The Viscount Made Me Do It by Diana Quincy

Hanna lingered in the front hall of Haven House.

Around her, guests departed in a quiet flurry, bustling out the door in hushed whispers. She stood with one hand holding the elbow of her opposite arm. She tried not to fidget despite wanting nothing more than to escape Griff and his lies. And his snobbish butler.

But she was stuck.

Once again, her temper had gotten the better of her. She’d sent Evan away in a pique of anger, and now she had no way to get home. She could hardly walk home alone at this time of night. Particularly not in Leela’s fine silk gown. And summoning a hackney, much less traveling home alone in one, was entirely unsafe.

“Miss Zaydan?” Griff’s butler stared down his nose at her. “May I be of assistance?”

There was nothing to be done for it. She had to ask for the prig’s assistance. “Wright, isn’t it?”

“Yes, miss, at your service.”

“I’d like to have a message delivered to my brother at Red Lion Square.”

“Certainly, miss. If you would like.”

She forced herself to admit she was stranded. “I need to send word for him to pick me up and return me to my home. My escort . . .” Her voice trailed off. She could hardly reveal she’d been foolish enough to send her escort away, marooning herself in Mayfair. Especially considering that Evan had been right all along. Griff was involved with Lady Winters.

“There is no need to trouble your brother, miss,” Wright assured her. “I shall summon his lordship’s driver to deliver you safely to Red Lion Square.”

“Oh, no. I don’t want to be a bother.”

“I’m certain it is what his lordship would want.” He gave a curt nod to a nearby footman, who melted away to do the butler’s bidding. “His lordship would understand your desire not to be escorted by Dr. Bridges.”

“Oh.” Wright had seen her rebuff Evan? “Will Griff . . . erm . . . Lord Griffin be all right?” She hated herself for asking, for caring. But she could not stop seeing the stricken expression on Griff’s face when Evan publicly accused him of murder.

“I suspect he will.” The butler appeared somewhat pleased. “At the very least, people will stop accusing him of murder.”

“Instead he will be engulfed in a new scandal.” Word of how Griff and Lady Winters spent the evening together when they were fifteen would spread quickly.

“But there is an easy way to put an end to the new scandal,” he said, not unkindly.

Before she could ask the butler what he meant, the coach arrived and Hanna followed the footman out the door to be conveyed home.

“How is your mother?” Griff asked Selina when she joined him in the sitting room of her family home.

“She’s resting. Once she gets over the scandal of it, she will be fine.” Selina poured two drinks and handed him one. “Brandy?”

His brows went up. “You drink brandy now?”

“Scandalous, isn’t it?”

“It pales in comparison to the scandal you created this evening.”

She settled on the sofa next to him. “Don’t look so grim.”

“Your reputation—”

“Will be fine,” she finished the sentence for him. “I’m a widow with three children. My eldest son is an earl. I am not without influence.”

“You think your son can protect you? And how old is his lordship?”

“Robert? All of eight.”

Drained of energy, he reclined against the sofa. “There is a way to fix this.”

“Nothing needs to be fixed. Stop trying to save me.”

“We should marry. That will quell the gossip.” He tried to ignore the crushing sensation in his chest. To not think of Hanna, the woman he secretly dreamed of marrying despite the obstacles. Not that he’d given wedding Hanna serious thought. He hadn’t thought about the future at all. He’d been too busy enjoying the present for the first time in more than a decade. But now his future was set whether he liked it or not. He might as well embrace the idea.

“Us, marry?” Selina narrowed her eyes. “You cannot be serious.”

“Salvaging our mutual reputations is hardly something to joke about.”

“You just spent the last fourteen years allowing people to call you a murderer, all in the name of protecting my virtue. Now you propose to sacrifice your entire life to protect my honor.”

“You’re a lovely woman, Selina.” That much was true. It was also true that she didn’t excite him like Hanna did. She didn’t stir his blood or make him mad with the wanting of her. “Marrying you would hardly be a sacrifice. We are dear friends, after all.”

She made a skeptical sound. “This evening I confessed to free you, not to entrap you.”

“It is not solely your honor we are speaking of,” he reminded her. “There is mine to consider as well. A gentleman cannot desert a woman after all of society knows he spent an entire night with her.”

“We were fifteen. Once you have children of your own, you will understand how young that truly is. Besides, no real harm was done. I married my earl. My late husband was well pleased to have a pretty, young wife in his bed.”

Lord Winters had been twenty-five years older than his bride, the daughter of landed, but untitled, gentry. Selina’s beauty attracted a noble husband and elevated her family.

“I welcomed Albert to my bed whenever it pleased him,” she added. “It was an agreeable union. I don’t regret it.”

“We should marry,” he said tightly. “It is the right thing to do.”

“I see you are still as stubborn as ever.”

“Consider your children,” he insisted, “and the ridicule they’ll face.”

“My children are just that—children. By the time they are old enough to hear of the scandal, the gossips will be focused on something else. I can shield them.”

He scrubbed both hands down his face. “Do you really find the idea of marriage to me so reprehensible that you’d rather endure scandal and gossip?”

“I see you will not let this go.”

“I will not. I would be a cad if I did.”

“Very well.” She sipped her brandy. “Here is what I propose.”

