Page 28

Stapleton Boxing Salon

Mayfair, London

S ince it was a Sunday, the boxing salon was closed today, and that gave Alexander both relief and a bit of sadness, for usually having clients on the floor gave him renewed energy. However, he came into the salon regardless, because he had ledgers to balance and a few vendor invoices to pay.

He hadn’t seen Lydia for a couple of days, and if he were honest with himself, he missed her presence in his life.

After he’d talked with his family regarding her, his outlook for the future had been infused with even more confidence, regardless that the doctor’s daughter wasn’t exactly marriage-minded.

Could he convince her to take a chance, that all would be well, when he didn’t even know that? Only time would tell.

An hour after he settled into his accounting duties, rain drummed against the windows, and it provided a pleasant background to his work. As the candle flame danced, shadows moved over his ledger pages, but it was oddly soothing while he concentrated on the numbers.

No sooner had he finished one task than a bold knock on the office door interrupted him.

“What the devil?” He stood. When he opened the door and spied Lydia on the narrow landing, he frowned, for she wore an expression of concern that wrinkled her forehead. “Is everything well?”

“I’m not certain. Might I come in?”

He stood back from the door. “Do you want another boxing lesson?”

“No.” She shook her head. “I wanted to talk with you, and since I obviously couldn’t go to your rooms at The Albany, I took a chance that you might be here…

without your brothers.” As she proceeded into the room, she untied the satin ribbons of her bonnet from beneath her chin and then removed the headgear as Alexander closed the door.

“It started to rain, and since it is rather bothersome being wet—again—I came here directly.”

“Well, as you said not long ago, being wet isn’t a bad thing,” he told her with a wink. “I’m afraid I don’t have tea to offer you, but I can call for my brother’s closed carriage and perhaps go to a tearoom.”

“I don’t require tea. At least not right at this moment.” Once she’d removed her ivory spencer, she draped it over the end of a leather sofa. “Since when has there been a sofa in this office?”

“Oh.” Alexander glanced at the piece of furniture nestled beneath the windows, across the room from the tick mattresses.

“Lewis took his wife’s advice. She wanted somewhere to sit when she visited him, somewhere she could read while he worked, or do whatever it is that women do when waiting on a man. ”

God, I sound like an utter nodcock.

At least it prompted a faint smile on her part, and his gaze dropped briefly to her mouth. “It is actually a good idea.” So saying, Lydia took a seat on the middle of the three cushions. Once she removed her gloves, she laid them on the cushion beside her. “I came because we do need to talk.”

“I agree.”

“You do?” Surprise clouded her eyes.

“Yes.” He nodded. “Further, I believe it’s long overdue.” Could he find his courage and tell her what he was beginning to feel? Would it make a difference?

“Perhaps it is.” After taking the reticule from her wrist, she tossed it to a corner of the sofa. “The night you came to dinner at my house—”

“Two nights ago, at your father’s behest?” That had been an interesting evening wherein the good doctor had asked him a few pointed questions, but overall, it had been lovely to meet Lydia’s family.

“Yes.” It was her turn to nod. “Well, before dinner, I had a long chat with him regarding you.” Instead of meeting his gaze, she kept her attention focused on her hands in her lap. “I needed his counsel about certain… things.”

He frowned. “Why?”

“Since meeting you, my mind has been besieged with confusion, and I’ve found myself second-guessing my decisions.

Decisions, I might add, that I have never before wavered upon since making them.

All because of you.” Finally, she raised her gaze, and the emotions she spoke of were reflected in her eyes.

“What?” Caught once more by shock, Alexander sat—or rather collapsed—on the cushion beside her. “I have never once asked that you change anything about yourself on my behalf.” Is that what she’d told her father? Is that why the man was so interested in questioning him at dinner the other night?

“I know you haven’t, and quite frankly, you’ve been everything lovely and strong and you’ve appealed to my wild, baser instincts, which is quite a distraction.”

“Then why do you seem so devastated by that?”

“Because it is something that needs to be done… I think.” Her eyes looked stricken, as if she’d come to a particularly horrible decision.

