Gentleman's Guide 01 - His Impetuous Debutante (11 page)

Lady Phoebe sighed and twirled a curl
around her finger. “My sisters would be better suited for marriage
than I. Noah must marry because he is the heir.”

“
I still don’t see how
that should determine whether you marry or not.”

She sat up and turned to him. “My
mother will never walk again and her health is not the
best.”

Taylor took her hand in
his.

“
There is a good chance
Phillipa won’t marry either. Society is too cruel and judgmental to
see the beauty of her face and heart.” Lady Phoebe sighed and
slumped, putting her elbows back on her knees.

“
I don’t believe I’ve met
your other sisters.” Taylor encouraged her to continue. “What would
society perceive to be wrong?”

Lady Phoebe tilted her head to look at
him but did not adjust her posture. “When she was five she fell
from a tree and fractured her hip, or maybe it was her upper leg.
No doctor could ever really tell us.” She turned and looked back
out at the gardens. “It never healed correctly and now she has a
limp. There are times she is in horrible pain, too. We moved her
bedroom to the main floor of the house because stairs are just too
difficult for her.”

Felding had never told him about this.
All Taylor ever really knew was that Felding had four sisters. On
the few times Taylor had visited the home on the holidays, the
sisters were much younger and he barely noticed them about. “And
this is the reason you won’t marry?” he prompted.

“
Mother and Phillipa will
need someone to look after them. I refuse to leave it to a
servant.”

“
Your brother will see
that they are taken care of, I am sure of that.” Taylor hated the
idea of Lady Phoebe putting herself on the shelf.

“
This is perfectly fine,
until he is married. No new, young bride wants to be saddled with
the care of her husband’s family. That is a time in her life when
she should be blissfully happy without a care in the world.” Phoebe
straightened once again and looked at him. “Don’t you
agree?”

“
I am not sure I do agree.
I don’t see how it is fair to you.”

Phoebe shrugged then stretched her
arms above her head. Taylor looked away. The fabric against her
full breasts was distracting, especially since she was apparently
cold. He shrugged off his jacket and put it around her
shoulders.

“
Why are Martin and
Richard the only ones married? What do the rest of you have against
the institution?”

Instead of confiding that he too had
been married, he decided not to answer the question. “I know for a
fact Noah is going to take your feelings into consideration when an
arrangement is made. I also don’t think marriage for you is out of
the question. Your brother could choose a wife who would love
nothing better than to spend her days with your mother and sister.
Or, you could marry a gentleman who would be more than happy to
take them into his household or live in theirs.”

“
I am sure Noah will do
his best and if I do find myself married that doesn’t mean I will
be happy.”

“
I know there are a number
of marriages in society that leave a lot to be desired, but there
are also couples who are very happy. Take Martin and Janine for
example.”

“
I believe they are an
exception. I don’t expect to be so lucky.”

Taylor eyed her suspiciously. He
hadn’t seen her disheartened before. When talking of marriage, she
had been happy, not a care in the world, confident she wouldn’t be
forced into something she didn’t want. Tonight she sang a different
tune and Taylor began to wonder if she had found herself attracted
to someone who didn’t return the sentiment. He didn’t think there
was a man alive who wouldn’t return her affection.

“
Has someone caught your
attention, Lady Phoebe?” He asked, almost afraid of her answer. He
didn’t want to think of her with another.

She didn’t look up as she traced
circles in the dirt with her uninjured foot. “It is not
important.”

“
There is someone,” he
tried to tease and failed. “You can’t tell me he doesn’t return
your affection.” Taylor immediately hated the man for having her
affection.

“
I would really rather not
discuss it. He doesn’t return my affections, as you put it, so
there is nothing left to discuss.”

The pain in her voice wasn’t missed by
Taylor. Maybe not tonight, but one day he would learn the name of
the man, though he wasn’t sure what he would do with the
information.

Silence followed, each lost in their
own thoughts of wishing for what could not be.

“
You never answered my
question,” she interrupted the silence.

“
Which question was that?”
He was afraid they were back to discussing marriage.

“
Why do you avoid
marriage?”

“
But I don’t.” This was
all he would offer on the subject.

She looked at him confused. “I haven’t
seen you spend any time pursuing young ladies.”

“
That is because I spend
all my time rescuing you,” he tried to tease her, and again
failed.

“
I am sorry. I never meant
to ruin the Season for you.” The sincerity of her words tore at his
heart, as well as the sadness. “In truth, however, you are about
the only person who has made this Season bearable.”

Her statement surprised him. “I was
under the impression you were irritated with my being
underfoot.”

She sighed heavily. “On reflection, I
am well aware of how you have saved me from horrible
circumstances.”

Taylor chuckled. It was nice she
recognized the error of her ways. Then again, she had said the same
before, and then proceeded in her normal reckless
fashion.

“
But it is more than
that.”

“
How so?” He wondered
where this was going.

“
You are the only one I
didn’t worry about having an ulterior motive.”

Taylor didn’t like it that she saw him
as safe, in a brotherly type fashion, but he had expected it. “So
you don’t think I find you attractive?” He tried to tease her once
again.

She flashed him a disbelieving look,
the same he had seen her give others when they professed a
declaration. “You know exactly what I mean. You are the one
gentleman I have spent time with who doesn’t need anything from me,
or what I could bring to a marriage. If you weren’t watching out
for me on Noah’s behalf, I wouldn’t have anyone I could
trust.”

Taylor was humbled. Even if he
couldn’t have her, he was pleased that she felt this way. He had
never had the trust or friendship of a woman before. Other than
Heather, but that hadn’t occurred until after their marriage. This
was nice. “You have friends. Surely you trust them.”

