Page 23 of Pursued Beyond Treachery (Harrowed Hearts #2)

J avenia paced from one end of the room to the other but Johnathan did not know what to say or do. She’d come to his townhouse in high dudgeon complaining how Melior had been nearly carried out of Lady Lincolnhurst’s on Friday only to attend the opera on Monday.

“Nate begged Melior to rest but she refused. I love her, but that woman is more stubborn than Prinny when he’s found a new bobble he must have. What is she thinking?”

She passed by him again and he decided there was no use holding to propriety by standing. She’d pace herself out eventually. He lowered himself into his favorite chair near the fire. Large and sturdy, it fit his tall frame perfectly.

“And then if that was not enough, she accompanied Miss Wayland and the Wallaces to the menagerie on Tuesday. She is wearing herself thin and if she is not careful, she’s going to hurt the baby.”

His frustrated mind pondered her mention of the Wallaces when the second half of her sentence registered. He sat upright. “Baby?” As a man who prided himself on his attention to detail, it smarted that he’d somehow missed such a crucial piece of information.

Javenia stopped. “Nate did not tell you?”

He lifted his eyebrows and tipped his head to the side.

“I see.” She sat in the chair across from him. “The day you left early, the one where we found you with Miss Wayland, he let us know of Melior’s delicate condition.”

He collapsed back in the chair. That was what Eddie meant by natural.

That Nate had not shared such private information with him would have been normal in any other part of Society, but it hurt knowing he’d been kept in the dark.

They’d been the keepers of each other’s secrets for years.

Susannah’s pretty face flashed in his mind—at least, he had been the keeper of Nate’s secrets.

Johnathan had never told anyone of his attraction to Susannah.

Attraction was not a strong enough word.

Not for the pull he felt whenever she was near.

Like a bee to a flower, he was drawn to her, her very presence giving him a reason to live each day.

Voicing any feeling was hard enough, but the intensity of his love for Susannah often overwhelmed his senses and made it difficult to articulate. So he’d stayed silent.

Then again, if Javenia was to be believed, they all knew. It was a secret no longer.

He laced his fingers together. “I s-suppose that is why she’s been so ill of late.”

Javenia nodded. “She should be resting, but she is so determined to find Miss Wayland a match this season that she’s exhausting herself.”

Johnathan stared out the window. “And is Mr. Wallace her choice?”

“Whose? Melior or Miss Wayland?”

Reluctantly he pulled his gaze away from the window. “Either one.”

“I have seen that face before, John. Do not give up.”

Closing his eyes, he focused on his next words. “I will not stand in the way of her happiness. No matter how painful it might be to s-see her married to someone else.”

“Stop it!”

His eyes flew open. “What?”

“Stop playing the martyr. You need to fight for that girl, John. You love her like she needs to be loved, but she will never know if you do not tell her.”

Leaning forward, he said, “And h-how am I-I-I supposed to d-do that? Y-y-you k-know b-b-better than anyone h-how h-hard it is for me to speak.”

He gripped the arms of the chair. She leaned forward and placed her hand over his. “We all have mountains to climb. You will never know the wonders you will find at the top if you don’t take the first step—or in your case, say the first word. You may find speaking far easier than you think.”

Johnathan tucked his chin and tipped his head. “Really, Javenia? If I cannot speak to you about it, I hardly think my addlepated brain will be able to piece together enough words to the woman I love.”

She sat back with a satisfied smile. “And yet you said that entire sentence without one stutter.”

“An anomaly.”

“Hardly. You do well in Society when you are sure of your speaking material. Think of all the words you can spout off a definition for without a second thought. Do what you have with them; memorize what you wish to say.”

He searched Javenia’s familiar face, reviewing her advice.

He supposed he could write something out and practice it, but what reason did Susannah have to choose him over Mr. Wallace?

Only his title set him apart, but that would not sway her.

She’d been raised with an example of the truest love.

Money, status, even appearance would not sway her unless her heart were truly set on the person.

“I—”

The door to the sitting room opened and the butler announced, “Mr. Roberts to see you, my lord.”

Javenia straightened in her chair, her hands smoothing her dress, then checking her curls. Johnathan smirked. She was quite talented at giving advice she herself did not take. When would she finally admit to Al that she saw him as more than a friend?

Al entered with all the swagger one could expect of him. “I thought I might find you at home.”

Johnathan stood. “You thought correctly.”

“I have a predicament and I think you might be the right person to help—”

Javenia stood, and Al’s gaze snapped to her in surprise. He glanced around the room until he spied Javenia’s maid in the corner. A small exhale escaped him, but his brow still furrowed.

“Why are you here, Javenia?”

