Page 8 of The Marquess and the Earl (The Unlikely Betrothal #3)
Chapter 8
G eorge was worried and almost in a state of panic after Tanner saw Nate attempting to enter the chamber. Part of him wanted to be angry at Nate over the situation, but then he felt guilty. He knew Nate hadn’t intended for Tanner to see him, but shouldn’t he have considered that George might not be alone? If he had only arrived five minutes later, the whole thing would have been avoided. Tanner had only returned to clear the breakfast trays.
The whole thing was madness. Tanner wasn’t prone to gossip, but he couldn’t be certain whether the man left the room with or without a bit of suspicion. He had certainly never encountered George in a compromising situation with a woman, but hopefully, the man would soon forget all about it. But if Tanner suspected anything, it put Nate and George at greater risk. If he were to encounter them together in such a way again, he was sure to suspect the truth. That couldn’t happen.
George debated knocking on the wall to let Nate know when Tanner left, but he was still a bit shaken by the whole turn of events. Perhaps they had been taking too many risks, and it was a sign that they needed to take more care. So he opted not to do so. He didn’t think Nate would take the risk again, at least not until much later.
If Nate didn’t reappear after a while, George decided he would dress and rejoin the other guests. He didn’t wish to sit in his chamber by himself all day. He would just need to wait long enough that his hosts would believe that it was plausible that he was feeling better. Grabbing his book from the bedside table, he did his best to focus on reading instead of all the rumors and gossip that could possibly be starting about them already.
He chastised himself for jumping to such conclusions and letting his imagination run away from him. Tanner had always been a loyal servant, and he had no reason to believe that even if the man found the situation to be odd that he would say anything about it.
George shook off his concerns and refocused his attention on his book, forcing himself to read the words aloud to help him focus. That seemed to do the trick as before long, he was caught up in the story. After a few chapters, he glanced at the clock, and it had been almost two hours since he last checked.
He stretched and decided he should dress and make an appearance downstairs. George reached for the bellpull to have Tanner attend him again.
He tried to push thoughts of Nate away as Tanner shaved him and then helped him to dress. George wished he knew if Nate was even still in his chamber. He would know soon enough when he joined the other guests. They wouldn’t be able to speak to each other, at least not at first, as they would need to keep their distance.
George ventured downstairs and didn’t see anyone else at first. There wasn’t a roar of voices or the sound of any games being played. He continued through the foyer and there were a couple of gentlemen chatting near a window in the salon, Lord Irvine and Lord Percy.
Based on the reputations of each of the gentlemen, they weren’t the sort that George usually spent much time with, but he could start there and hope he might determine where the rest of the guests were. He longed to at least catch a glimpse of Nate, even if he couldn’t speak to him.
“Gentlemen,” George said, approaching them.
“Knox,” Irvine said. “Good to see you are well. ”
For a moment, George almost didn’t understand what the man meant but caught himself. “Yes, indeed. Just needed a bit of rest.” George made a show of glancing around the room. “Where is everyone? This is still a house party, is it not?”
Percy laughed. “Most of the others are on a shopping trip to the village. Irvine here is still nursing his pride, so I took pity on him.”
Irvine scowled at the man. “I am doing no such thing.”
George eyed them curiously. “What happened?”
“Irvine actually thought he had a chance to bed that Lady Eliza chit, but she left to marry Craven.”
Irvine shrugged. “It’s of little importance to me. I don’t have a shortage of willing bed warmers. But a taste of her cunt would certainly have been appealing. Not a man here could deny that. Am I right, Knox?”
“Indeed,” George replied with as much enthusiasm as he could muster. He had grown accustomed to such pretense, but it irked more than it used to, and it wasn’t overly palatable before either.
Percy jumped in. “Did you see the chest on Lady Juliet? Damn. And Duncan is working hard to get her down the aisle so he can bury his face in those. The fool.”
George fought rolling his eyes and forced himself to pretend he cared about their taxing conversation. Surely there was anyone else still in the house he could speak with. If he wished hard enough, perhaps someone else would appear.
