To Romance a Charming Rogue (Courtship Wars)

A sinking feeling tightened his gut as Damon strode down the corridor toward the front entrance hall. Eleanor would be hurt and furious if she thought he had betrayed her once again-enough that she might very well leave him.

The thought of losing her made his stomach recoil. He couldn't allow her to leave. Not now, when he finally realized how much she meant to him. How dear she was to him.

His breath seized, forming a hard knot in his throat. He loved Eleanor, deeply and irrevocably. He'd vowed to keep his distance from her, to guard his heart from the pain she could cause him. Then he'd ignored his own warnings. He'd let himself dance with fire, telling himself he wouldn't burn when the flames touched him. Yet all this time he had only deceived himself.

He couldn't be with Eleanor and not love her.

If he told her of his feelings now, though, she was unlikely to believe him. On the contrary, she would think he was merely trying to make up for his sins.

Damon hurried his pace, mounting the sweeping staircase three steps at a time. Dread drove him, while one thought kept churning over and over in his mind.

Eleanor would never trust him again. Not when she believed he had broken all his ardent promises of fidelity.

Eleanor's stomach was tied in knots by the time her carriage reached the Boar's Head Inn. When she went inside and inquired after Lord Wrexham, however, the proprietor informed her that his lordship was no longer there.

Relief joined the emptiness and despair and anger warring inside her. She'd desperately hoped she wouldn't find Damon making love to his beautiful mistress. But fortunately or unfortunately, she must have missed him, perhaps because he had ridden cross-country on horseback while she had taken the roads in a carriage.

Eleanor stood for a long moment debating what to do before she finally asked to see Miss Newling. As she followed the innkeep up the wooden stairs to the upper rooms, a dozen chaotic thoughts whirled in her mind. How could she possibly approach the courtesan? With threats? With pleas to keep away from her husband? Or could bribery work to persuade Lydia Newling to leave the district?

And what if she couldn't convince the woman to give up her claim to Damon? Eleanor asked herself with a feeling of panic. Even worse, what if Damon insisted on continuing their liaison?

The very thought was too painful to bear.

She still had not settled on a plan when the proprietor halted before a door to what he said was a private parlor. When Eleanor nodded in dismissal, he bowed and left.

Clammy nerves churned in the pit of her stomach as she hesitated, trying to gather her courage. Deciding it wiser not to show her fear, however, Eleanor took a steadying breath and rapped sharply on the door panel.

When a soft, melodious voice bid entrance, she stepped inside.

Miss Newling had lifted her head, but upon seeing her visitor, her eyes widened in recognition and she sprang to her feet.

“L-Lady Wrexham…” she stammered. “What brings you here?”

Eleanor's heart twisted when she saw the courtesan up close, understanding clearly why Damon would be attracted to the remarkably striking auburn-haired beauty. But she forced herself to offer a cool smile. “I should like to ask the very same of you, Miss New -ling.”

“Th-This is not what you think, my lady.”

“No? How do you know what I think?

“Damon said you would not be happy to learn… I m-mean…” Miss Newling stammered to a halt. Then her gloved hands reached out imploringly. “This is all quite innocent, no matter how it looks. In fact, I was just leaving Brighton-I am waiting for the stage to take me back to London.”

For the first time, Eleanor discerned that Lydia wore a traveling dress, yet the realization did nothing to relieve the pain and dread in her heart. “But you don't deny that you had a rendezvous with my husband?”

“No… I mean, it was not a rendezvous. Not a romantic one, at any event.”

Eleanor's mouth tightened. “Do you honestly think me so gullible?”

“It is true-there is no relationship between us, I swear it. I have not even seen Lord Wrexham in two years, not until today. You see, I came to plead for his help. My sister was recently struck ill with consumption, and her best chance for survival is for her to attend his hospital for consumptives in Italy. I cannot afford the enormous expense to send her there, however. And Mr. Geary didn't wish his lordship to be reminded of our… past alliance and so refused to ask him for me. So I had no choice but to come here and beg Damon… Lord Wrexham to help me.”

Eleanor stared at the courtesan, taken aback by her wholly unexpected revelation.

“Damon has agreed to send my sister there,” the beauty said quietly. “You cannot know how grateful I am for the chance to cure her. She is my only flesh and blood, the sole family I have left, and I could not just allow her to die without doing everything in my power to save her.”

“I think I can imagine,” Eleanor murmured after a long hesitation.

“Please, my lady,” Lydia added. “I beg your understanding. I would never have come here if there had been any choice. Lord Wrexham is all that is kind and generous, and I had nowhere else to turn.”

She couldn't fault Damon for his compassion, Eleanor thought distractedly. Indeed, she had to praise him. But even so, she couldn't forgive him for concealing the truth from her and causing her such anguish.