Tenacious Trents 03 - A Reluctant Rake (9 page)

“Nor do I now,” she hissed in a low
voice.

“Clearly,” he muttered. “I simply wish
to know why.”

Audrey bit her bottom lip to keep her
mouth from popping open. Did he really need to ask? He knew what he
had done as well as she. Did he not understand the damage he had
caused to Millicent? The woman couldn’t even move past it and
appreciate the husband she had.

And then it struck her. Jordan Trent
had no idea she knew and Audrey would bet all of her pen money that
he never planned to tell her. Well, she would give him a piece of
her mind. Audrey opened her mouth and then remembered where she
was. “Not now and not here.”

Jordan Trent grinned at her. “Does that
mean you will actually speak with me later?”

The dimple at the corner of his mouth
was so tantalizing. Oh, why did he have to be so handsome? “I will
speak with you once and only once, so you understand why I find you
so despicable.”

His grin didn’t falter. “I look forward
to our discussion.”

Audrey leaned back so the
soup could be placed before her.
Audacious
man!

Relief washed over Audrey when the
ladies were able to retreat from the dining room to leave the
gentlemen to their port. It was the longest dinner of her life and
if questioned, she would not be able to list any of the foods she
had eaten. All she could hope was that she answered the questions
directed to her by Mr. Matthew Trent coherently and she was able to
carry on a halfway intelligent conversation. Usually this was not a
problem for her, but she normally didn’t have Jordan Trent sitting
to her right. Goodness that man was a distraction. If he wasn’t
exchanging witticisms with his brother across the table, which
should never be done at a formal meal, he was pressing his leg
against hers beneath the table. The man was far too forward. She
would have moved away from him but there was little room at the
table. The room was large enough to seat three times the number of
people invited, yet the table was lengthened barely enough to allow
space for those who were present.

Why was she so attracted to him when
she knew he had the power to break her heart? He already
had!

It wasn’t fair to blame him for that,
of course. He hadn’t made any promises, just danced with her and
asked if he could call on her when he returned from the house party
he was to attend. Audrey had been foolish enough to believe he may
be the one. He was kind and solicitous the few times they met at a
ball. After the one dance they shared at each function every other
gentleman paled in comparison.

He charmed and laughed but his deep
blue eyes often betrayed his mood and Audrey longed to slip past
the façade and determine why there was a sadness lingering inside.
But she never did learn and now never would. Didn’t society realize
that Mr. Jordan Trent wore a mask? Part of her still wanted to rip
it away and sooth whatever pain lingered in his heart.

Stop being
foolish
. She clearly saw something that
didn’t exist. She was simply being fanciful, or had been anyway.
Jordan Trent didn’t care who he hurt as long as he could add more
ladies to his list of conquests each Season.

“Come with me,” Millicent hissed in
Audrey’s ear and she grasped her arm and drew her to the opposite
side of the drawing room.

“What is wrong?” The color was high in
her friend’s cheeks and her brown eyes were brighter than normal.
Had she taken a fever?

“He is mine you know.”

Audrey stared at Millicent, almost
afraid to ask who since Millicent tended to forget she had a
husband.

“Jordan Trent is mine and I need you to
remember that.”

“Millicent, you are married to Lord
Lydell.”

She dismissed Audrey’s comment with a
wave of her hand. “That hardly matters.”

“It matters a great deal. You cannot
have Mr. Trent because you have a husband.”

Millicent laughed. “Married ladies take
lovers all of the time.”

“That doesn’t make it right,” Audrey
warned her. What had happened to her friend? They had both been
raised with the same morals and taught the difference between right
and wrong. Never once were they told it was acceptable to take a
lover.

Millicent grasped Audrey’s hand. “Dear,
sweet Audrey, I shouldn’t expect you to understand.”

“Understand what,” Audrey asked
slowly.

“I know that last spring you believed
Jordan may have been interested in courting you.”

Yes, she had, but Audrey wasn’t going
to confirm it to her friend.

“It was me he wanted all along.”
Millicent placed her hand on Audrey’s cheek, much like a mother
does when comforting a child. “He was simply playing with you until
we could be together.”

“If he wanted you so badly, why didn’t
he marry you?” Audrey found herself asking.

Millicent sighed and folded her hands
together. “Mother and Father would never have allowed
it.”

“He ruined you.” Audrey said in a low
voice. “He snuck into your bedchamber and ruined you. They should
have demanded that he marry you.”

“They would have if he had a title, of
that I am sure.” Millicent shrugged.

“I am sorry for you, but further
pursuit of Jordan Trent does not make the situation right,” Audrey
reminded her.

“How can I expect you to understand,”
Millicent sighed. “You’ve never been in love.”

“You are in love with Jordan Trent?” Of
course, this shouldn’t be a surprise.

