The Lady and the Earl (22 page)

Declan
sm
iled at her, shaking his head. 
“
I believe I told you last week I prefer to be called Declan.  It is just the three of us.  I am certain no offense will occur if you use my first name in
front of Miss
Davenhue
.
”
 

Allana
felt her cheeks burn red
.  They did that frequently around this man.  “Yes, you did.  One of these times I will remember.”

He smiled at her and turned his attention to Carmon.  “Miss
Davenhue
, might I have a word alone with Allana?”

Carmon
shot Allana a
knowing
look
. 
“Yes, of course.” 
She grinned excitedly
before slipping away to find Edmund.

Allana would have rolled her eyes at her friend if
Lord
Cunningham was
n
o
t watching her.  Her
stomach
knotted
nervously.  What did he wish of her?  Could she speak
to
him without making a fool of
herself
?

“Allana, I must confess,” he began.  He
gave her a half smile
.  “I did not know who you were when we met
last week
. 
I did not realize you were
Marcus’s
daughter. 
I did
n’
t even know
he
had a daughter until this day.”

“Oh
?” she
asked.  He didn’t even
know of her, not even from hear
say?
  It almost hurt, yet hadn’t she wanted that?
  Hadn’t she made it so?

“Yes, and I thought when you mentioned Connor
last week
that he was your beau
, possibly your
intended
,” he confessed.

Allana’s eyes widened in surprise.
 
“My
intended
?”
 

“
It was the only conclusion I could
draw
.  But now that I know otherwise, I was wondering if I might see you again after today.”

“
Me?  A
fter
…tru
ly
?” she
asked in bewilderment.

His eyebrows furrowed. 
“You seem surprised
. 
Why is that?”

Allana could feel her cheeks burning yet again.  “Well, I….”  How could she answer this without telli
ng him she never thought he woul
d want
her
?
  Perhaps
she should just tell him the
truth of the matter
.
 
She bit her lip.
 
“
I suppose y
ou will find out sooner or later. 
I have
a reputation that is not becoming
of
a lady.”  She paused, trying to give him a
moment to comment on what she’
d said and to observe any
odd reaction he might have to this news as w
ell.  He simply waited for more, yet that was all she could think of to say.

“A reputation?
  What sort of reputation
?” he
finally
asked.

She shifted uncomfortably. 
“That I’
m
too spirited
…bold…and even unladylike
. 
So you see,
I assumed
a nobleman
with your title
would not wish to associate with a woman
who had
such a…
a
background.
”  She
glanced away in embarrassment, unable to look at him any longer. 
Why did she have to be so honest?

He chuckled
.
 
“
I already knew you were spirited, Allana. 
But bold and unladylike?
 
Surely not.”

She nodded in shame.  “Yes.”

“
How does a lady
of
your
standing
gain such a reputation
?” he
asked
curiously.
 

“
You
honestly
have never heard of
Lord
Tananguard’s
wayward daughter
?” she
asked. 

His eyebrows rose. 
“
Wayward
? 
No.  As I said
before
, I never knew he had a daughter until today,”
he answered.

“
Of course
,
you did say that.  Well, now you know, and now you know why
I was so
surprised when you asked to see me again.  I will not be offended if you choose to take those words back now.”
  She was giving him the opportu
nity to change his mind.  She’
d told him of her reputation.  She was not the typical lady no matter how hard she tried.  She would always be the
independent woman
she was.

“Take it back
?” he
asked in surprise.  “
No.
  It will take more to discourage me than hearsay.
”

“Oh.”
  She was baffled.  He was still interested, or maybe he was simply curious now.
 

“T
ell me why
you called yourself the
wayward daughter
.  You
don’t
seem wayward,” he said in puzzlement.

“I,” she cleared her throat uncomfortably.
  He was
n’t
still interested.  He
was
just curious.
  “Perhaps you should ask my father
, or I’
m certain Con
nor would
be quite happy
to inform you
.
”

“Allana,” he said patiently.  “
Why force me to go to your father when you can tell me yourself
?” he
asked.
  “Surely you would rather defend your honor than send me elsewhere to hear further rumor.”

