“No, I don’t suppose you have,” Gideon responded after the blushing serving girl had taken her time placing the tankards on the table between them. He didn’t miss the blatant invitation in her eyes any more than he missed the generous curves she did little to cover up.

  Kit, being the unending gentleman, had averted his gaze.

  “So, are you looking forward to your party then?”

  Kit laughed at Gideon’s obvious displeasure. “Well, clearly you’re not,” he quipped.

  He was always so jolly. So nice. Even after everything that had happened. Even after Elaine’s betrayal. Their father’s betrayal. His own betrayal.

  Gideon’s stomach churned, and he brutally pushed the memories away. If Kit didn’t blame him, then he could learn not to blame himself.

  “You know a country dance isn’t exactly the top of my list on how to enjoy myself.”

  “And none of the local ladies have caught your attention?”

  Gideon immediately thought of Hope Templeworth, who had more than caught his attention but had then acted for all the world like he’d gravely disappointed her and then ran off.

  He hadn’t seen her since.

  Well, perhaps it was just that she was insane as the rest of them.

  Kit was chattering away happily, as though the ugly heaviness of their family’s shame didn’t rest on his shoulders the way it did Gideon’s. And Gideon was fiercely glad that his bright, younger brother hadn’t been so adversely affected by Elaine’s betrayal that it changed who he was at his core. Someone good. Someone kind. Someone who cared enough for others to dedicate his life to helping them.

  Someone who…

  His thoughts froze as his gaze found the woman who’d been occupying his mind for the past few days. Damn, but her beauty was beyond compare. He’d never seen the likes of it anywhere in the world.

  He remembered how enamored of Elaine’s raven hair and big blue eyes he’d been. But they were nothing to the golden-haired, doe-eyed loveliness that he gazed upon now. It caught him by surprise every time he saw her.

  “What is that? A procession of some sort?”

  Kit’s question had Gideon dragging his gaze from Hope to her surroundings. He scowled in response to what he saw.

  A procession indeed. A procession of lovesick puppies followed her around as though she were handing out treats as she walked. Gideon gritted his teeth, surprised and annoyed by the surge of jealousy.

  Beside her was another blonde—beautiful, too, though she didn’t have that same enticement as her sister. He presumed they were sisters because there was a likeness between them. And because he’d heard so many tales of the incorrigible Templeworth girls to know they traveled in packs.

  Indeed, there, bringing up the rear, a chestnut-haired beauty in the first throes of womanhood. He couldn’t stifle a smile as he watched her march over to her sisters, dressed in breeches and clearly unbothered by what a scandalous image she presented.

  But he only spared a moment’s glance for the sisters. His eyes were inevitably drawn back to his lady of the lake.

  “Gideon?”

  He realized that he’d been ignoring his younger brother while he’d been salivating over the blonde across the square, no better than her entourage of sycophants.

  “Not a procession,” he answered, his voice gravelly. “Just the undeniable effect of Hope Templeworth.”

  He saw Kit’s frown of confusion from the corner of his eye but damned if he could tear his gaze away from the chit.

  She had a hold over him. There was no explaining it. No denying it. To himself, at least. And he wouldn’t speak a word of it to Kit, knowing full well that he’d sound insane to be obsessing about a woman he’d spoken to twice.

  “Ah, Aunt Bell wasn’t as charmed by the lady as the gentlemen out there seem to be.”

  That caught Gideon’s attention, and he turned to his brother.

  “What do you mean?” he asked. Demanded, really.

  Kit blinked at the biting tone.

  “I inquired after the family who’d left the welcome basket. I wanted to make sure that I offered them my thanks appropriately.”

  Of course he did, Gideon thought wryly. Ever the perfect gentleman.

  “And she told me not to become ‘ensnared’ by the Misses Templeworth. Especially Miss Hope, she said. Not the type of company a vicar should be keeping.”

  Gideon couldn’t contain his oath, whispered though it was. He loved his aunt but to hear that she’d been disparaging Hope… Well, it bothered him. Likely far more than it should.