“
I trust Janine. The rest
are using me to get to my brother and the rest of you. Do you think
me a fool?” Her voice didn’t betray the way she truly felt of the
depressing state.

“
No, Lady Phoebe. You are
not a fool,” he agreed in a soft voice. “I hope you never have
cause to lose your trust in me.”

She gave him a soft, warm smile. “I
don’t think that could happen.”

If Taylor didn’t know better, he would
have sworn he saw something deeper in her eyes. He wouldn’t
disillusion himself. He had a part of her affection and he should
be grateful for that. Maybe someday he could move past his own
obsession before she found that she could trust him a lot less than
she realized. The others wanted her, along with the dowry. Of that,
he had no doubt. He wanted only to possess her, pure and simple. He
was no better than the rest.

During the following
hours, they talked of lighter matters and gossiped about the
ton
. When Taylor no
longer had an excuse to keep her to himself in the gardens, certain
everyone in the house had retired, he scooped her into his arms
once again and snuck her back into the house, into her room and
deposited her on the bed. He needed to get out of here immediately.
Heaven knew he didn’t trust himself given how delectable she looked
with her hair mussed while she relaxed against the pillows. He
backed to the door and was about to wish her goodnight when the
door swung open and Noah stepped in, glowering at them
both.

“
I could murder you both
with my bare hands,” Noah ground out in a whispered
tone.

“
It is not what it looks
like,” Lady Phoebe objected. Taylor, however, knew when to keep his
mouth closed.

“
I am well aware of that.
Thank God I am the only one that saw him carry you in
here.”

“
He only carried me
because I couldn’t walk,” Phoebe retorted defensively.

Taylor closed his eyes and said a
quick prayer. Phoebe wasn’t helping the situation.

“
And why is that?” Noah
asked, looking back and forth between the two of them.

Phoebe blushed. “I went for a stroll
and found Taylor with a, um, woman, and when I tried to hurry and
leave, I fell, hurting my ankle.”

Noah raised a questioning eyebrow at
Taylor. “As I recall, Mrs. Patterson returned to the party hours
ago, alone.”

“
I tried to make him go
back, but he wouldn’t leave me sitting there, nor could he carry me
back to the house for the world to see,” Phoebe continued
defensively. Taylor knew that anything he would offer would be seen
as guilt on his part, so he decided just to let Phoebe explain to
her brother.

“
So you two have been
sitting in the garden this entire time. For the past three hours.
Alone.”

“
Yes. And we had a
delightful conversation,” Phoebe insisted.

“
Did anyone see
you?”

“
Only Mrs. Patterson,”
Phoebe offered.

“
Are you sure?” Noah
directed the question to Taylor who only nodded his head to
affirm.

“
Then you two had better
pray that she doesn’t breathe a word.” Noah turned to Taylor. “Now,
if you would please leave my sister’s bedroom and join me
downstairs.”

“
Gladly,” Taylor answered,
trying to appear calm, when he dreaded the meeting to come. He
turned toward Phoebe. “I hope your ankle feels better.” He checked
the hallway, and then left the room, followed by Noah.

The house was completely silent when
the two men adjourned to Martin’s private study. The room was
chosen specifically to avoid being overheard, as it had remained
off limits to the guests during the weekend. Both men knew Martin
would not mind them being there, given the gravity of the
discussion. Helping themselves to his brandy, they took a seat. By
outward appearances, Taylor seemed calm and relaxed. Truth be told,
he wondered if the friendship they had shared for so many years had
been pushed too far.

Noah appeared calm as well, which made
Taylor all the more concerned. He knew Noah too well. The calmer he
was, the angrier he felt, and he had been very calm upstairs.
Holding the glass, Taylor waited for Noah to begin. Denying and
begging for forgiveness for something that hadn’t occurred would
not help at this juncture.

“
Taylor, what the hell
were you thinking?” Noah finally asked after he took a
seat.

“
I was trying to save her
some embarrassment,” Taylor responded nonchalantly.

“
By carrying her upstairs
to her room? What if someone else would have seen you?”

“
Why do you think I waited
until the lights were extinguished?”

“
You know as well as I do
that you are more likely to run into people in the halls at that
hour.”

“
Would you rather I would
have carried her out of the gardens for all to see?”

Noah sat back and loosened the buttons
of his shirt. “What exactly did happen?”

“
Just as she told you. She
caught me, this time.” He tried to find humor again, and failed.
“Anyway, your sister decided it was safe to stroll alone in the
gardens, as everyone believed she was abed, and came across the
attempted seduction.”

Noah sputtered and coughed on his
scotch, clearly surprised by this bit of news. “What did she see?”
He asked once he’d gained back his powers of speech.

“
She saw a bit of leg. ”
Taylor shot him a look, hoping his making light of the situation
would transfer to Noah. “Mrs. Patterson’s, not mine.” So far it
wasn’t working. “We hadn’t gotten very far when we heard
her.”

“
Why didn’t Mrs. Patterson
stay and help you escort Phoebe from the garden?”

Taylor groaned. “She was rather upset
with the interruption and stormed off. I half expected to be found,
but didn’t know her well enough to know what form of retaliation,
if any, she would use.”

“
This is worse than I
imagined.”

“
You are imagining the
worst.”

“
That all depends on what
Mrs. Patterson says, doesn’t it?” Noah shot back.

“
Did she say anything this
evening?” Taylor wondered mildly. In all reality, it would be her
words that could bring everything down on Phoebe.