“It would not be rumor coming from them,” she argued.

“But I would rather hear it from your lips.  Please.”

“I…,” she paused.
  He seemed sincere.
  Perhaps she should just tell him.  If she did, she could judge for herself his reaction to her past. 
Even with this thought, she still hesitated. 

Allana
glanced around, looking for an escape.
 
Dalon
was being instructed to order the dogs forward again.  This was very good timing.
“It seems the others are moving again.”
 

“It seems they are.”

“We should join them,” Allana
added
.

“We should,”
Declan
said, but he did
not
move. 

“They will leave us behind, you know.  My father waits for no one once the hunt begins,” she said.

“I know, but I think I would rather find out your secret.”  He
waited,
stud
ying her
.

Allana
stared back in surprise.  He would rather find out about her ridiculous past than hunt? 
Unheard of.
  “Why is this so important to you?” 

He looked at her very seriously.  “I
t bothers me that your name has been slandered, and I wish to know why.”

She sighed.  “The
why
is because of the way I grew up, and it was my own doing.”

“That
tells me nothing
,” he said in exasperation.  “Did you injure some lady who felt it necessary your foul deed be publicized and scrutinized?”

“No.”
 

“Then what is it?” 

“I broke Ed
mund’s nose when I was fourteen,” she blurted.

His
jaw
dropped. 
“You?
 
How?
”

“I punched him for teasing Carmon.”

He laughed.  “That’s ironic.
 
But truly?
  You did this?
”

She nodded. 
“
I never wore dresses
. 
I wore trousers instead.  I climbed trees, fished, and I trained my own horse. 
I was never afraid to defend myself physically or with colorful words. 
I was raised by men, and so I acted like a boy until I was
nearly fifteen
.
”  There.  Now there was no pretense between them.  If he still wished to see her again, there would be no surprises for him.

“And many called you wayward because of this,” he concluded.  “And you believe this
information would stop me from wishing to know you better.”

She nodded.  “
Surely y
ou have a reputation to think on.  Y
ou are, after all, an
e
arl
.
”

He laughed. 
“An e
arl who is quite informal and untraditional.”

Lancelot prodded her shoulder
, distracting her for a moment
.  “Go graze,” she told her horse, shoving his nose away with affection.

Declan eyed her curiously.  “Your horse
?” he
asked
, motioning toward Lancelot
.

“Yes, he is.”

“You trained him?”

Allana nodded.

“Impressive.”  He
stared at her for a moment
, eyes furrowing
.
  A small smile crept upon his face.
  “
You did say t
rousers
, correct
?” 

She blushed. 
“Yes.
Quite
unladylike
.
”

“
You dressed this way u
ntil you were fifteen?”

“Fourteen going on fifteen,” she corrected.

He nodded
,
stud
ying
her again
,
that smile still evident
. 
He glanced at her horse
.  Allana
felt her heart stop.  That was one secret she
wanted
to keep.  Surely he wouldn’t—

“I thought he was a boy, but
I see my mistake now
,” he said
far too
quietly
to be speaking to Allana
.
  There was amusement lining his tone.
 
He no
dded to himself as if coming to a
conclusion. 
“It was you then
?” he
asked
.

“Me
?” she
squeaked in turn.

“Yes you. 
If what you say is true, then I believe you were the one. 
And I believe you know of wha
t I speak.  Several years ago
,
I
was assaulted
quite unnaturally
by a young thief.”

“A thief?
  I was
not
a…aware of this incident.
”
 
Allana’s eyes widened
at her near slip
,
and her cheeks flared. 

He chuckled quietly. 
“No
?” he
asked.  “The thief had your horse.”

“
It m
ust
ha
ve been another horse.”

He smiled
in amusement
, and her cheeks flared even hotter.
 
 

He moved closer to her. 
She took a step back, but it did not stop
him
from getting far too close.  He reached out and touched her flaming, hot cheek.

“As I thought.
  Quite guilty,” he said
with a faint smile.
  Instead of dropping his hand after confirming her blushing cheeks, he moved it to
tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.