Honor (8 page)

Honor felt so embarrassed for him that she had to look away.

Theo gently detached herself and took his tearstained face in her hands. “My poor boy, you’re overwrought and need to sleep. I’m going to put you in the guest room.”

She signaled to Jackson, and they escorted Wes out of the parlor.

Honor stood rooted to the floor, listening to their heavy footsteps until the sound faded away into silence. The atmosphere still felt thick and charged with emotion, as if a residue of Wesley’s bitter, spiteful words still lingered, tainting the air and shattering Honor’s perfect Christmas.

His accusations about Robert couldn’t possibly be true.

Gradually Honor came out of her daze and looked at Robert, standing there rigid, his face a mask of barely suppressed rage. “I don’t know what got into him,” she said. “This isn’t like him at all.”

“If he weren’t so drunk, I’d ask him to step outside. And then I’d knock his teeth out.”

Shocked by the raw menace in Robert’s voice, Honor said, “I don’t think he meant what he said.”

“Oh, he meant every word of it. What’s that old saying? ‘In wine there is truth.’ The drink gave him enough courage to say what he really thinks of me.” Robert paused. “I take it that he and your aunt…”

“Are lovers?” Honor’s cheeks turned pink. “Yes. In spite of the difference in their ages.” She paused. “Does that shock you?”

“No, but I’m sure it would shock his family.”

“They’d have Aunt Theo run out of town on a rail. Even the Tree name could not protect her from such a scandal.”

“Their loss. Your aunt’s a fine woman.”

“One of the best.” Honor picked up Robert’s cup of buttered rum, now cold, and took a swallow, letting the alcohol burn the shock right out of her. “I must apologize for Wes. He’s wrong about you.”

Robert went over to the tree and stared at the ornaments. “No, he’s not. I
am
a climber.”

Honor’s insides turned to ice. She set down the cup before it fell from her shaking fingers and turned to face him. “Please explain yourself.”

“What is there to explain? I’m a nobody who’s greedy for money and power.” He shrugged. “I guess that makes me a social climber in Saltonsall’s book.”

Honor clenched her fists so hard the nails bit into her palms. “You’re a social climber only if you use people to get what you want.” She swallowed hard. “Do you?”

He was at her side in two strides, his hands on her shoulders. He shook them. “No! I’m not using you to get your aunt’s money. Oh, I’ll be rich one day, but it will be through my own hard work.”

“That’s all I wanted to know,” she said, relief making her feel weak and giddy.

“I need you to believe in me.” He gazed at her hungrily. Then he drew her into his arms and kissed her.

When they parted, Honor said, “After the Grants’ party, you were moody in the carriage. You overheard them saying something uncomplimentary, didn’t you?”

He walked over to the fireplace and leaned against the mantel. “When I went back to the parlor to find your purse, I overheard Freddie Horsley telling everyone that I was nothing more than a social climber. I had thought he liked me. All night he’d acted like my best friend.” Robert shook his head. “Then to hear what he really thought of me…”

“I imagine you felt as if he had stabbed you in the back.”

“Aptly put.”

“Damned hypocrites!” Honor went over to him and placed her hand on his arm. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

He smiled. “Because I knew you’d go back there and give them hell.”

“I would have, too.”

His smile faded. “I was half afraid old Horsley was right.”

Honor slid her arms around his waist and leaned against his back. “I wish we had never gone to that idiotic party. They’re all a bunch of shallow hypocrites, and I don’t care what they think.”

Robert disengaged her arms and turned to face her. “The loss of your friends is a high price to pay for defending me.”

“No price is too high when you know you’re right.”

He touched her cheek. “Honor Elliott, champion of the downtrodden.”

She placed her hand on his arm. “You mustn’t let anyone make you feel small. You’ve much to be proud of, Robert Davis. Men like Wes have always had everything handed to them on a silver platter, but you’ve gotten where you are through hard work.”

Before Robert could comment, Theo swept into the parlor and interrupted them. “I’ve given Wes a headache powder, for I’m certain he’ll be needing it when the alcohol wears off. Jackson is putting him to bed, so why don’t we sit down to Christmas dinner?”

Throughout the delicious meal, everyone tried to pretend nothing unpleasant had happened, but the holiday had been spoiled and nothing could be done to revive it.

The following morning a somber, contrite Wes apologized to Honor, who told him in no uncertain terms what she thought of his ridiculous accusations. Watching her niece defend Robert Davis so passionately, Theo suddenly experienced a vague sense of uneasiness.

As the weeks flew by and winter gradually relinquished its cold, cruel grip on Boston, Theo noticed with a sinking heart that Honor’s relationship with Robert was blossoming with the crocuses.

Perhaps the time to unlock the desk drawer was close at hand.

Chapter Five

A sprightly gust of late April wind tugged at Honor’s long skirts as she and Robert strolled through the Public Garden. They found a bench beside a bed of red and yellow tulips and sat down to watch a little boy in knickers running heedlessly across the lawn, trying to get his kite airborne.

Honor sat close to Robert in quiet contentment, listening to the excited shouts of playing children. Despite the cool breeze, the sun was a warm benediction on her shoulders.

“I can’t believe I’ll be graduating in June,” she said. “Perhaps Cleavon Frame will offer me a position at Royce and Ellis.”

Robert stirred and draped his arm along the back of the bench. “Do you honestly think he will?”

Honor stared out across the pond at the swan boat filled with passengers gliding serenely across the water’s glassy surface. “I’m not optimistic, but I’m stubborn enough to ask.”

“What will you do if they don’t accept you?”

“Apply to other firms, of course. There’s got to be at least one that will hire me, if only as a favor to my aunt Theo.”

“What if there isn’t?”