Hanna punched her pillow. It was past midnight, but she couldn’t sleep. The simmering anger from earlier this evening had exploded into raging fury. After about an hour of tossing and turning, she finally gave up and slipped out of bed.

Griff and Lady Winters. Hanna had been right to suspect something between them. She couldn’t stop thinking about the liberties she’d allowed Griff. The idea that he’d gone from her to Lady Winters’s bed made her sick.

She crossed to the window and stared out onto the quiet street. It felt like everyone else in the city was asleep. If only she could quiet her mind long enough to rest.

Something moved across the way. Hanna strained to make out the shadowy figure. The athletic form. The dark clothing. Griff. Why was he outside her house in the middle of the night? He saw her and lifted a hand in greeting. She could feel his eyes staring at her. She raised her hand in return. And then hastened down the stairs to tell the hamar exactly what she thought of him.

She opened the front door as quietly as she could, hoping not to wake the household, to find Griff planted on her doorstep. “What are you doing here?” she hissed.

“I couldn’t sleep. I need to explain.” Still in his evening clothes, he’d removed his cravat, baring his throat.

“I don’t want to hear it. Go away.” She started to close the door.

“Please.” He put his foot in the door to stop her. “Just five minutes of your time. And then I promise to leave you alone. Forever.” His intense gaze locked on her face. “If that’s what you want.”

A tangle of emotions only he had the power to provoke wove through her. Desire. Fury. Hurt. No one drove her to the heights of pleasure or the depths of anguish like this man. He was dangerous to her. But Hanna was drawn to the danger. At least when it came to him.

Relenting, she ushered him in and closed the door as soundlessly as possible. Motioning for him to keep quiet, she led him back to Baba’s office.

“Wright told me you were stranded,” he said as soon as she closed the door. “I apologize. I didn’t mean to desert you.”

“You were busy with Lady Winters.” She rested her back against the closed door, arms crossed over her chest. “Is it true?”

He nodded.

“You said you did not think of her in that way.” The words trembled with anger. “You lied. Why? So I would dally with you? Were you interested in a bit of rough before you went back to your high-class lady?”

“No. Never.” He came toward her. “I don’t see Selina in that way. We didn’t . . . we weren’t intimate that night. We just wanted to have an adventure, to hike the tallest hill and watch the sun rise.”

“You’re saying you never touched her? That it was all completely innocent?”

“Not completely. We did kiss. There was some, mostly innocent, exploration. But just to see what it was like. She was my best friend. We were young. Our bodies were changing. We experimented.”

“You kissed her.”

“It felt quite wicked at the time. I never told anyone where I was that evening because people always assume the worst. Selina’s reputation would have been destroyed.”

“Why didn’t you marry her back then?”

“I offered, but Selina was already promised to an earl. A much older man. She wanted to be a countess. I thought I could still convince her the following day, but then my parents were killed and Selina’s betrothal went forward.”

“Now you are both free. It isn’t too late.”

“Selina doesn’t love me any more than I love her. She turned down my offer—”

Hanna swallowed. “Your offer?”

“Yes.” He was pale. “Of marriage.”

The muscles in her stomach tensed. “You proposed to her.”

“How could I do otherwise? All of London will hear of her confession by morning.”

“Lady Winters turned you down?” What sane woman would reject Griff’s proposal?

“She tried. But I could not allow it. What we did dishonored us both. Marrying her is the only way to correct our transgression. I have no other option.” Hanna registered the desperation in his eyes. “Surely you see that.”

“What I think is of no matter at all.” The ache in her chest made it hard to breathe. “Why are you even here? Shouldn’t you be with your bride-to-be?”

“I am here because I want you to know the truth. I have not been disloyal to you.”

“It doesn’t matter now.”

“It does to me.” A fierce expression animated his angular face. “It matters to me that you know how much I care. How much I cared.” He corrected himself. “There was no other woman. You were it. I’ll never forget the intimacies we shared. I shall treasure them always.”

She wished she didn’t believe him. It would be easier to hate Griff, to let him go, if she believed him to be a cad.

“Please tell me that you believe me,” he said.

“I do.” She exhaled a shaky breath and nodded. “When will you marry?”

“Selina hasn’t agreed to a wedding as of yet. She insists that we take six weeks apart to consider our situation. After that, we shall meet to discuss whether to become betrothed. Affiancing myself to Selina is not what I want. But I must make the offer. Surely you understand.”

She did. “Perhaps it’s for the best.”

“How can you say that?”

“Because we can never marry. My family would never accept the match. Besides, I am a bonesetter, and you are a viscount. Your world would never accept me. Neither of our worlds would accept our being together.”

“I thought we’d have more time to discover what this is between us. To find out what might have been.” He stepped closer and gently took her into his arms. His strength and warmth surrounded her, engulfed her in a blanket of security and love.

Love. She squeezed her eyes shut, a tear escaping. This desperate feeling must be love. She felt the beat of Griff’s strong heart against her cheek. Relished the strength of his body. Her heart felt so full it was a wonder her chest could contain it.

“I don’t regret it,” she whispered. “Not any of it.”

“Nor I.” He found her mouth with his and gave her one last tender, almost chaste, kiss. And then he left.