The harshness of his tone would have made any other woman shrink, but Javenia only stood taller.

“I have as much right to visit a childhood friend as you do.”

“Yes, but you are a lady visiting a single gentleman. Do you have no regard for your reputation?”

“And what of you? Do you have any regard for a lady’s reputation? Or was it some other gentleman that I witnessed walking alone with Miss Giles in the garden behind Lady Lincolnhurst’s house? In the freezing cold, no less.”

Al opened his mouth, then clamped it shut.

“I thought so.” She turned to Johnathan and took his hand. “Thank you for allowing me to visit. Please think on what I have shared.” Then without warning, she stepped forward and kissed him on the cheek.

The action was so out of character that Johnathan hardly registered it before Javenia swept out of the room, not once glancing toward Al.

Silence settled in the room until the front door shut.

Al rounded on him. “What was that all about?”

“Pardon?”

“Why did Javenia kiss you?” Al’s hands were clenched and his shoulders taut.

“Probably out of spite.” Johnathan retook his seat. “There is nothing between us if that is what you are asking, but it seems there might be something between you and Miss Giles.”

Al sighed, slumping into the chair that Javenia had vacated.

“I… that is, she… Oh, I do not know what there is or is not. She is pretty enough, I suppose, but she lacks…”

“Intelligence?” Johnathan slowly smirked. It was no secret that most young women of the Ton did not cultivate any decent amount of knowledge, but Miss Giles was especially lacking.

“I was going to say an interesting form of address, but I suppose that is from an absence of something. I hate to call a lady’s intelligence into question, though.”

“So you have come to me, a man of little experience with courtship, to ask if you should continue your pursuit of her?”

Al’s head jerked back. “No. I already know she is not the woman I wish to shackle myself to.”

“Then what?” Johnathan leaned forward.

When Al’s gaze wandered to the door where Javenia had exited, he had his answer. But instead of voicing what was obviously on his mind, Al’s head whipped back toward him.

“Lady Roberts gave birth last evening.”

Johnathan’s eyes widened. He knew Al’s stepmother had begun her confinement, but it seemed awfully short. “I believe congratulations are in order.” He stood to shake Al’s hand, but his friend stared at the proffered appendage.

“I’m not sure congratulations are the correct sentiments in this situation. Condolences would be more to the point.”

The wide smile Johnathan had sported slipped. “Was there a tragedy?”

“Yes, the tragedy is that she gave birth to twins. Both girls.” Al put a hand to his forehead. “That makes an even dozen, John. I have one dozen sisters.”

A laugh burst out of him before he could hold it back. That the baby would be female had been a given, but that it should be two girls was simply too hilarious to withstand.

“It is not a laughing matter.” The pull at the right side of Al’s lips belied his words. “What’s worse, he has named them Roberta and Richarda.”

“You cannot be serious.”

“I am in earnest.”

“You mentioned the ridiculous name in hopes of dissuading him, didn’t you?”

Al rubbed the back of his neck and unsuccessfully tried to rein in his smile but it burst forth. “I did. I am heartily ashamed of myself.” He chuckled. “And yet Richarda might be my favorite name yet, born purely on the absurdity of it.”

They both laughed. When the room quieted, Al asked, “Do you think if I’d have led with that news Javenia would not have buried me deep in her black books again?”

The comment, usually said with a bit of mirth, came out strained. Tension about Al’s mouth and shoulders confirmed his true feelings.

Johnathan motioned for Al to follow him to the door. “Perhaps. But I believe it is jealousy that frightened her off.”

“Javenia? Jealous of what? Miss Giles?” Al’s expression lifted.

“Or you jealous of Javenia coming to visit me?”

Al sobered.

Johnathan locked gazes with him. “Perhaps one day you two will—”

“I need to be off.” Al swept the door open in front of them and motioned to the footman in the hall. “My coat and hat, please.” He turned back to Johnathan. “Thank you for commiserating with me on my acquisition of two more responsibilities after my father concedes defeat and gives up the ghost.”

“Any time, my friend. Please send my congratulations to your family.” Johnathan shook his head as Al sauntered out the door.

He may be charming and handsome, but the man was an absolute dolt.

If Susannah had given him half the indications of interest that Javenia gave Al, he’d be a happy man well on his way to the altar.

The knocker tapped on the front door and he wondered if Al might have forgotten something. When the door opened to reveal Miss Guthrie with her mother, he wished he’d had the forethought to make himself scarce. He could not refuse the visit now.

As he escorted the ladies to the parlor, he braced himself. His friend had made it out the door unscathed, not that Al would have minded small talk with ladies. But Johnathan dreaded it. Why did Al have all the luck?