Page 3 of The Viscount and the Wallflower (The Unlikely Betrothal Series #4)

Chapter 3

A lexander Bourke, Viscount Callan, was utterly intrigued by the charming Lady Lily. He typically avoided marriage-minded misses, but there was something different about her. She wasn’t like any of the other women in attendance. It wasn’t just that she was different in appearance, although he found her to be quite pretty, beautiful if he were honest, but it was in how she carried herself.

She didn’t try to win the favor of anyone or capture the attention of the room. The few freckles on her nose and cheeks added to her charm, and he glanced at them when she spoke. He could tell by the way her light blue eyes moved behind her rounded spectacles she was a person who remained constantly in thought. He had always found intelligence and meaningful conversation appealing but often lacking among the shallow members of the society they both circulated in.

“Before the house party, Rosina…I mean, Lady Preston, and I went to see A Love For a Lady , and it was wonderful. I am not one often brought to tears, but I admit my eyes did not remain dry during the performance.”

Alex didn’t find it hard to believe that she wasn’t the type to go into hysterics. She seemed far too reserved and controlled for such behavior, even if he had just met her. “What was it you enjoyed most about it?”

“Stormy Wells has a way of capturing human emotions in his words, and the actors were superb as well, of course. The depth of the heroine and her heartbreak, and the healing that she encountered on her path to love. It was just so…real. I could feel it.”

He noticed something changed in her expression, something almost painful.

“Does that resonate with you, my lady? Have you had your heart broken?” The notion irritated him, and for some reason, he hated the thought of some cad doing so. He knew far too well what it felt like.

She narrowed her eyes at him. “It’s forward of you to ask, my lord, but no, not in the way you mean. The heart can be broken for a multitude of reasons.”

Something about her made him long to know more about her. And call it his sense of honor, but he didn’t like the tiniest thought that someone could have hurt someone as charming as her.

“Will you tell me about it?” he asked.

She looked at him as if he had gone mad, and he supposed he had. He was being far too forward, and she had every right to tell him to bugger off. He enjoyed experiencing and learning about the experiences of others since it aided and inspired him with his writing.

“Why would you care to know, my lord?”

He shifted on his feet. Alex didn’t have a suitable answer for that. Not one that he would share with her, anyway. He fought to find the right words to respond to her with.

“I’m just curious. My gentlemanly principles got the better of me at the thought of anyone having distressed you.”

“I don’t need saving, Lord Callan. But I appreciate the sentiment,” she replied. He knew she was going to turn things around on him when her eyebrow arched. “Would you like to tell me about the heartbreak you have endured?”

No. Never. Not in the slightest. If he could go his entire life without recalling the lowest point of his life—he would pay a king’s ransom to ensure it. “I see your point, my lady. Please accept my apologies for asking.”

Her expression shifted back to a sweet smile, and the tension left his body. For some reason, he dreaded the thought of her harboring the slightest irritation towards him.

“You are forgiven.” She widened her smile.

She really was quite beautiful. He was almost certain she didn’t realize it, which made her even more so. Lord Knox was going to be a lucky man to win her hand.

“Lily, are you ready to retire for the evening? I was going to head up,” a woman’s voice said.

Alex shook off his thoughts about Lady Lily and noted that Lady Preston had joined them.

“Yes, I shall walk up with you.” She shifted her attention back to Alex. “I’m sure we will speak more soon.”

“I look forward to it,” he replied. He watched her walk away with her friend, and there wasn’t a bit of falsehood or pretense in his words. He would certainly look forward to speaking with her again.

Alex took the opportunity to retire to his chamber for the evening as well. Once his valet had helped him ready himself for bed and departed, Alex sat in a chair by the fire with his writing journal. He dipped his quill in the ink sitting on the table beside him and jotted several of his thoughts from the day .

He smiled, recalling everything about Lady Lily. She would make the perfect heroine in a play. He didn’t want to forget any detail about her or their conversation, so he wrote until he captured it all. Her hair, her quick wit, and everything about her form.

By the time he finished writing, he noticed his cock pained from straining against his breeches, the only clothing he wore beneath his banyan. He groaned and forced himself to shake off the reaction. He was a man, and it had been a bit since he’d been with a woman, so he told himself that it meant nothing. Well, it meant that perhaps he needed to wet his wick soon since it had been a while, but nothing besides that.

The next morning, Alex strolled into the breakfast room to join the other guests. He glanced at the long table as he made his way to the sideboard and noticed Lady Lily sitting with Knox. It annoyed him slightly but only because he would have enjoyed speaking with her. For no other reason than that. She was interesting and intelligent, which made conversation with her easy .

He made his selections, filling his plate before he found a seat across from where the couple sat, but a few guests down. He was close enough that he could see them, but not close enough to join in their conversation. It was probably for the best. If the man was courting her, he shouldn’t take up her time just because he found her to be a stimulating conversationalist.

Alex speared a bite of his eggs and brought the fork to his mouth, watching Lady Lily’s lips move. He couldn’t help but wonder what she was speaking to Lord Knox about. From the delight in her expression, she seemed to enjoy herself. He continued eating while he watched them. It nagged at him, and then, when he glanced at Knox, it gnawed at his insides even more. It was clear the man was politely tolerating her company at best. He wasn’t rude or ignoring her, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes. He didn’t appreciate the conversation, and that seemed like a shame to Alex.