  “I told her she didn’t have anything to worry about, of course,” Kit continued oblivious to Gideon’s darkening mood. “Though truth be told, now that I see her…”

  “Aunt Bell was right,” Gideon suddenly cut in, forgetting that only seconds ago he’d been thinking quite the opposite.

  But hearing Kit salivate over Hope was more than he was willing to put up with. Kit turned to stare at him, and Gideon met his gaze, keeping his face carefully smooth.

  “Trust me, Kit. A woman like that would destroy a vicar.”

  “A woman like what? She sounds wonderful.”

  Both Kit and Gideon turned at the sound of the husky voice that addressed him.

  And there she was. A vision in lemon and white.

  Gideon stood slowly, Kit almost leaping from his seat across the table.

  And because Gideon was watching Hope’s face so closely, he saw the flicker of hurt in her huge, brown eyes. She knew he’d been speaking of her.

  Yet, it was true, wasn’t it? A vicar, a gentle soul like Kit, would never be able to keep up with her. And she’d be bored stiff within two days. She was far too vivacious, far too witty and bright for someone as dull, albeit kind-hearted, as Kit.

  He realized that Hope was awaiting a response, realized that Kit was awaiting an introduction, his face flushed, his eyes slightly dazed. Something he was coming to learn was common in young men around Miss Templeworth.

  “She is,” he said softly now. “Quite wonderful. As I think she well knows.”

  Her brow rose in response to this, and Gideon couldn’t contain his smile.

  “Miss Templeworth, may I introduce my brother, Kit? Your new…”

  “Kit? It’s so good to meet you. Welcome to Halton. I hope you’ll find everything and everyone to your liking.”

  Gideon narrowed his eyes as Hope batted her lashes at his poor, woefully under-equipped brother. Indeed, Kit’s cheeks grew alarmingly scarlet in the face of such blatant flirtation.

  “I do hope that you will be staying with us for a time, as I am sure you must be exhausted from your travels. My sisters and I are always happy to make new friends.”

  Kit’s jaw popped open, but Gideon was both suspicious and confused. She hadn’t once glanced at him, and her comment about Kit’s travels and staying for a time made no sense.

  He glanced past her to see her two sisters eyeing him speculatively, the elder squinting slightly, the younger running her gaze insolently from his Hessian’s to his hair and back to his face.

  “Well, she wasn’t wrong. He is rather beautiful, if a bit rough around the edges.”

  Gideon felt his brows rise in surprise, and he turned his attention fully to the blonde and brunette running critical eyes over him.

  He was growing accustomed to Hope’s forthrightness. And he’d certainly heard enough about the incorrigible sisters. But to see young ladies so uncaring about the strictures of society, well, it was unusual. But certainly refreshing.

  “Hmm. Far too old for me though, she was right about that.”

  Gideon covered his choke of shock with some coughing.

  What the hell had they all been saying about him? And why in God’s name had his name, his age even, been mentioned in the same sentence as a girl barely out of childhood? The thought was disgusting.

  “Please allow me to introduce my sisters.”

  Gideon’s attention was caught once more by Hope’s sultry tone, and he turned to frown at his brother who was ogling the sassy blonde with stars in his eyes. Utterly besotted in mere seconds.

  I know the feeling, Gideon thought wryly.

  “My sisters, Miss Francesca Templeworth and Miss Sophia Templeworth. Ladies, his lordship, whose title I’m afraid we’ve yet to learn,” she dimpled at Kit who was still looking rather dazed, then threw a dismissive glance Gideon’s way. “And our soon-to-be Reverend Bell.”

  For a moment, Gideon thought she was offering him some sort of slight by not using his title.

  But even as he scowled at her, the pieces slid into place.

  The odd comments, the surprise about his brother, the vague air of disappointment after the veritable fire between them at their first meeting. She thought he was the bloody vicar!

  Gideon didn’t know whether to feel amused or insulted. He’d never been accused of being anything close to a man of God in his life. And he would love nothing more than to show the seductive Miss Templeworth exactly why that was.

