The Blood of a Baron - K.J. Jackson Page 0,29
as he said he would be, not on some random mission in the countryside.
Next to him, Laney tugged on the sides of her crisply cut pelisse that had been dyed black. She heaved a sigh, waving her hand and reticule in the air. “Fine. Anything to pass the time. All I want to do is get rid of this silly box and settle the inheritance so I can go home to Gruggin Manor.”
He offered her his left elbow and she took it before they descended the stairs to the walkway and across the street to follow Westminster Bridge over the river to the park.
After passing parliament Wes glanced down at her. A frown still held to her mouth.
“Looking to escape me?”
The quickest glance up at him and she set her look forward. “I’m already resigned to the fact that I will never quite escape you.”
Not exactly agreeing with his question. Not exactly arguing against his question.
“Maybe, possibly, if the inheritance is a piddling amount, you will find it fit to be done with me as it won’t be worth your time to meddle in my affairs,” she said. “Or if I marry, you will be done with me as well.”
His gaze jerked toward her, searching for her eyes past the black rim of her small bonnet. “You wish to marry?”
She looked up at him, the smallest smile teasing her lips. “No. But that doesn’t mean I won’t meet a man that will change my mind. Especially if the sum Morty left for me is substantial. Men will sink to touching scandal if it means filling their coffers.”
His glare moving forward, Wes bit his tongue, not sure if she was baiting him or if she truly did have intentions of putting herself on the marriage mart.
True, she was a spinster, but still in her twenties and of good birthing age. She’d left society in scandal—a scandal that was a distant memory to most, no matter how raw it still was for her. She was tall, but that had always been one of the things he’d liked most about her—she stood near to his equal which was deuced hard to find in a woman. He couldn’t be the only man to want that in a mate. She was clever, but that made for fun banter.
And she was beautiful. Still. More so than ever.
His left hand held by his belly curled into a fist. She’d better be teasing him.
He stewed until they crossed into the park and walked to the northern side promenade.
By the time they’d reached halfway along the length of the walk, they’d passed by numerous well-dressed couples strolling the pathways, some he recognized from the ton of years ago. None acknowledged him. Not that he expected them to. He was nothing but dirt under their heels now.
But Laney received the same treatment—not even a tip of the hat from Lord Pearson as he had passed, the man who had lined up for more than one dance with Laney at every ball they had attended together during her first London season.
It struck him at that moment, how very much his scandal had become her scandal. He had left this land, but she had not and had suffered all the greater for it. The snubs, the unanswered correspondence.
Everything had been taken from her, just the same as it had from him. The only difference being she didn’t have someone to blame.
Not like he blamed her.
Wes turned his head from her, attempting to draw a cleansing breath away from the air she consumed.
What the hell was she doing to him?
Making him want to dance with her. Protect her. Listen to her.
He was doing a damnable job of making her pay for ruining his life.
Where was the humiliation he’d planned to dole out? The vengeance?
His eye caught sight of a figure moving next to a wide oak tree a furlough away by the canal.
His shoulders tensed. Damn. What was Rune doing here?
Wes veered off the path and steered Laney to the side of the canal, then stopped at the edge where the high water lapped at the green grass that rolled gently down the hill. Pelicans floated in the waters, marring the calm with their grotesque bills.
Why anyone would want those blasted birds in their parks was beyond him. But then, he’d been pecked on more than one occasion by the birds looking for free meals at the ports in his travels.
He extracted his elbow from her grip. “Will you wait here for a