“And he loves me.”

“He doesn’t seem very torn apart about
the fact you two are not together,” Audrey offered
dryly.

Sadness cloaked her eyes. “He is able
to hide it better than I.”

Audrey seriously doubted Jordan Trent
loved anyone, especially Millicent. Yet, she thought she knew his
character once and had been wrong. Who was to say she read him any
better now?

“I saw how he looked at you this
evening when you walked in.”

This caught her attention. “Exactly
how?” she asked slowly.

“The way he did when you hoped he would
show an interest in courting you.”

Trent’s eyes used to darken to a cobalt
blue when they danced. Is that what Millicent meant?

“I don’t want you hurt again. I am sure
Jordan simply feels the need to pursue another woman because we
cannot be together openly, but you should know, he will always love
me.”

Audrey’s stomach churned. She didn’t
want to think of Millicent and Mr. Trent together and she certainly
had no intention of being any gentleman’s second choice.

“He might even pursue you once again
but it is simply so he can be closer to me since we are such dear
friends.” She smiled sweetly.

She never realized Millicent thought so
little of her in that Audrey could only gain the attention of a
gentleman who couldn’t have what he really wanted. She had never
been so insulted in her life.

“It is a great tragedy that we cannot
openly acknowledge how we feel, but I am sure you understand that
it wouldn’t be proper.” Millicent sighed. “We are destined to be
apart except for those few precious moments we can snatch to be
together.”

Her friend was mad. For the
first time in her life Audrey was seriously questioning Millicent’s
sanity. As children she had always been the overly dramatic one and
Audrey had thought she had grown out of it, but perhaps not. Next
she would be quoting lines from
Romeo and
Juliet
.

Millicent reached over and squeezed
Audrey’s hand one last time. “I just wanted to warn you. Know that
if Jordan does show an interest again he is only doing it out of
loneliness and because he can’t have me. He will never love you as
he loves me.”

“I have no intention of being courted
by Jordan Trent so you can put that worry to rest.”

“I am sure you say that now, but he is
irresistible.”

That was a true enough statement, but
Audrey had been strong when she learned the truth and would remain
so. “I can easily resist him,” Audrey assured Millicent.

“I am so glad to hear that because I
would hate to see something dreadful happen to you if you fell
under his spell.”

A chill ran up Audrey’s spine. What
exactly did Millicent mean by dreadful? That she would fall in love
with a man who didn’t love her? That he would be forever pining for
Millicent? Or something much more dire? Regardless, Millicent
needed to realize that she had to get over her infatuation, or even
love, for Jordan Trent. “Besides, it isn’t me he plans to pursue.”
She focused on Millicent, looking her in the eye. “I believe he has
an interest in Lady Rothsbury.”

Millicent pulled back and frowned. “I
am sure you are wrong. She must have been crushed when he rejected
her last evening.”

“I don’t believe anyone suffered a
rejection,” Audrey practically snorted.

“Of course he turned down her
advances.” Millicent laughed. “I know Jordan would never pursue
her, and she is the one who approached him in the ballroom and took
him outside. Clearly she wanted something he wasn’t willing to
provide otherwise he wouldn’t have returned so quickly.”

Audrey took a deep breath. This may
crush Millicent but someone had to make the woman see sense. “That
is because they were making arrangements.”

“How would you know?” Millicent asked
with condescension.

“Because I saw him leaving her house
early this morning, wearing the same clothing he had on at the ball
the night before.

All color drained from Millicent’s
face, before she shook her head and laughed. “He is simply lonely
and gentlemen do have needs.”

Audrey hitched an eyebrow. Would
Millicent make excuses at every turn?

“I don’t expect you to know anything
about that, but one day, after you are married, you will understand
what a gentleman really wants. A lady simply has to provide it and
he won’t stray far.”

With that, Millicent turned and swept
out of the room leaving Audrey to stare after her.

Jordan left the gentlemen to their port
and cigars and stepped into the hall. Usually he enjoyed the manly
ritual following formal dining but he longed to find Miss
Montgomery. She had agreed to finally tell him what he had done to
make her hate him. Once he had the answer Jordan knew he could make
it right.

“There you are. I was hoping you
wouldn’t keep me waiting,” Lady Lydell announced as she flounced
down the hall.

Jordan turned to see if Lydell had
followed him out of the room but nobody was there. Why would she
think he would seek her out? “I beg your pardon.”

Her smile was seductive, almost catlike
and Jordan found himself taking a step back.

“Don’t play coy with me,
Jordan.”

He hitched an eyebrow. Since when did
she have leave to call him by his given name?

“We both know the time we are apart is
unbearable.”

Unbearable? He barely knew the woman.
He looked around, hoping a servant, or anyone would enter the hall.
Was it too unmanly to run back into the dining room?