The Viscount’s Darling Adventure by Maggie Dallen

11

Leo hadn’t even had a chance to say farewell.

The carriage ride home was excruciating. He ought to have left on his own.

Truly, he should have walked, even if it was raining, and even if his home was miles away. Being sodden and tired would have been preferable to this.

Anything would have been preferable to this.

“Did you really think we wouldn’t notice?” his aunt asked.

She’d asked ten times now, and the answer was always the same. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Charlotte gave him a sympathetic wince from where she sat next to his uncle.

His uncle who’d chosen tonight to become an active participant in family conversations. “You could have gotten yourself into quite the scrape,” he said with a shake of his head.

“If anyone caught you…” His aunt trailed off with a dramatic cry of horror that would have made any actress proud.

“You’d have had to marry the girl,” his uncle finished. As if they all didn’t understand his aunt’s meaning.

“You should have seen how angry the Earl of Darling was when he realized the two of you were missing,” his aunt continued. “I thought he’d challenge you to a duel the moment you returned to dinner. Then where would be? Your cousin in prison and you either dead or in the cell next to his.”

“He is in India. I seriously doubt they’d ship me there.” He gave them an incredulous look that he hoped would end the conversation. No one appeared cowed so he continued. “And besides, Darling didn’t,” Leo felt compelled to point out. “So perhaps we’ve been too hard on the gentleman, wouldn’t you say?”

He was met with three stares of disbelief. Charlotte leaned forward and lowered her voice. “I don’t believe now is the right time to be fighting this particular battle.”

He shrugged. It was possible she was right. But he refused to give up on his family...or hers.

Even if she was leaving. He scrubbed a hand over his face as his stomach plummeted toward the ground. He had so many questions. Where was she going? For how long?

Would she still care for him when she returned?

He let his head fall back against the seat as his aunt continued her tirade. “We all knew what was happening. Only a fool wouldn’t notice the way you two kept exchanging longing glances.” She made a sound of disgust. “And then to go off alone together!”

“I wouldn’t expect better from a country girl with no parents,” his uncle said. “But I expected more from you.”

He opened his mouth to defend himself, but his aunt was too quick. “It seems there’s one thing our two families can agree upon, and that is that a match between us is unthinkable.”

“See there?” he said with forced joviality. “You do agree on something.”

Charlotte shook her head, a smile tugging at her lips as she rolled her eyes.

Well, at least he’d amused someone.

His aunt resumed her lecture as if he hadn’t spoken.

He let his head fall back again as he tried to regroup and strategize. He had to speak to her before she left for...wherever it was she was going. He ought to have spoken when he’d had the chance, but instead he’d been distracted by her lips and her skin and her hair and her scent and…

His sigh silenced his aunt. “Are you even listening?”

“Not really,” he said.

His cousin giggled, and his uncle gave an aggrieved groan of exasperation.

He straightened. “I appreciate your concern. I truly do. But I am a grown man, and I will make my own decisions, particularly when it comes to finding a wife.”

Wife. He found himself smothering a silly smile at the thought of Clarissa as his wife. He’d never given matrimony much thought, other than that it was a necessity. Now, it was a state he could hardly wait to enter into.

And that was precisely what he’d meant to tell Clarissa.

Instead, he was saying the words to his aunt, of all people. “I do not need your permission to marry, and I won’t let your feelings toward that family sway me. And while I would prefer to have the Earl of Darling’s blessing, the only thing that truly matters is how Clarissa feels about me.”

“Hear, hear!” Charlotte clapped her hands together, clearly enjoying the show.

His aunt and uncle gaped at him in horrified outrage.

The carriage drew to a stop in front of his townhome and he reached for the door handle. “If you’ll excuse me, I must get some rest. I have plans to make and a young lady to pursue.”

“Wait!” Charlotte climbed out after him. She leaned into the carriage, murmured something to her parents, and then shut the door before turning back to him. “Well done,” she said with a grin.

