Somehow she had to convince the old woman to give her time to formulate some sort of plan, time to find the courage to speak to Reese.
Somehow she had to find a way.
He shouldn’t have kissed her. He had damned well known better. But he couldn’t have guessed the way it would feel to hold her again, to have her respond to him in the exact same manner she had all those years ago.
As if she belonged to him. As if she loved him still.
Reese swore foully. He had never known the extent of her cunning until now. She cared nothing for him, likely never had. She was using him, nothing more. She needed his protection. And though he had already given her that, he couldn’t help wondering how far she would be willing to go in order to keep it.
Crossing the room without his cane, more determined than ever to stretch and retrain the muscles that had been injured and inactive for so long, he yanked on the bellpull, summoning Timothy Daniels to help him dress for supper.
At least the evening should prove interesting, if more than a little taxing. Elizabeth and his aunt had taken tea together that afternoon. He would have liked to have been a fly on the wall during that conversation.
At least the ice had been broken. Perhaps supper would be a tolerable affair.
Dressed in black for the evening, Reese grabbed his cane and made his way past Timothy, who held open the bedroom door. He was the first to arrive in the anteroom leading into the formal dining room, where a table seating twelve had been set for three and a fire blazed in the huge, open hearth along the wall.
His aunt was the first to arrive, decked out in sapphire-blue silk, a strand of diamonds at her throat, looking every inch the dowager countess she was.
The old woman paused in front of him. “My, you do look handsome, even without that scarlet uniform the women so favored.”
He smiled. “Thank you, Aunt Aggie.” She frowned at the use of the name but he knew that secretly she was pleased. “You’re looking beautiful, as always.”
She waved her hand at the flattery. “Just like your father and brothers, you are. Full of the devil when it comes to the ladies.”
He laughed. He had forgotten how good she was at making him laugh.
Elizabeth arrived a few minutes later, gowned in crisp black taffeta, a circle of black pearls at her throat. Only a glimpse of her pale breasts showed above the modest neckline.
Reese thought how much he hated her in black.
“I hope I’m not late,” she said, her gaze going to the grandfather clock in the corner, returning to him then quickly darting away. Faint color rose in her cheeks and he knew she was thinking of those moments in the music room.
“You’re here just in time,” Reese said. “Shall we go in?”
Elizabeth cast a glance at his aunt, who drilled her with a glare down the length of her short, powdered nose. He offered Aunt Aggie his arm and she rested her small gloved hand on the sleeve of his coat for the short walk into the dining room.
He seated both women, his leg holding up amazingly well, then sat down in the high-back chair at the head of the table.
The first course was served, a nice hot rice and plover soup.
“So, what did you think of Lady Aldridge’s son?” he asked, hoping to ease some of the tension in the room and begin a semblance of conversation. The women’s eyes shot to each other across the table.
“He’s too shy,” Aunt Aggie said sharply. “Needs a man’s influence to give him some gumption.”
Elizabeth’s hand shook as she lifted her soup spoon, but she made no reply.
Reese fixed his gaze on her face. “Perhaps one day Lady Aldridge will remarry.”
She lowered the spoon back into her bowl. “That is never going to happen. One husband was more than enough.”
Aunt Aggie’s silver eyebrows shot up. “Is that so? Then you must have loved him greatly.”
Elizabeth’s pretty lips thinned. “Loved him? Marriage is one step away from bondage and I will never allow myself to be put in that position again.”
Aunt Aggie eyed her shrewdly. Very carefully, she wiped her mouth on the linen napkin.
“I see,” she said, and Reese couldn’t help wondering what exactly it was the old woman did see. One thing he knew, his aunt had an uncanny ability where people were concerned. In a single brief conversation, she understood more about a person than anyone he had ever met.
The meal progressed a little easier after that. During dessert, egg custard with a delicious raspberry sauce, he mentioned to his aunt that his best friend, Travis Greer, had stopped by for a visit and that he would be writing for the London Times.
“I only met him a couple of times,” Aunt Aggie said. “Before his dreadful injury, of course. Always seemed a nice enough sort.”
“He’s become a very good friend,” Reese said, not mentioning the man had once saved his life. The war wasn’t one of his favorite topics.
“He was very nice to Jared,” Elizabeth added, doing her best to hold up her end of the conversation.
“The boy craves a man’s attention. Any fool can see that.”
Elizabeth looked into her dessert bowl as if there were something of interest in the bottom. Reese gave her credit. Clearly, Aunt Aggie was at her irascible best. As soon as dessert was over, Reese led the ladies into the drawing room for an after-dinner drink and both of them seemed relieved.
“How about a sherry, Aunt Aggie?”
“Not tonight. I believe I’ll go on up to bed. Where is that strapping young man who helped me before?”
Timothy, of course, appeared right on cue. “May I be of assistance, my lady?” He had adopted his formal demeanor and Reese almost smiled.
“Yes, thank you, Mr. Daniels.”
“Good night, my lady,” Elizabeth said softly, and received a brusque “good night” in return. Timothy led the dowager out of the drawing room toward the staircase, leaving Reese alone with Elizabeth, an occurrence he hadn’t expected.
Reese thought of the kiss they had shared in the drawing room and couldn’t help wondering what the balance of the evening might bring.
Seven
Seated on the sofa across from Reese, Elizabeth nervously sipped a glass of sherry. She still hadn’t figured out how she had wound up alone with Reese. During supper, she had mentioned the possibility of leaving Briarwood, but the dowager had staunched the notion with a warning glance.
If she left without telling Reese the truth about Jared, she was certain Lady Tavistock would see it done immediately.
She had to stay. At least for the moment.
Oddly, the decision stirred a feeling of relief.
“Another sherry?” Reese asked, and she realized she had drained her glass entirely.
“Thank you, no. I believe it is past time I retired upstairs.” She rose from her place on the rose velvet sofa, set the empty glass down on the table beside it.
“You seemed to have reached some sort of truce with my aunt,” Reese said, rising and setting his own empty glass on the table.
Hardly. Currently the old woman had Elizabeth entirely under her thumb, but of course she couldn’t say that. “Perhaps she has decided to keep an open mind. In time, perhaps she will see there are two sides to every story.”
Elizabeth prayed it was so. She intended to speak to the dowager on the morrow,