“What about Lady Lily, Knox? Are you still thinking of offering for her? Given that she’s a bluestocking, I’m not sure how exciting she would be,” Irvine asked.
“We’ll see how the rest of the house party goes. But I think she has a lot more to her than others realize,” George replied, his tone hinting as something that he had no idea whether it was true. He hated himself for even saying it. He only hoped his words wouldn’t have either of these men sniffing around the poor lady’s skirts.
Percy laughed. “Are you telling us you’ve already tried her out a bit, Knox? I mean, that is one of the benefits of a house party.”
“Not yet, but we still have many days left,” George said, faking a smirk. He hoped that if they believed him to be interested in such things, they’d at least leave the lady alone.
“I’m just glad there aren’t any Mollys at this house party,” Irvine said, his words causing George’s throat to go dry. “I heard there was another Molly house near Fleet Street. Nothing but disgusting filth.”
George used every ounce of control to school his features and hope he didn’t give any clue to his discomfort .
“What do you care where a man wants to stick his prick? As long as we don’t have to see it,” Percy said, laughing and waving the man off.
“Because it’s not right and not natural. And what if those fops should look at us and get ideas?” Irvine asked, the disdain and hatred clear in his tone.
George continued to watch and listen, doing his best to hide his anger, or worse, to allow tears to form.
“None of the Mollys are looking at you, Irvine,” Percy said, smacking his back. “You can’t seal the deal with a lady, so perhaps you might change your tune when desperation sets in.”
Irvine clenched his fists. “There is a reason it’s illegal and a hanging offense. Such things have no place in polite society. And let’s sneak out to the pub tonight and you can watch how fast I have a woman bouncing on my cock.”
His words made George think about himself, or worse, Nate, suffering such a fate. He could never allow such a thing to happen. There may be a few people who would accept them, but the opinion and beliefs of Irvine were common across most of their society. Not to mention their love was against the law.
It would break his heart to walk away from Nate, but better that than watching him hang. His heart splintered, pushing aside any romantic ideals that might trick him into thinking that any kind of life together was feasible. It wasn’t. They were fooling themselves. If Nate couldn’t see it, George would be the strong one.
“What about you, Knox? Want to join us tonight and place bets on whether Irvine here can seal the deal with some big-breasted barmaid?” Percy asked.
He forced a laugh, swallowing down all his heartbreak. None of it would serve him. “I think I might see about Lady Lily instead.” He didn’t mean it the way it sounded, or how they would interpret it, but it was of no matter to him. If they thought he was going to bed the lady, all the better.
“Best of luck there,” Percy replied. “I hope she’s got a wicked mouth on her.”
If George thought he could fight well enough to take both of the men on his own, he would. He could take them one on one, but both would pose greater difficulty. They deserved to be knocked to the ground for their horrid, vile words. They were the epitome of what was wrong with society. Their behavior was tolerated and encouraged in some circles, while love was limited to how men of similar ideals defined it.
What was the use of fighting it? There was no other choice. He’d have to marry a woman and do what was expected of him, and that was that. And he’d never see Nate again once he ended things .
Before any further improper talk could come from either of the two bounders, some of the other guests entered the parlor. The group returned from the village, and George knew the moment that Nate entered the salon, as he felt his presence before he saw him. He fought to keep his breathing under control and refused to look at him.
George removed himself from any further conversation with Lords Percy and Irvine and sought out a different circle to converse with. A half an hour had passed as he mostly remained quiet and listened to others speak, doing his best to avoid looking at Nate.
Seeing him from the corner of his eye, he focused his gaze away from him, when he finally saw Lady Lily entering from the terrace.
Resolved in what his future held. The way it had always been meant to be and what he had planned for his life before he had even known of Nate’s existence. He drew a fortifying breath and crossed the room to her.
He went to her and clasped her hand in his, then brought her knuckles to his lips. “I hope you will forgive me for failing to escort you today, my lady. I would have enjoyed such an honor.”
With each word he spoke, he lost pieces of his heart and soul that he knew he’d never get back, and there wasn’t a damn thing anyone could do about it.