***
Caroline drew her roan mare to a halt beneath the oak tree where she’d arranged to meet Helena and Lord West. She hadn’t been up this early since she’d put aside her mourning, but she’d stayed home last night after West had suggested she join him on his morning ride. Despite Silas’s warnings, she found herself increasingly pleased with her choice of lover. So far, thank heaven, West showed every sign of reciprocating her interest.
When she heard hoof beats, she turned to watch West cantering toward her on a magnificent bay. He was tall and lean and sat his horse like a king. Admiration filled her. He truly was a sight to behold, especially for a woman starting to sample the banquet life offered a presentable widow with an impressive fortune. She had an invigorating sense that her new life stretched before her along a broad, bright path.
As he approached, he swept his hat from his ruffled ebony curls and bowed. “My Lady Beaumont, good morning.”
She smiled, wondering why her heart didn’t dip the way it had when she’d seen Silas at her ball—before he began acting like an ass. “Good morning, my lord. It looks like fine weather.”
“It does indeed.”
Platitudes. But then she and West weren’t far from strangers. Of course, she’d heard the gossip about his sins. As she’d told Silas, his reputation was no deterrent. She wanted a proficient lover to show her what she’d missed in Freddie’s infrequent embrace. She didn’t want or expect deep affection.
And she needed to stop thinking about Silas.
Which proved difficult when she turned to speak to her groom and she saw Helena, invited, and Silas, uninvited, as least by her, trotting in her direction. Early morning sun through the fresh green foliage lit them like characters in a play. Silas was laughing at something Helena said, his face creased in swift amusement.
That silly little tremor in her heart was back. How very odd.
West’s classically handsome face showed no whit of disappointment at Silas’s presence. But then of course, a brother and sister riding together was nothing notable, and Caroline’s friendship with the family was well known. “She sits a horse like an Amazon,” he murmured.
Helena did indeed look at home on her big black gelding. “This is the first time I’ve seen her on horseback.”
“You should see her ride with the local hunt up in Leicestershire. A genteel trot around Hyde Park can’t convey her magnificence. She takes your breath away.”
Caroline regarded him curiously. “I forgot that your estates aren’t far from the Nashes’.”
He turned to her and suddenly she found him more appealing than ever before. The rueful smile in his deep-set green eyes changed him from a hero in a novel to someone much warmer and more approachable. “We grew up together. Helena used to try to boss me around.”
Caroline laughed. “She always thinks she knows best, doesn’t she? The problem is that she usually does.”
“Good morning, West, Caro.” The faint chill in Silas’s voice made Caroline’s head snap up. Was she still out of favor? She’d hoped their recent awkwardness had passed. Three nights ago at the opera, he’d seemed his usual self. Well, mostly. Upon reflection, she’d wondered how truthful he’d been about his friends. Especially when he’d made no secret of his dislike of her plans.
“Good morning,” Helena said, and Caroline caught the critical glance she cast her brother. “Silas decided to join us. I hope you don’t mind.”
“I was telling Lady Beaumont that I pulled your pigtails when you were an infant.”
Helena’s unreadable dark gaze settled on West. “Yes, you were an abominable child.”
His eyes glittered bright emerald. “You didn’t always think that, Helena. I gave you your first kiss, if I recall.”
Surprised, Caroline studied her friend. Helena hadn’t confided that particular morsel. “Helena, you must tell me more.”
If West’s announcement embarrassed Helena, she didn’t show it. The haughty features beneath the stylish hat remained impassive. “In truth, I’d forgotten. How kind of you to remind me, West. I wouldn’t expect you to remember. After all, you’ve had so many…kisses since.”
Caroline caught West’s chagrin, but it was gone before she could interpret it. “You unsheathe your claws early in the day, Lady Crewe,” he said neutrally, although something told Caroline that his reaction was anything but neutral. It seemed that Helena and West shared a long history. Not altogether a happy one either.
“You two can’t help yourselves,” Silas said lightly from the back of his dapple gray. “You’re giving Caro quite the wrong impression of our childhood revels. Shall we ride?”
Caroline had hoped to use this meeting to further her acquaintance with West, but conscience made her rein in beside Helena while the two men went ahead. “Are you all right?”
Helena turned an opaque dark gaze upon her. She hardly seemed aware of the need to control the huge brute of a horse ambling along the path in perfect docility. West was right. She was clearly an adept horsewoman. “I’d dearly love a good long gallop. Curse the dictates of propriety.”
Her friend’s evasion didn’t distract Caroline. “I had no idea you and West were so close.”
Helena’s eyes narrowed on West’s back in its superbly cut black coat. “We’re not.”
“It sounds like you are. Or at least you were.”
She shrugged. “We’ve always rubbed each other up the wrong way.”
Caroline bit her lip, unsure whether to speak her mind. Helena could be prickly when someone peered beneath her unconcerned manner to the painful secrets beneath. But this was important. “If you have your eye on West, I can step aside.”
A mocking smile curled Helena’s lips. “That’s astonishingly generous.”
