Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
At just two years old, Miss Catherine Neatham outshone all the finely turned-out ladies inside Hyde Park, firmly placing herself as the center of all envy and attention.
She gripped the sides of her father’s face as she rode his shoulders, calling out a giggly “Hello!” to everyone walking by on the Serpentine path.
Almost everyone said hello in return before nodding or bowing their heads toward the Viscount and Viscountess Neatham.
“You look deranged, you know,” Grant said as he walked alongside his friend. “Like you’ve allowed Basil to purchase you a chubby little adornment for your hat. Or perhaps for your collar.”
“Basil would never select anything that produces this much spit,” Hugh replied. His valet was notoriously fussy about the viscount’s clothing.
“She’s going to topple off if you don’t hold her legs,” Sir admonished as he strode along Hugh’s other side.
The young man was exceedingly protective of Cat, and Grant presumed it was because he saw her as an additional baby sister. He already had three of his own, the young girls all living with their mother in the country, on Hugh’s estate.
“I am holding her ankles,” Hugh replied. “She isn’t toppling anywhere.”
Sir made a doubtful snorting sound.
“Are those the gentlemanly noises they’re teaching you to make at Charterhouse these days?” Hugh asked, smirking over at the young man.
Sir, whose name was in truth Davy Givens, had started working for Hugh as his errand boy of sorts when Hugh had still been with Bow Street.
He’d been a scrappy, smelly street urchin back then.
Now, at about age fifteen, he was nearly as tall as Hugh, filling out with some muscle, and dressing like any one of the young gentlemen in Town.
He attended a boarding school for boys in Surrey but was on a short break for the holidays and had come to London with Hugh, Audrey, and Cat.
Sir had come a long way in just a handful of years, and all because Hugh had taken him in as a ward. However, Grant suspected Sir was much more to Hugh than that. He was like a son, and Sir saw Hugh as a father.
“Leave Sir alone,” Audrey called from where she walked a few strides ahead. “He only has Cat’s best interests in mind.”
Walking next to the viscountess, Cassie kept her attention trained on the pewter water in the Serpentine.
She’d sent a note earlier in the day to say she would meet him at Hyde Park at the fashionable hour, and that she would bring Audrey and Hugh.
She’d held to her plan and had been with the viscount and viscountess, as well as Sir and Cat, at the entrance to the park.
However, she hadn’t met Grant’s eyes more than a few times.
It was for the best, even if her avoidance of him since starting on their stroll was sinking his stomach with every additional step.
The previous day, he’d been irate when her note had arrived at Thornton House, warning him of her near to midnight visit.
And not just because if she were to be seen visiting his home at that hour, their false courtship would have no choice but to become one in truth.
He’d been irritated because picturing her in his home late at night, with his bedchamber so easily accessible, had also aroused him.
His attraction to Cassie had become a powerful problem.
But it wasn’t something he could act on, especially now.
After Cassie’s confession last night about Renfry and the baby, Grant did not know what to think or feel.
His heart had ached when she’d wept, trying so valiantly to keep her composure.
That’s what she had been doing for years now: pretending.
Being strong. Pushing away the pain. Closing herself off.
He’d been an arse all these years, thinking her a cold fish, calling her Lady Freeze. After what she’d had to endure, she’d turned cold for a reason: to protect herself.
But last night, she hadn’t been cold at all. She’d let down her rigid guard and exposed herself to a man who’d given her no reason to trust him. A man who was coercing her into a charade that would benefit him. A man who was using her. Not in the same way as Renfry, of course, but still using her.
On the sofa, Cassie’s eyes, her lashes sparkling with tears, had beckoned him to kiss her.
He’d wanted nothing more than to give her what she wanted.
What he wanted. God, how he wanted to know those lips against his.
The glide of her tongue, the touch of her hands.
The yielding press of her body. He wanted it with a keen pain that wasn’t at all familiar to him.
And yet, he’d have been no better than Renfry if he’d taken advantage of her in that vulnerable moment. His rejection had stung; he’d seen it in her expression, and he’d lain abed until dawn with a tight ball of regret rooting in his stomach.
A dog being led on its leash crossed the path ahead of them, and Cat’s little hand slapped the side of Hugh’s face in excitement.
“Down, down!” she exclaimed, kicking her legs and nearly clipping Hugh’s nose. He promptly did his daughter’s bidding, lifting her from his shoulders and setting her feet onto the gravel.