“I have come here to tell you that entering into a courtship with you was a mistake, and that we are not a good match for each other.” Tears echoed in her voice.

“So while I have had a lovely time with you, I believe we are better as acquaintances.”

“I beg your pardon, but what the hell, Lydia?” Hurt and betrayal slammed into his chest, but overall, he was shocked and a bit panicked.

“From my perspective, things were progressing quite well between us, so where is this sudden digging in of your heels coming from?” In fact, his chest tightened to the point that he had trouble breathing.

When she didn’t answer—or wouldn’t—he shook his head as the truth dawned.

“You are afraid because you fancy me just enough that you have been thinking about a future with me.”

“No, that’s not it. I…”

The fact she couldn’t finish the sentence gave credence to his guess.

His suddenly flagging spirits took flight.

“You, my dear, are a terrible liar. Your having feelings for me terrifies you, so you’ve decided to push me away, to put distance between us that will keep you from being hurt, for you have managed to convince yourself that I won’t let you be who you are even though I’ve promised you that many times. ”

Now that he’d identified the problem, he could talk her through it. All wasn’t as lost as he’d feared.

The delicate tendons in her throat worked with a hard swallow.

“It isn’t just me who I’m trying not to hurt; it’s you as well.

” She shook her head while tears welled in her eyes.

“You are a good man, Alexander, and you don’t deserve to have a woman at your side who isn’t society’s definition of a good match. ”

“Such gammon. I also never said I wanted the perfect or ideal wife.” He held her gaze. Never had he been so close to having everything he’d had no idea he wanted. “Talk to me, Lydia. Tell me what you’re thinking instead of shutting me out.”

“No.” When she would have stood up from the sofa, he grabbed her hand and kept her in place. “You’ll simply ply me with charm and then I’ll change my mind.”

“As well you should, because this is a stupid plan.” Thinking that she needed extra encouragement, Alexander tugged her into his arms, holding her tight against his chest. “You attracted me from the start with your forthright attitude and your unorthodox views. I stayed interested with your plain speaking and your unwavering desire to follow your dreams, no matter that everything about that goes against everything society wants from a woman.”

“I can no more give up being a physician any more than you can give up being a boxer.” Her words were slightly muffled by his cravat.

“There is no reason that you should. I am not that sort of man, and I’d hoped I’d given you ample reasons to see that.”

For long moments, she remained quiet before nodding.

“But if we continue in this vein and follow the courtship to its inevitable conclusion, this will mean your name will constantly be in the gossip mill due to my penchant for thumbing my nose at society. You might be shunned or cut out of receiving invitations or perhaps will lose clients.”

“Ha.” He pulled back slightly in order to peer into her face. The shining hope there knocked him for a loop. “For too long you’ve pushed people away before they could either disappoint you or demand that you give up your notions of living life on your own terms. Is this correct?”

She sighed. “How can you possibly know that?” A hint of annoyance threaded through her voice.

“I have spent enough time with you to know what sort of woman you are, what kind of woman you will always be, and it humbles the hell out of me at times.”

“Humbles you?”

He nodded. “Pushes me to be better in every aspect of my life. Is that easier to swallow?

“And that doesn’t bother you?”

“God, no. In fact, it thrills me. Do you truly believe I value any of those things you mentioned over sharing a potential future with you?” One of his eyebrows arched.

“I do not. And the invitations you think will stop?” He snorted with derision.

“My brother is the Earl of Lethbridge. I am the Viscount of Wexley. My father was a lauded prize fighter. Those connections will always be there, and I’ll move through society as much as I ever have…

or haven’t, depending on my mood. Besides, I shall have you, and that is what I have wanted above all else. ”

Her eyes rounded. The same longing, the same yearning circling through his chest reflected in those green depths. “Truly?”

“Absolutely. More than anything I want you in my life, Lydia.”

“You barely know me.”

“Whose fault is that, Miss Busy Physician?”

A blush stained her cheeks. “Yesterday, my father and I toured the space in the building next door to this one to see if it would suit for expanding his practice.”

“Will it?”

“I believe so. Then there will only be an alleyway separating you and me on a regular basis.”