“You’re my friend.”
“In love and war, no rules apply.”
Caroline frowned, wishing she didn’t have to devote quite so much of her attention to steering her horse. She was only a middling rider while it was obvious that West and the Nash siblings were crackers in the saddle. “As you know, this is neither. I’m certainly not in love with West and he’s not in love with me. Nor is there any war.”
Helena cast her an enigmatic glance. “I wouldn’t be too sure about that.” Before Caroline could question the odd statement, she went on. “I’m not convinced West is the answer to your prayers.”
“Because you want him for yourself?”
Helena’s clear laugh rang out, causing the two gentlemen to glance back. “Good God, no. I’ve had more than my fill of coxcombs.” West scowled at her, apparently guessing that her unguarded remark referred to him. He kicked his horse into a canter and drew ahead of the party.
“That wasn’t kind,” Caroline said quietly.
“No, but it was accurate,” Helena muttered.
“Is he a coxcomb? I grant that you know him better than I do, but his manners are delightful, he’s intelligent, and I’d lay half my fortune he knows what to do with a woman.”
“Caro, spare my blushes.”
“Behave yourself. You know exactly why I’m interested in West. I want some passing entertainment—if even half the talk is true, he’s the man to give it to me.”
The amusement drained from Helena’s face. “I don’t want you hurt.”
Caroline regarded Helena with displeasure. “You’re as bad as your brother.” Which reminded her of another reason to rebuke her friend.” What on earth made you invite Silas along this morning?”
“He enjoys riding.”
“Not at the crack of dawn.”
“You do him an injustice. He’s often in his greenhouses early.”
“Yes, well, that’s different and you know it.”
“You’re usually delighted to see him. Is there trouble in paradise? What happened at your ball? For a few minutes there, you looked ready to murder him.”
Broodingly Caroline studied Silas’s straight back as he rode ahead. For over a year, he’d been a dear
friend. Something at her ball had changed the balance between them, even before he’d come over so highhanded and judgmental. And although they hadn’t kept the quarrel going at the opera, something had been wrong.
She resisted revisiting those unsettling seconds when she’d looked at him and her heart skipped a beat or two. Of course he was attractive. She’d always recognized that. But she didn’t want a short affair with Silas, and right now, a short affair was all she was after. Assuming she could persuade him to see her as more than an honorary sister.
“Caro?” Helena probed when the silence extended.
“He doesn’t approve of my plans to bed West. Not that it’s any of his concern.”
“He cares about you.”
“I care about him, too, but I wouldn’t dream of telling him to stay away from opera dancers and high-flying widows.”
Helena smiled. “You promise to become a high-flier yourself. What did you call us? The dashing widows?”
Caroline made herself return the smile. “A dashing widow goes after what she wants. Which means, my dear Helena, that I intend to ignore your brother’s censure.”
“Was it as bad as that?”
“It was.” Caroline’s lips firmed with annoyance. What right had Silas to lay down the law? If she wanted a tyrant running her life, she’d damn well marry again. “And dashing widows don’t hang back gossiping with their friends when they’ve been bold enough to arrange a rendezvous with a lover.”
“West isn’t your lover.”
“Not yet. But despite what Silas says, I think he could very well be. When I listed my requirements in a paramour, I could have been describing West.”
“Good God, Caro, taking a lover isn’t like shopping for a new bonnet.”
“Isn’t it?” Caroline studied West. Silas had caught up with him and was managing a civil conversation despite his dire warnings to her. “So far, I’d say it’s exactly like that. The latest fashion? Yes. Becoming to wear in public? Yes. Likely to raise the envy of other ladies? Yes. Comfortable to put on? Yes.”
“If you say just the right size, you really will make me blush,” Helena said on a gurgle of laughter.
Caroline was the one who blushed. “In truth, I’m woefully out of the way of judging a man’s prowess. I was barely out of the schoolroom when I married Freddie and he was never the most passionate of husbands. Not to mention he was ill for the last three years of his life.”
Helena’s eyes softened. “You feel you’ve missed out on something.”
Caroline’s smile was cocky. “I know I have.”
“West is the man to supply the lack?”
“I sincerely hope so. Let’s hope he finds me equally appealing. After all, I’m not nearly as sophisticated as the women he’s used to.”
Helena’s gaze was searching. “You’re a diamond compared to the hussies he usually pursues. He’d be a fool not to follow up on your overtures.”
“Thank you.” Caroline reached across to squeeze one of Helena’s gloved hands, lying loosely on the reins and keeping the behemoth of a horse as mellow as a sleepy lapdog. “I just need to keep my nerve. I’ve spent far too long waiting for life to happen to me. It’s time I took control of my destiny.”
Helena didn’t smile back. “And that destiny is Vernon Grange?”
“For a month or two, anyway,” she said casually.
Unwilling to answer any more questions or to reveal that her worldly attitude was totally manufactured, Caroline urged her mare forward until she rode beside the man she set out to seduce.