Page 10 of The Viscount and the Wallflower (The Unlikely Betrothal Series #4)
Chapter 10
T he next morning, Alex hoped he might speak with Knox right away. Better to tackle the matter head-on before the man spoke with Lily and did something disastrous like propose to her. He couldn’t allow that to happen. If he believed she loved or cared for the man, he loved her enough to step aside, but there was something in her reaction that told him it wasn’t the case. It seemed more likely to him that she believed, for some reason—probably related to her father—that she must marry Knox.
Alex learnt from his valet the previous evening that Knox would take a tray in his room, so Alex did the same. He didn’t wish to encounter Lily so soon after she rejected him. The small silver lining to his broken heart was that he used the angst and turmoil in the play he was writing. He had crafted a character inspired by Lily, and if he couldn’t get her to see that they belonged together, he could rectify their situation on the page. Doing so gave him a bit of satisfaction and even a bit of hope.
Joining the rest of the guests for breakfast, he glanced down at the table, looking for Knox. The dratted man wasn’t there, but Lily was. He wasn’t certain if she saw him or not, as he glanced away from her and went to the sideboard. Once he made his selections, he sat at the far end of the table on the same side as her. The seating eliminated the chance of staring at her during the meal, which would be for the best. Even though she looked even more beautiful than he recalled in his dreams, in the two-second glance he allowed himself to have of her that morning.
His heart ached, and if he were less in control of his actions, he would pull her from the table and throw her over his shoulder in front of everyone, marking her as his in their eyes. While he did give that idea more consideration than he ought, he needed her to choose him. He knew he deserved to be chosen the same as his heart had chosen her.
He ate quietly, avoiding the polite small talk from the guests sitting around him. As soon as he had cleared his plate, he departed the breakfast room without so much as a glance back.
Alex rang for his valet and asked him to alert Knox’s valet that Alex wished to speak with him as soon as possible, requesting Knox to meet him in the library. No more waiting, and no more trying to happen upon him. And if Knox didn’t come down soon, Alex was going to break down the man’s chamber door.
After an hour of pacing the library, Knox finally appeared. “You wished to speak with me?”
Alex whirled around to face him. He noted the man wore a joyous smile, almost as if he had been engaged in more-than-satisfying bed sport. Perhaps he had, which would explain why he hid away in his chamber, or in someone else’s. It was a common occurrence at house parties.
Alex couldn’t judge the man, given he had done the same thing, and with an innocent. And he’d be lying to himself if he didn’t acknowledge that he walked around half-erect from wanting her again. But if Knox was entertaining someone else and then intended to ask for Lily’s hand, that would earn the man a facer. Or ten.
“I wish to know what your intentions are towards Lady Lily.” He might as well get straight to the heart of the matter. Alex had no patience for pleasantries and pretense, not when his future with Lily hung in the balance.
Knox gave him an amused expression. “Do you mean to tell me that you are in love with her, Callan?”
“Yes,” he replied, taking a few steps closer. “I wish to marry her, but she seems to believe you intend to propose.”
He seemed to contemplate what Alex said. “She can’t have affection for me, as she’s given no indication of such. Perhaps she doesn’t return your affections, Callan.”
Alex clenched his fists at the man’s words. “I have reason to believe she does,” he ground out.
The man laughed, not cruelly, but in one that indicated he found Alex amusing, and it took everything Alex had not to proceed with his plan to plant him that facer he had considered, until Knox finally spoke. “I do not intend to propose, my good man. I intended to speak with her today to inform her of such. Then it shall be up to you to win her.”
Alex released a long, relieved breath that he wouldn’t have to do something more severe to prevent Knox from attempting to take Lily away from him. “Why did you allow her to believe you were interested if you weren’t?” He shouldn’t care since the man wouldn’t be an issue, but something about the matter didn’t sit right with him.
“Her father,” Knox said, the smile leaving his face. “The man was quite insistent, and he was difficult to refuse. ”
Alex nodded in understanding. Just another reason for Alex to dislike Lily’s parents.
Knox took the last couple of steps to where Alex stood and grabbed his shoulder. “For what it’s worth, I hope you succeed at winning her hand.”
Alex’s heart clenched at the mere thought of what it would mean if he failed. “I must.”
“I will speak with her as soon as I can.”
Relief washed over Alex that Knox wouldn’t offer for Lily. He still had to be sure that she wanted to be with him, but Knox would remove an enormous obstacle from their path.
“Thank you,” Alex replied. Both men started towards the exit. “If our hosts are looking for me, I shall be in my chamber. I have some matters to tend to.” Those matters included avoiding Lily, at least for the time being, and picking up work where he left off writing his play while he thought of what he’d say to her.
Alex took off towards the stairs, needing to get his thoughts on paper and prepare to speak with Lily again. Even though she had broken his heart when she rejected him, once he found the right words to ask her again, he hoped with everything in his soul that she wouldn’t refuse him.