
of an infant. People saw what they wanted. To Audrey, they were
adorable little creatures who looked like themselves. “I suppose
so,” she answered instead of offering her true thoughts.

“So you understand why you can’t have
Jordan.”

Audrey stifled a sigh and looked at
Millicent.

“We have a bond.” Millicent gestured to
the baby. “Nothing ties two people together more than sharing a
child.”

Audrey had rarely seen such evidence
but she wasn’t about to argue with Millicent. She had come to the
park to think and not be bothered.

“Well, I will leave you to your
walk.”

She took a step forward but Millicent
grabbed her arm. “Don’t leave me. I can’t very well carry on a
conversation with the maid and it is so boring simply
walking.”

Was it too rude to inform the woman
that she wished to be alone?

“Let’s see who is riding today?” No
doubt she was hoping Mr. Trent was out. Audrey dearly hoped he was
not because those were the two people she did not want to be
around. Yet, if he were riding, it would give her an opportunity to
see them interact. If her suspicions were correct, then she had
made a ghastly mistake last Season. But, she shouldn’t jump to
conclusions. She needed facts.

“Millicent, did you know Mr. Trent was
going to come to your room that evening at the house
party?”

“Oh no,” she brightened, her face
becoming flushed. “It was a surprise.”

“What did you say when he walked in?
You must have been shocked that he would do something so
scandalous.”

A dreamy look came over Millicent’s
face. “I was sound asleep. It had been raining all night, and dark
as ink, so I was able to sleep like a baby, until…”

“Until,” Audrey prompted.

“He slid into bed beside me.” Millicent
sighed.

Maybe she didn’t want to know the
details but unfortunately, they were important.

“You didn’t see him.”

“I didn’t need to.”

“Yet you are certain it was Jordan
Trent.”

Millicent’s face lost all happiness and
she wheeled on Audrey and shook her finger at her. “Don’t start in
on me like my parents.”

Audrey took a step back.
“Pardon?”

“I will tell you what happened and
nobody can tell me differently.”

“Very well,” Audrey said slowly. “What
happened?”

“When he came to my bed of course I was
frightened.”

Audrey would have jumped out of bed and
screamed loud enough to wake the household but that was neither
here nor there.

“How did you know it was Mr. Trent if
you couldn’t see him?”

Her bright smile returned again. “He
told me.”

“And you believed him?”

“Of course, how couldn’t I, after what
he said to me.”

Audrey’s stomach tightened, but she
ignored the discomfort. “What did he say?”

“That he was aware of my wanting his
attention in London but it was too difficult to court me with so
many people watching.” She sighed and the dreamy look returned.
“His voice was low and quiet, not at all like he normally sounds.
It sent shivers down my spine. He insisted that what we could share
was special.” She turned and smiled. “He apologized for arriving
late to the party,” Millicent added as an afterthought.

“He arrived late?” Audrey interrupted
her.

Millicent blinked. “Why yes. It was
three days into the party and he hadn’t arrived yet, not even by
the time I retired, but I was watching for him. I asked the
servants and hosts often when he was expected but nobody
knew.”

Audrey had a sinking suspicion that
Jordan Trent had never been in Millicent’s bed. “Go on.” She
encouraged. “What else did he say?”

“He was aware of my desire to be with
him and he felt the same.” Millicent brought her hands to her
breasts and sighed. “Then he made love to me.”

“Who found him in your bed?” She needed
to know who would corroborate Millicent’s story though Audrey now
suspected it was nothing but a fairytale.

Millicent heaved a sigh. “He left while
I was sleeping. Had I known he would do such a thing I would have
remained awake.”

“Then how did anyone know?”

“My maid told my parents,” Millicent
ground out. “But I’ve dismissed her.”

“He did get you with child so they had
a right to know.”

Millicent was shaking her head. “Nobody
will believe me, except you.”

“I don’t understand.”

Millicent scowled and narrowed her
eyes. “That blackguard ruined everything. Why wouldn’t he just
leave me alone? He was constantly pursuing me at the house party
and knew I was waiting for Jordan.”

“Who?”

“Lydell,” Millicent cried.

“He married you. I don’t see how he
ruined anything.”

Millicent huffed and crossed her arms
over her chest and glared. “After Jordan left my room that night,
he snuck in while I was sleeping. I can only assume he saw Jordan
leave and took a chance.”

“Lydell?”

“Yes,” Millicent shouted. “That is who
my maid found in my bed.”

Did Lydell lie about who he was to get
into Millicent’s bed and how could any woman mistake one man for
another in that circumstance? Yet, that wasn’t the reason Millicent
gave for her parent’s decision. “So your parents didn’t reject
Trent because he didn’t have a title.”

“They would have, if they would have
believed me. Now we will never be together.”

The headache that was earlier an
inconvenience was now making her ill. Lydell had lied to Millicent
about who he was to trap her, and her fortune, into a marriage, but
Millicent was too stupid to understand that Trent was never
there.

“What did Mr. Trent say the next
morning when he found out Lydell had gone to your room?”

Millicent planted her fists on her
hips. “He was already gone.”

“Gone?” Or perhaps he was never
there.

“I am sure it was urgent, otherwise he
would have stayed by my side and not left again, I am sure of
it.”

Audrey simply nodded. Was her friend
mad or delusional or both?

“That is why my parents wouldn’t
believe he was the one but accepted Lydell’s version of the facts.
Jordan arrived so late and left so early that none of the guests
ever saw him. Not even the servants, so my parents refused to
believe he was there.” Millicent reached out and grabbed Audrey’s
hand. “You believe me, don’t you?”