He gave a huff of laughter. “Yes, well. It’s about time I stopped worrying so much about everyone else and started to think about my own future.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” she said. “You’ve always been the most selfless out of all of us. And while I appreciate your commitment and admire that trait, you don’t owe your life to this family. You can be the dutiful viscount and heir to the earldom, and all that, without sacrificing your happiness.”

He nodded. It was what he was coming to realize as well, and it was pleasant, if unexpected, to hear it from his cousin. His cousin who, up until very recently, had only ever been concerned with her little world of gowns and balls.

She seemed to read his mind because she leaned over and lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “I told Mother I was coming out here to talk some sense into you, but really…” She cast a furtive glance over her shoulder as if her mother might be peering out the window. “Really I should like to help.”

“And what would I owe you in turn?” he asked, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

She laughed. “Nothing...this time.”

He narrowed his eyes even further. “You would do me a favor for nothing?”

She shrugged. “Perhaps you’re not the only one changing around here.”

“Perhaps not,” he murmured. Tilting his head to the side, he regarded her. “Is this new selfless side related to your…” He cast the same furtive look toward the carriage. “Our mutual friend?”

She shrugged again, but her blush gave her away. “All I know is…” She pursed her lips as she seemingly sought the right words. “Sometimes people see you in such a way that you want to be better.” She frowned. “Do you know what I mean?”

His mind instantly flashed to earlier in the night when Clarissa had looked to him for help and he’d have given anything to be her savior. To be strong enough to stand up to anyone or anything that might stand in her way—in their way.

Or to the other night when she’d laughed at his jokes and made him feel like maybe he was more than just the reliable, predictable Ainsworth. Like maybe he had a sense of adventure himself that he’d just never paid attention to.

Charlotte nibbled on her lip as she waited for his response. “Charlotte, I believe I know exactly what you mean.”

Her shoulders slumped with relief. “Good. Because I think...that is, I hope...that is…” She drew in a deep breath. “I’d like to be the person that Henry sees when he looks at me.”

Leo smiled. “And what is it he sees?”

She leaned in to whisper again. “Someone...nice. Kind, even.” Her gaze was vulnerable and open. “Do you think that’s ludicrous?”

“Of course not.” She still looked uncertain, so he reached out and pulled her in for an impulsive hug. “I think there are people out there who know us better than we know ourselves.” He found himself smiling as he thought of Clarissa. He pulled back to look at his cousin. “I think they see parts of ourselves we don’t always acknowledge. That doesn’t mean they don’t exist. Sometimes those parts of ourselves just need to be seen in order to flourish.”

She nodded. “Yes, that’s it exactly. And Leo…”

He arched his brows as he waited.

“I like who you are when she looks at you.”

He grinned. “I like who I am when she looks at me too.”

“And that is why I shall help you,” she said with a smug smile that was far more in keeping with the cousin he’s always known and loved.

“How?”

She tapped a finger to her ear. “I have loads of friends, Cousin. And they love to gossip. I shall find out where your Lady Clarissa is going, and we shall ensure that you are there too.”

“Thank you, Charlotte. That would be a great help.” He was still smiling as he opened the carriage door for her and helped her inside.

His aunt, uncle, and cousin returned to their home, and for the remainder of the night, he was left alone with his thoughts.

Self-recriminations, mainly. He should have finished saying what he’d wanted to say. He’d realized the moment his lips met hers that the problems between their families were meaningless.

He’d meant it when he’d said he’d marry her, with or without her family’s blessing. For her sake, he hoped it would not come to that, of course. But it had only taken a kiss for his mind to be cleared of all the distractions and the chaos that surrounded them. And without that noise, all that remained was Clarissa. His darling, beautiful, one-of-a-kind treasure.

It was all so clear to him as he’d held her in his arms, as he’d cupped her face in the palm of his hands.

He loved her.

And he was almost certain she loved him too.

There was nothing more important than that. He’d tried to say all that, but first they were interrupted, and then she was whisked away by her family as though he were some wolf about to steal their sheep.

But he’d have his chance to say his peace before she left.

Somehow. Someway. He’d make sure of it.