Once his plate was empty, he realized he hadn’t spoken to anyone for the entire breakfast and had just watched Lady Lily, willing the roar of the surrounding conversations to quiet down enough that he might hear the things she spoke about.

Before he had time to think more about that insight, their hostess encouraged them all outside for a game of Pall Mall, organized into partners. He noticed Knox remained to the side with some of the other guests who intended to be spectators for the event, and that meant he wouldn’t partner with Lady Lily. He watched her for a moment as the other players sought their partners and she stood waiting to see if anyone would ask her.

Alex noted the disappointment in her expression, and it pained him more than he cared to admit. Alex rushed to her, moving through the other guests.

“Would you partner with me, my lady?”

She looked up at him and grinned. “I would be delighted, my lord.”

“Why don’t you select a mallet for us?”

She moved to the rack and selected the blue one, holding it up to him as if she were asking for his approval.

He nodded, and she returned to his side. “I must warn you, my lord, that I am not very good at this game.”

“Well, we are well matched because I am unlikely to hit the ball straight even once.” It was true. He was never one to have the patience to master such games, but it never bothered him to admit defeat. At least in the matter of yard games.

“Well, that takes the pressure off, then,” she said. “We shall pass the morning without the spirited competition.”

They lined up with the others and would take their turn last. With the way the hostess organized the game, each team would share a ball and mallet and would take turns hitting the ball when it was their turn again. The first team to get their ball through the last wicket would win a prize.

Once their turn came around, Alex let Lady Lily take the first swing, which sent them close to a large tree. They moved together to wait by their ball for their next turn.

Alex didn’t mind that they were a bit separated from the other guests, if only so that he might converse with her without worrying that others might interfere with their conversation.

“Tell me something no one else knows about you,” he said, deciding he didn’t wish to waste time with all the polite pleasantries about the weather and how kind their hosts were.

If he expected her to drop her mouth open in shock from his statement, he would be disappointed. “Well, that shouldn’t be a challenge, since I don’t have all that many friends.”

He noticed she didn’t seem upset by her statement, and he found her comfort with who she was intriguing.

“Well, tell me something anyway.”

She thought for a moment and bit into her bottom lip. The action made him notice her lips again and how full they were, and he drew a deep breath when she began speaking again, if only to give him something else to focus on. “I speak six different languages. ”

“That is quite impressive,” he said, in genuine awe of her abilities. “I assume French is one of them?”

“Oui, monsieur.”

“I happen to be proficient in that particular language. What do you say we only speak in French for the rest of the game?” he asked, then chastised himself for not stating his idea in French, which would have impressed her far more.

But the smile she gave him at the suggestion made him quickly forget his error.

“Vous revenez,” she said, motioning to the ball when it was his turn again.

“Merci.” He took his swing and missed the wicket. They both laughed and started after the ball so they could await their next turn.

As the morning progressed, he found it to be one of the most enjoyable encounters he’d had in a long time. The conversation was engaging, and her French was excellent. He learnt more about the books she read and that she enjoyed doing maths in her head and reciting entire plays to cope with mundane social events. He found her ability to memorize plays fascinating.

Alex rarely spoke much about himself to anyone, but he opened up to Lady Lily. He told her a bit about what he enjoyed studying at university, as well as a little about his family, especially his younger siblings, who were quite the handful. He learnt she also had a younger brother, who was away at Eton for school.

Neither one of them spoke a word of English for the rest of the game until Lord Irvine and Lady Eliza were finally declared the winners.

“That was fun, my lady,” Alex said, returning to English. “We shall have to do that again sometime. I may have to become proficient in Italian next.”

“If you do, I shall be happy to help you practice.”

He looked at her, and their gazes held for several moments. Forcing himself to look away, he glanced across the grass at the other guests. “Should I return you to Knox?” he asked.

She also looked at the other guests. “I don’t see him anywhere.”

For a man who was supposed to be courting the lady, he didn’t seem to put much effort into keeping her attention for himself. Alex couldn’t decide why that annoyed and delighted him so much.

“There is Rosina,” she said. “I believe I shall join her for a while.”

Alex extended his arm to her. “Allow me to escort you to her.”

She took his arm, and they moved at a leisurely pace until they reached her friend.

“If you will excuse me, I shall see you both later,” Alex said, bowing to them.

He had the urge to remove himself from her presence. There was something about her that made him think and feel things he wasn’t certain he wished to feel. And certainly not for a woman who was being courted by an earl, one of his fellow peers at the same house party.

Alex decided he would return to his room for the afternoon and write. He had many thoughts and happenings from the day that he wished to get out of his head and onto parchment. The way his writings were coming together, Lady Lily might just be the basis for one of his next plays. One of the wildly popular Stormy Wells plays the whole of society had no idea was written by a viscount of the ton . It was his best-kept secret and one he would never divulge if he could help it.

Focusing on his parchment, Alex would spend the afternoon buried in his writings and just might succeed at convincing himself that as intriguing as she was, and what a great story her character could tell, he felt nothing deeper for Lady Lily.