Virginia Heath - A Warriner To Tempt Her

Her parents shared a knowing look and instantly Bella wished the floor would open up and swallow her whole. Her father was clearly both concerned and horrified in equal measure. They were reading things into this innocent exchange which were not there. Dr Warriner was being nice and respected her mind. Just as she respected his mind...except there was so much more she was coming to like about him.

‘There you are, Dr Warriner!’ Clarissa sailed towards them and his eyes swivelled automatically. She threaded an arm through his possessively. ‘You did promise to dance with me, did you not?’

‘I did.’ Apparently, Bella was now forgotten, which was probably just as well. She had no place having fanciful thoughts about a man when being alone with one of them terrified her and the thought of being touched by one was quite repellent. Although Dr Warriner’s touch hadn’t been exactly that. If at all.

‘I pencilled you in for the waltz, which is the next dance. Isn’t it a good job I found you in time?’ As she led him away, clamped to him like a barnacle to the hull of a ship, Clarissa briefly turned back and smiled, letting Bella know the handsome doctor had been stolen away on purpose—because she could steal him, or any other man for that matter, away. Ever since she had been lauded as the Incomparable of the previous Season, Clarissa had become preoccupied with her own attractiveness. She had to be the prettiest girl in any room and all the handsome men, even the untitled ones, had to want to fall at her graceful feet. Dr Warriner was yet another willing conquest, something Bella suddenly found irritating.

Her father seemed fit to burst. ‘I shall be having words with Clarissa. I do not approve of her dancing with that man. I’ve heard dreadful stories about that family—and we already know about his brother’s antics in London. Jacob Warriner is a shocking rake and, if the locals are to be believed, the elder two are no better. Both tricked innocent girls into marriage. The Reverend Reeves lost his daughter after one of them seduced her. Father and daughter are now quite estranged as her husband cruelly keeps them apart. He told me so himself just a few minutes ago.’ The stick-thin vicar was stood piously in the corner, clutching his tattered Bible, silently but obviously disapproving of the dancing. ‘There is also talk the eldest abducted his wife to get his hands on her fortune. How else would such a man come to marry the Tea Heiress?’

Bella glanced across the room to the group of laughing Warriners. The wives appeared very happy with their husbands. The two women and their men could not look more besotted if they tried, and after Dr Bentley’s scandalous refusal to attend to Tom, Bella was inclined to be on the family’s side rather than the humourless vicar’s. ‘There are as many people here in Retford who would tell you the Warriners are good people. Dr Warriner runs a busy practice and the Countess of Markham runs the foundling home I have been volunteering in.’

‘That is as may be, but until I see tangible proof they are not as they have been reported, I should prefer it if my daughters maintained a safe distance. And that includes any and all dealings with Dr Warriner.’

Bella felt compelled to defend him, even if she was disappointed he preferred her self-absorbed sister. ‘Dr Warriner is a brilliant physician, Papa.’

‘Hmm.’ His eyes followed his eldest daughter to the dance floor. ‘I doubt you would be so foolish, Bella, but if he asks you to dance tonight, make sure you decline.’

‘I do not wish to dance with him, or anyone, Papa.’ The real her inside was longing to dance with the doctor. To be twirled around and to gaze up into those spectacled eyes. Where did that thought come from?

‘But he is very handsome.’ This came from her mother and it earned her a sharp look from her husband which she ignored. ‘And he seemed very taken with you.’

‘Are you blind, woman? The scoundrel has clearly set his cap at Clarissa. Or perhaps, like his eldest brother, it is her dowry which appeals to him.’

‘Dr Warriner is a man of science, not a fortune-hunter.’ Bella was compelled to defend him.

‘Then already he has lured you into his web of deceit if you believe such nonsense! Are you telling me you are also tempted by Dr Warriner?’

‘The only part of Dr Warriner which interests me is his brain.’ Liar. ‘Clarissa is welcome to the rest of him.’ Lord, spare me the sight of the pair of them together. ‘When can we go home?’

* * *

Miraculously, Joe enjoyed an entire night of uninterrupted sleep at his brother’s house. Jack and Letty had insisted he come home and spend a Sunday with the family because he looked tired and needed a break. Knowing they were right, he hadn’t argued. Mrs Patterson knew exactly where to find him and would not hesitate to rouse him for the smallest emergency, yet thankfully no midnight messengers had come to spoil his slumber. Joe woke naturally to soft daylight and the delicious smell of a hot breakfast for the first time in months.

He was also feeling pretty pleased with himself. He had danced with the delectable Clarissa twice and one of those had been the only waltz of the evening. As he had spun her around the floor, several pairs of male eyes had watched them jealously, all coveting the rare prize in his arms. Not only had the woman of his dreams danced with him, she had favoured him with her attention throughout. They had chatted over refreshments and she had practically dragged him towards her gaggle of admirers and kept hauling him back every time he wandered off. Clarissa might not be head over heels in love with him, or, if he was being brutally honest with himself, anywhere close, but she certainly now knew he existed. His poor heart swelled at the knowledge and he ignored the nagging voice which kept questioning why there had been no intriguing tingles when he had touched her hand or held her close.

Instead, Joe took his time shaving and dressing, intent on savouring the luxury of time passing, and sauntered into the breakfast room feeling more refreshed than he had in ages. His younger brother, Jake, was the only occupant and was sat with his feet crossed on another chair, reading a newspaper.

‘Good morning.’

His brother’s head popped over the newspaper and he grinned. ‘I should imagine it certainly is! I never thought I’d see the day when my scholarly big brother was wooing two ladies simultaneously.’

‘Two?’ Joe was genuinely baffled. ‘How much did you drink last night?’

‘Nowhere near enough to miss the delicious frisson in the air. But be warned, Dr Sensible, whilst I heartily approve of wooing two ladies at the same time, the fact they are sisters will cause all manner of complications. Juggling both Beaumonts is not going to be easy. Especially with their father watching you like a hawk.’

‘Very funny.’ Joe began to load his plate with the bounty on the sideboard. ‘But as usual you have got the wrong end of the stick.’ He balanced two crisp rashers of bacon on the mountain of scrambled eggs and carried a slice of toast to the table in his teeth.

‘I most certainly haven’t. I have eyes.’

‘Which clearly do not work if you believe I am juggling both Beaumonts.’ Jake had a way with the ladies and out of the four brothers they were closest in age. Joe couldn’t resist asking his opinion. ‘What do you think of Lady Clarissa?’

His brother shrugged. ‘Very pretty. Very highly thought of in London and considered quite the catch—and knows it, if you want my honest opinion. But I know the type too well to fall for her man-traps. Man-traps, I noted, she was using to great effect with you.’

‘Man-traps?’ The words came out mumbled as Joe enjoyed the first delicious mouthful of eggs. Mrs Patterson could cook, but the chef his sister-in-law Letty had brought with her from Mayfair was a culinary genius. Who knew the humble egg could taste so sublime?