Laura Martin - An Earl In Want Of A Wife

Amelia seemed to soften towards him slightly.

‘I’m sure she will.’

She made no effort to go and sort this out and Daniel felt his mood darken further. Most young women would be swooning at the thought of strolling through the park on the arm of an earl for all society to see.

‘Would you like to go and ask her?’ he suggested.

‘Of course, my lord.’

‘Daniel, please,’ he said, thinking it was ridiculous having her call him by his title when already they were quite intimate. ‘Since we already know each other so well.’

He watched as she rose and walked out of the room. Despite having fallen down stairs into him, and nearly having been trampled by his horse, Miss Eastway seemed to move with a fluid kind of grace when she was on her feet. He found himself watching the soft sway of her hips as she left the room and once again felt the first stirrings of desire deep within his body.

Daniel took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He would not desire Amelia Eastway. Although deep down he knew desire wasn’t something you could easily keep in check, equally he knew he was a man of the world, not some green boy of twenty. He had control over his emotions and he would not lose his head over a woman even if she had charmingly kissable lips.

He’d have to kiss her again, of course, but next time he would be completely in control.

He rose as Amelia re-entered the room and saw with dismay that she was accompanied by her cousin. Daniel had spent less than five minutes in the young girl’s company, but he knew she was spiteful and jealous.

‘Harriet would like to accompany us,’ Amelia said, her lack of enthusiasm obvious in her tone.

‘That would be delightful,’ Daniel said. ‘I just hope our discussion on ancient literature does not bore you too much.’

Daniel saw the flicker of a smile cross Amelia’s lips. Harriet’s eyes narrowed as she tried to work out if Daniel was being serious. He kept a neutral expression on his face, hoping all the time she would change her mind and stay at home. He wasn’t likely going to make much progress with Amelia if her cousin was present and annoying her.

‘Harriet, I need your help this afternoon,’ Aunt Mathilda said as she glided back into the room. ‘I’ll send one of the maids out to chaperon you, Amelia.’

Daniel wondered if Harriet would argue, she looked as though she wanted to, but in the end she kept her mouth shut.

Within minutes Daniel was strolling towards Hyde Park with Amelia on his arm. He realised she felt right beside him, her strides matched his own and the weight of her hand resting on his arm was comforting. He felt quite comfortable with her, despite the odd moment of madness where he seemed to want to ravish her. If he could only overcome those, he thought Amelia would make a very good wife. She was quiet and unassuming and he didn’t think she’d protest too much when he continued with his current lifestyle.

‘I understand you’ve only recently arrived in London,’ he said, thinking a little bit of small talk would help break down the barrier between them.

She looked wistfully into the distance for a moment before replying. ‘I’ve lived in India all my life, or at least for as long as I can remember.’

‘Do you miss it?’

She nodded. ‘When I was there all I could think about was getting away, coming to London, but now I’ve left it behind I miss the rolling green hills and the days filled with sunshine.’

Daniel wondered what her upbringing had been like. From his subtle enquiries he’d found out she’d been raised the only child of the very wealthy Colonel Eastway. She’d always been destined to marry well, but to look at her you wouldn’t believe it. She seemed rather overwhelmed by the sudden attention and he had the impression that she hadn’t expected to be courted this soon.

‘Do you wish you were back there?’ he asked softly.

She considered for a moment, then turned to him with a smile. ‘No. As much as I like to reminisce, it was time for me to leave, time for me to start the next chapter of my life.’

‘As a débutante in London.’

He saw her grimace out of the corner of his eye.

‘Something like that,’ she said vaguely.

They’d reached the entrance to the park and walked in through the archway. Daniel found he was enjoying himself more than he’d imagined. When he’d realised he was going to have to marry he’d been a little disgruntled to say the least. He didn’t want his life to change, he was quite content running his estates, spending time in London and making sure he didn’t make any lasting connections. The idea of having to marry was bad enough, although Daniel was a pragmatist and knew where his priorities lay, but he’d dreaded having to find and court a wife. He’d imagined some air-headed young miss that he’d have to listen ramble on about nothing. Amelia Eastway was not like that at all. In fact, he was rather enjoying himself.

Chapter Five

Lizzie slowly felt herself relaxing. She didn’t know what game Daniel was playing, but she’d decided she was having none of it. She was going to be courteous and polite, but she would not allow him to kiss her again. That would be madness.

Walking along, her hand in the crook of his arm, Lizzie felt almost content. He was attentive and seemed to want to listen to what she had to say. Lizzie could almost convince herself she was having a good time. Just as long as he didn’t look at her intensely with his piercing blue eyes and shift towards her, Lizzie knew she could keep up a mundane conversation. She tried not to think what would happen if he attempted to kiss her again. She liked to think she was a strong young woman who knew her own mind, but twice she’d been utterly seduced by his kiss and she wasn’t sure how she would resist if he turned to her again.

Luckily they were out in public, in full view of the world. He wouldn’t try anything whilst they were strolling through the park. Then Lizzie wondered if she could rely on that. For some reason he had decided to court her and she doubted it was because he found her wildly irresistible. Even if their meeting the night before hadn’t been engineered, Lizzie thought there was something driving Daniel today and her first guess was her dowry. Or at least Amelia’s dowry. She sighed. This was all getting to be a bit of a mess and she’d only been out in society for one day. She wished Amelia would return and sort it all out, but she hadn’t heard from her cousin since they’d disembarked the ship from India together, her cousin hopping into the first carriage she’d seen on the London dockside, and she doubted Amelia would make an appearance anytime soon. She would just have to deal with this debacle herself.

She felt a bit sorry for the earl. Not that he was the sort of man who invited pity, but he was thinking he was courting an heiress with a substantial dowry, where instead he was wasting his time on a penniless orphan. She wondered whether he would switch his affections to Amelia when she returned, and found herself feeling more than a little put out at the thought.

They stopped walking as they reached the Serpentine and Daniel led her over to a bench.

‘Sometimes I come here to think,’ Daniel said quietly.

Lizzie regarded their surroundings with surprise. There was no denying Hyde Park was beautiful with its myriad of waterways and copses of trees, but Daniel hadn’t exactly picked the most secluded spot for his contemplations. They were sitting on a bench right next to the Serpentine, in a place where all the children gathered to feed the ducks. In the early-afternoon sunshine the children were whooping and shouting in delight as they threw bread to the obliging creatures.

She glanced sideways and saw him looking wistfully at a group of small boys out with their nanny. One of the boys was only about three or four years old and tottered after his older siblings, trying to keep up with their games.