  But a kernel of mischief awoke in him. And when Kit’s confused frown cleared, and he opened his mouth no doubt to set Miss Hope to rights, Gideon found himself grasping his slighter brother’s shoulder.

  “A pleasure, ladies,” he smiled at the brash Templeworth girls. “I do hope you will be joining my brother and I at the rectory for the party two days hence. It is sure to be an interesting evening.”

  Without giving the beautiful sisters a chance to answer, or Kit the chance to voice any of the confusion stamping his brow, Gideon manhandled his brother to the exit.

  Childish, perhaps. But he couldn’t help it. Hope Templeworth had roused his interest more than any woman he’d ever met. And his interactions with her had made him smile when he’d thought nothing would.

  It was far too tempting to play this little game with her.

  He now knew that her stilted behavior around him had been because she thought him a vicar. But unless he was very much mistaken, the attraction he felt was returned. Perhaps not to the same incendiary level, but certainly to some point.

  Clearly, the idea of his being the new reverend displeased her. For a moment, Gideon’s gut clenched uncomfortably. Was a vicar not good enough? Was she determined to marry well? Marry wealth or a title? Just like Elaine had been…

  He knew it was probably unfair to assume all women were as mercenary as Elaine, but he couldn’t help it. Would Hope Templeworth ignore any attraction between them now? Or would she be tempted by him, even thinking him only a vicar?

  Chapter Seven

  “Christian might have some competition, you know. That man is positively scrumptious.”

  Hope scowled at Francesca and Sophia as they began an in-depth discussion of who was more handsome, their brother-in-law or the new vicar.

  Though Christian was indeed almost obscenely handsome, he didn’t have that raw, brooding appeal that Gideon did. Not to her at least. Elodie would likely argue otherwise.

  But Gideon. Hope had thought there was an edge to him, something dark. Something that spoke to a wickedness in her that she’d never quite been able to quash. Not that she’d ever tried, truth be told. To know she’d been mistaken, that he was the very opposite. Well, it was acutely disappointing, and her sisters’ chatter wasn’t helping her bad mood.

  Scowling did nothing to stop Cheska and Sophia from shamelessly listing the qualities of both men, so Hope ignored them, choosing instead to stew on what Mr. Bell had been saying in the inn.

  They’d only been in there because Sophia was chasing down Laurence Townsley, who had promised her a look at his new pair of grays, and she’d refused to go home until she’d found him.

  When they’d entered the inn, Hope had immediately spotted Gideon and the shorter, slighter man she’d guessed was his brother. And when her first instinct had been to turn tail and run, she’d forced herself to march over to their table, refusing to be cowed by a man. A vicar.

  Hearing what he’d thought of her, that she would destroy him, had been a tad hurtful. Not because she had any romantic interest in him. Of course, not that. It was just hurtful.

  But then he’d said she was wonderful… Or perhaps he hadn’t been talking about her at all.

  Hope huffed out a sigh, annoyed by her circuitous thoughts. Disappointed that his brother hadn’t, in fact, turned out to be an even more godlike version of him.

  Though perfectly polite and nice, Kit Bell had seemed the shy and sensitive sort. Much more suited to the life of a small-town reverend in Hope’s opinion.

  She felt the beginnings of a headache press against the back of her eyes.

  “I suppose, all things considered, it really comes down to the size of their…”

  “Francesca!”

  Hope wasn’t usually the sister discouraging such talk, quite the opposite in fact, but for some reason, she didn’t want her sisters comparing Gideon’s anything to Christian’s.

  “What?” Cheska asked innocently, though there was a bite in her eyes that told Hope her sister was trying to bait her. Before Hope could snarl at her, which she very much wanted to do, the stables of their home came into view.

  “He’s here!”

  Sophia’s shout rent the air, and Hope looked to see who the “he” was.

  Not Christian, who stood grinning in the middle of the stables. But his stallion, Mercury, with whom Sophia had been smitten for two years now.

  “Hello to you, too.” Christian grinned indulgently as Sophia barged past him and began murmuring to the stallion, stroking his jet-black coat, and altogether ignoring the viscount towering over her.

