To Seduce a Bride (Courtship Wars)

Ever.

Chapter Seventeen

It frightens me that he has won the game, since he now has three more months to court me. How can I possibly resist him for so long?

– Lily to Fanny

As expected, that evening when Lily confessed to Fleur and Chantel about Heath’s latest gift, they were not only delighted but impressed by his romantic gesture. How many suitors gave their sweethearts a ship?

The courtesans happily awarded Lord Claybourne another point, bringing his total to ten, and proclaimed him the winner of the game, which sent a surge of panic flooding through Lily. The thought of Heath courting her for three more full months alarmed her, since she couldn’t trust herself to be able to resist him for so long.

The past fortnight had proven how vulnerable she was in the face of his persistent pursuit. No matter how determined she was to keep her heart’s defenses intact, Lily feared she would eventually lose the battle.

She did not want to fall in love with Heath and be tempted to accept his marriage proposal.

Somehow, despite his victory in the game, she had to convince him that she didn’t desire him either as a suitor or lover or husband, Lily reflected, trying to calm herself.

Meanwhile she would have to keep him at arm’s length. Most certainly she couldn’t risk being alone with him ever again. She knew exactly where such intimacy would lead-as today’s encounter on board his ship had decidedly proven.

Yet she was honor bound to share his company for part of each day, starting tomorrow evening at the dinner Marcus was holding for Roslyn and her duke.

In dire need of assistance, Lily waylaid Basil directly after supper and begged him to escort her to the dinner the next evening.

Regrettably, Basil looked at her as if she had gone daft. “You know I don’t care for fancy dinners and such. And wedding celebrations are the worst.”

“Yes, I know,” Lily agreed, “but I don’t want to be alone with Lord Claybourne.”

“Why not?”

“Because I might do something I would forever regret. Please, Basil, you have to help me,” Lily implored. “It won’t be too difficult. All you need do is stay by my side for the evening.”

Basil eyed her the same way he’d done when they were children and she had led him into some risky escapade, before he finally emitted a long-suffering sigh. “Very well, but you owe me yet another favor, Lily.”

“Yes, of course, whatever you ask. You are a true gentleman.”

She kissed Basil’s cheek in gratitude, overlooking his flush as she turned away and headed for the writing desk in the parlor. She had to send a note to Marcus informing him to expect an additional guest at his dinner. And she had to review her strategy to keep Heath at a distance.

Tomorrow evening, Lily vowed, she would ignore his presence as much as possible and behave with total aloofness. If she was required by politeness to respond to him, she would be perfectly bland and boring. She would not smile or laugh, and she would certainly not allow Heath to provoke her as he was so fond of doing.

Even so, she dreaded the coming encounter. Basil would be her only ally, for she couldn’t count on her sisters to take her side when it came to love and matrimony. Not when they were so much in love themselves. Lily still planned to stay the night at Marcus’s town house after the dinner so that she could be with her sisters, and so that the next morning she and Arabella could help Roslyn dress for her wedding day.

Lily spent Monday afternoon packing a valise-including the gowns she would wear to the dinner and the wedding-and was ready at five o’clock when Marcus’s carriage came to collect her.

Roslyn and Arabella had arrived just ahead of her, and Lily was glad that the bustle of settling into their rooms and having a sisterly coze precluded her dwelling much on Heath.

Moreover, she didn’t want to say or do anything to spoil Roslyn’s happiness. Roslyn was positively glowing with joy, which made her delicate beauty seem almost incandescent. Thus, Lily prevaricated when questioned about her own welfare, not wanting to mention her courtship troubles. Whenever the conversation veered too close to Lord Claybourne, she steered it away again.

Fortunately Basil arrived early for the dinner in a hired hack. Having already dressed, Lily was there to welcome him and take him into the drawing room, where the company would gather before dinner. So she had time to remind Basil of his promise to remain by her side throughout the evening.

When Arabella and Marcus joined them, followed by Roslyn and Arden, Lily introduced Basil to the two noblemen, explaining that Mr. Eddowes was an old family friend. And she chimed in occasionally when Arabella and Roslyn reminisced with Basil about their childhood days together in Hampshire.

Lady Freemantle appeared shortly after that. Quickly, Lily led Basil across the drawing room to admire a portrait by Gainsborough so she wouldn’t have to endure Winifred’s vexing machinations. Even so, she couldn’t help feeling agitated as she waited for a certain handsome marquess to arrive.

She sensed his presence the moment he walked in. Heath’s broad-shouldered form seemed to fill the drawing room, while his magnetism was a powerful lure for all her feminine sensibilities. And when Lily locked gazes with him across the way, the hint of a smile he sent her held an intimacy that made her feel as if they were the only two people in all the world.

She found it nearly impossible to look away, and just as difficult to keep her greeting to a mere nod when Heath approached her. But she responded in monosyllables when he spoke to her. And as soon as possible, she turned her attention to the other guests, dragging Basil with her.

She spent the next ten minutes quizzing the bridegroom about his plans to visit Arden Castle in Kent for the first leg of his wedding journey with his bride. Afterward the duke would take Roslyn to Paris and then travel on to Brittany to visit the former Lady Loring, where Victoria had settled with her new French husband. Lily was constantly aware of Heath, however, and where he was at any given moment.