It wasn’t at all common for peers to carry their children around Hyde Park on their shoulders. However, Viscount Neatham had never intended to be a common peer.
“See, I told you, she doesn’t like heights,” Sir said, reaching for Cat’s hand.
“She likes heights just fine. She saw a dog and wanted to pet it,” Hugh insisted as Sir led the toddler toward the animal.
“You may as well give up,” Grant told him. “You’ve been overthrown by your protégé.”
Audrey paused long enough for Hugh to fall into step beside her.
She latched onto his arm and leaned her head against his shoulder.
The loving display was also something that wasn’t prevalent in Hyde Park, where those of the ton walked primly and properly, with the expectation that every eye was watching and judging.
Audrey and Hugh did not care what others thought.
Cassie, however, didn’t move to join them.
Instead, she followed Sir and Cat as the little girl made a dash for the white fluffball of a dog.
She appeared to be anything but a woman strolling happily with her suitor.
It was a fine afternoon, and the park was full of people who would gladly exchange the news of having seen Lady Cassandra and Lord Thornton together.
They would also speculate as to why the lady appeared forlorn.
“Grant,” Audrey began now that Cassie was out of hearing distance. He knew what was coming and braced himself. “I hope you know what you’re doing. The rumors I’m hearing…”
“You shouldn’t listen to rumors, my lady,” he said with a playful grin.
She arched a brow. “Is there any truth to them?”
“That depends on what you’re hearing,” he replied.
“Thornton.” Hugh held out an arm to stop him from taking another step. It was smoothly done, in a way that would not draw any attention. And yet, Grant knew he was serious. “I’ve heard rumors too. About Lindstrom and his demand that you marry again.”
Hell. His second eldest brother, Harold, had always possessed loose lips. Especially when he was in his cups. He should have known the knowledge would make its way out into the gentlemen’s clubs, then swiftly around London.
“I can handle the marquess,” Grant said.
Hugh stared at him with plain doubt. “I don’t know what you’re playing at with Cassie, but my warning to you stands.”
Grant bristled. “Why do you assume I am playing at something?”
“Because I know you.” Hugh’s each word was sharp and dangerously quiet. “The marquess has made a demand, and you will not have liked that. If you are using Cassie in some harebrained way—”
Audrey laid a hand on her husband’s arm as his voice began to rise.
“If you do know me, as you so claim, then do not insult me by presuming I have set out to harm Lady Cassandra.” Grant stepped closer to Hugh, unexpectedly furious. “I am not like Renfry.”
Audrey parted her lips in surprise, and Hugh hitched his chin. He inspected Grant another long moment. “She told you?”
Grant could say nothing before Cat screeched, diverting her parents’ attention. The little girl clasped her hands together as if she’d been nipped by the little dog.
“She’s fine,” Sir called to assure them. “Just a mean mongrel.”
The servant that had been walking the animal gawked at Sir and then strode away.
Sir then picked up Cat and brought her closer to the water, to distract her.
Cassie didn’t follow this time. Finally, she met Grant’s eyes, and seeming to take a bracing breath, came back toward them.
She kept herself a good arm’s length from his side.
“Sir is good with her.” It was one of the first things she’d said since beginning their stroll, but it lacked the brightness of her usual tone.
“He is a natural,” Audrey agreed, looking at Grant one last time before welcoming Cassie with a grin.
“How are Sir’s mother and sisters?” Cassie asked. At the water’s edge, Sir had crouched and was letting Cat sit on his leg.
“Doing well in Surrey,” Hugh answered. Then sighed. “I hate to say it, but Harlan Givens’s death was the opportunity they all needed.”
Sir’s father had been a brute, abusive, and neglectful, and his whole family had been under his thumb. Hugh had given Sir a refuge, but there wasn’t much he could do for Mrs. Givens and her other daughters. Not until Mr. Givens had been killed a few years ago.
Cassie licked her lips, and with a meaningful glance toward Grant, asked, “There must be something that can be done if a man is known to abuse his wife.”
They’d invited Hugh and Audrey on this stroll for a reason—to ask about Mr. Youngdale. How they would explain their interest in him would be challenging, as would be explaining how Cassie knew Isabel. He and Cassie had not had the chance to confer and agree on an approach.