“Then I’ll borrow some money and establish a private practice.”

“Here in Boston?”

“Where else?”

“With me in New York.”

Around her, all noise faded away except for Robert’s words ringing through her mind as loud as a bell. Honor grew very still and listened. “You want me to go to New York with you?”

He nodded, his gaze focused on the ground, his body tense and stiff beside her.

She tugged on her locket. “As your mistress?”

He looked over at her in irritation. “What do you take me for? I want you for my wife.” When Honor did not respond, he said, “In case you hadn’t noticed, I just asked you to marry me.”

“I must confess that I’m quite at a loss for words.”

He drummed his fingers nervously against his knees. “If I weren’t so unsure of myself, I’d enjoy the novelty.”

The world was spinning out of control, and Honor fought to steady it. “We haven’t known each other for very long. I know so little about you.”

“What do you want to know?”

Honor smoothed her blue serge skirt. “You’re a man of the world, Robert. I doubt that I am the first woman in your life.”

“Oh, that…”

She caught his heroic attempt to suppress a smile. “Don’t dismiss my concern as mere feminine jealousy. I expect an answer.”

He sobered instantly. “I’m thirty-two. Of course there have been other women.” He looked at her. “But not as many as you seem to think, and none I wanted to marry.”

“That’s reassuring.”

“I know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” He leaned forward, rested his elbows on his knees, and stared at the grass. “I also know you deserve better. I’m not rich. I don’t come from some fine old Boston family. But I know I’d be a good husband to you.”

Honor folded her hands in her lap and felt her equilibrium returning. “I don’t care about wealth or background. I know you’d be a good husband.” Her gaze sought the swan boat again. “But to be honest, I have my life all planned, and my plan doesn’t include marriage to anyone.”

Especially to a man who had never once said he loved her.

He said, “Plans can be changed.”

She thought of how all her plans had changed abruptly after her parents died. “How well I know that.”

“If you’re waiting for a blueblood like Saltonsall to come along, I have an advantage.”

“And what would that be?”

“You and I will both be lawyers. We understand each other’s work and could help each other.”

Honor paused to consider it. “That would certainly provide a sound foundation for a marriage.”

“And I don’t think your ambition is unladylike.”

“Decidedly a point in your favor.”

He looked at her. “I also have another reason for wanting to marry you.”

“What is that?”

He squirmed in his seat for a moment, then pulled out his handkerchief and dabbed his brow, unconsciously imitating Pudding Weymouth. “Oh, hell, I’d better just come out and say it before I lose my nerve.” He took a deep breath. “I love you. I’ve loved you from the very first day I saw you.”

Her heart began to flutter. “In old Bloomers’ criminal law class?”

“No. Three years ago when we first started law school.”

Honor’s eyes widened in astonishment. “Oh, that’s a colossal fib if ever I heard one! You always avoided me. You never spoke to me unless we were on opposite sides of an issue in class.”

“I couldn’t get up the nerve until this year.”

“You?” she scoffed. “Robert Davis, my nemesis?”

“Every man is a coward about something.” He sat back and rubbed his clean-shaven jaw. “I’ve made a muddle of this, haven’t I?”

“In what way?”

“I should have gotten down on my knees and proposed to you. I should have given you flowers.” He bolted to his feet, strode over to the flowerbed and pulled up a bunch of tulips by their roots.

Passersby stopped to stare. The little boy, who had undoubtedly been warned many a time by his governess not to pick the tulips under pain of a spanking, gaped at Robert in envy as his kite plummeted to earth.

Honor’s cheeks burned in mortification. “Robert! That’s public property. You’ll be arrested!”

He walked back, dropped down on one knee, and thrust the flowers, dirt-covered roots and all, at Honor. “Miss Elliott, will you marry me?”

Glancing around uneasily for any sign of a policeman, Honor hissed, “I refuse to be a party to such wanton vandalism!”

Grinning, he rose and flung away the flowers. “Dull, dull, dull! Where’s your spirit of adventure, Miss Steel Stays Elliott? What about romance?”

She found herself laughing in spite of herself.

He kissed her for all the world to see, and even after they parted, he still held her arms. “What’s your answer?”

“I’ll need more time.”

Robert flung back his head and laughed, a deep, rich rumble that welled up from his shoes. “Spoken like a true lawyer.”

“Don’t mock me. Marriage is a momentous occasion in a woman’s life, not to be undertaken lightly.”

He sobered instantly. “You’re right. Take all the time you need. At least until we graduate. Then I’ll be off to New York with or without you.”

While writing a letter to her art dealer in Paris, Theo paused a moment to look out the window at the trees tight with buds. She felt wonderful. Life couldn’t have been any better. She and Wes were still lovers. Honor and Robert Davis were still nothing more than good friends. She returned to her scribbling, content with the world.

Then her niece walked in. Without stopping or looking up, Theo said, “How were the gardens today?”

Honor poured herself a cup of black coffee from the pot Theo kept within arm’s reach during the morning, then sat down on the leather chesterfield sofa and took several sips. “Robert asked me to marry him.”

The pen halted. Theo looked up and blinked several times. “Did you just say what I think you said?”

“Your hearing is fine. He proposed in the Public Garden.”

Theo sat back, trying to hide her rising panic. She moistened her dry lips. “What did you tell him?”

“I told him I’d have to think about it.”

“Very sensible.” Theo put her pen back into its inkwell, blotted the letter she had been writing, and folded it. “Do you think you will marry him?” She held her breath.

Honor rose and strolled over to the window to gaze into the street at a passing motorcar honking its obnoxious horn. “He’s certainly turned my world upside down.” She shook her head as if to clear it. “I hadn’t thought of marrying anyone. Now a man has said he wants to spend the rest of his life with me.”