  From Hope and Cheska, he received a nicer and more polite welcome.

  In fact, they’d come to love their brother-in-law, forgiving him for hurting Elodie only two years past. It was easy to forgive when Christian made his adoration for his wife so obvious.

  “Where is Elle? I hope you’re here for at least a couple of weeks. It will keep Mama’s focus off us,” Cheska said, not giving the viscount a second to actually answer her questions. “And you must join us for the Bells’ party, of course, to welcome their nephews, one of whom is to be the new vicar. If you’re wondering which one he is, just look at the man who is positively made for sin. He’ll be the one Hope is making moon eyes at.”

  Hope glared at Cheska’s retreating back as her sister dashed off toward the house.

  Steeling herself for Christian’s curiosity, for the viscount was as bad as the old biddies at Almack’s for gossipmongering, she glanced up into his cobalt stare.

  “A vicar, Hope?” he asked in faux amazement.

  “Oh hush,” Hope snipped. “You should know better than to listen to Cheska’s nonsense.”

  Christian raised a brow, the picture of disbelief.

  “Truly,” Hope insisted. “Do you honestly think I’d show an interest in a reverend?” She made sure to arrange her face in a mask of distaste.

  “No,” Christian conceded. “I can’t picture it. And truth be told, I would have thought Claremont was more your type.”

  “Claremont? That’s the earl?”

  “Indeed. I didn’t think he was back from Europe. I haven’t seen him in Parliament in an age.”

  “He seemed a little old for the Grand Tour,” Hope said, wanting to talk about Gideon and therefore stubbornly continuing the conversation about Kit.

  “Far too old for a year of carousing,” Christian agreed with a crooked smile. “But there were rumors of some sort of family fallout. The old earl passed quite suddenly, if memory serves. And there was a to-do around the man’s betrothed. Or the vicar’s betrothed. I can’t remember the details, in all honesty.”

  Hope didn’t know if her face showed the unpleasant shock at hearing Christian’s talk of the vicar’s betrothed.

  “Gid… Mr. Bell that is. He is engaged?”

  “Not anymore. Though I have no idea why. There was a lot of talk around the whole thing last year, but nobody seems to know what exactly went on. Claremont is an affluent and influential title, and nobody knows more than I that such things make one a target for gossips.”

  “Perhaps Elodie heard something about it.”

  “About what?”

  Hope turned to see Elodie gliding toward them.

  Hope rushed over to hug her sister, still marveling at the changes marriage to Christian had wrought in her, even now two years on.

  Gone was the shy, demure lady who planted herself firmly in the background of any and all social interactions, and in her place was a confident, self-assured lady who smiled openly as she hugged her sister with equal exuberance.

  “Your sisters met the Earl of Claremont and his brother. Apparently, he’s to be the new vicar.”

  “Ah yes, Mama was just telling me about the earl’s arrival. It seems the whole of Halton is swinging from the rafters about it. Seems you’re not the only peer to cause something of a ruckus, my love,” Elodie grinned up at her husband, who snagged a hand around her waist and pulled her toward him.

  “But I am by far the most handsome, don’t you think?” He winked before firmly planting a kiss on her lips.

  “You’re lucky Mama is not out here to witness your vulgar display,” Hope scolded with mock severity.

  “If you think that’s vulgar…”

  “Christian, why don’t you go and stop Sophia from trying to drag herself up your horse?”

  At Elodie’s interruption of whatever scandalous thing Christian was doubtless about to say, the viscount’s head snapped around to where Sophia was indeed attempting to launch herself onto Mercury’s back.

  “Sophia!” Christian’s shout didn’t even give the girl a moment’s pause, and he rushed over, muttering under his breath as he went.

  “So, why don’t you tell me what you and Christian were gossiping about?” Elodie said gently, but she was watching Hope’s face intently, her brown eyes boring into Hope’s own.

  “Your husband is worse than an old lady with his stories,” Hope quipped as she took Elodie’s arm and led her back to the house. “Sadly, his information was a little sparse. He tells me the vicar was engaged?”

 

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