Reese's Bride. Kat Martin

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СКАЧАТЬ brittle voice softened. “I bet you like horses, don’t you?”

      Jared looked up at her, caught her smile, and his shyness seemed to fall away. “I love horses. Lord Reese has the most beautiful horse out in the stable. Her name is Starlight and she has a star on her forehead and she is going to have a baby.”

      Elizabeth could hardly believe her ears. Jared never said that much and certainly not to a stranger.

      “Is that so?” the dowager said. “Maybe we’ll have time tomorrow to go out there and you can show me Lord Reese’s horse.”

      “He has a lot of them,” Jared went on. “He has a big red stallion. He can really run fast.”

      Lady Tavistock flicked Elizabeth a glance. “You’re a good boy, Jared.” Little more was said until Jared finished his cakes and fruit punch and asked to be excused. Lady Tavistock gave him permission. When he had left the room, Elizabeth looked over to see tears in the old woman’s eyes.

      “I thought you heartless for hurting my nephew the way you did. Now I find you truly despicable.”

      The color drained from Elizabeth’s face.

      “Do you ever intend to tell him?”

      Elizabeth couldn’t quite catch her breath. “I don’t … I don’t know what you mean.”

      “You know exactly what I mean. The boy is my nephew’s son. I knew it the moment I laid eyes on him.”

      Her heart thundered. “You’re … you’re mistaken.”

      “How old is he?”

      She wanted to lie. She could say Jared was six. He was small for his age; she was certain Reese thought he was younger than he was.

      “How old?” the countess demanded.

      “Seven …” Her voice trembled as the word whispered out.

      “I knew it.”

      She only shook her head. “H-he isn’t Reese’s son. He looks nothing at all like Reese.”

      “Not in a way everyone would notice. His features are softer, his hair more brown than black. The thing is, except for the color of his eyes, Jared is the spitting image of Reese’s father when he was a boy.”

      A buzzing started in her ears. Her throat felt too tight to swallow. She had kept the secret for so many years. Had planned to keep it forever.

      “I think our tea is finished,” the old woman said, rising from her chair.

      Elizabeth rose, as well, her knees trembling beneath her full skirts. “What … what do you intend to do?”

      The dowager cast her a drilling glance. “For the moment, nothing.” She started forward, stopped and turned. “But I warn you, the time will come. When it does, I shall do whatever is best for my nephew and his son.”

      Elizabeth just stood there. For an instant her vision narrowed to almost black and she thought she might actually faint.

      She steeled herself. The old woman knew. If she told Reese, Elizabeth could deny it and perhaps Reese would believe her.

      One thing was clear. She had to stay at Briarwood at least a little longer. She needed time to think things through, decide what action to take. She needed to pull herself together before she faced the dowager again.

      Fear crept through her. The truth would have to be told. The old woman knew her secret. Elizabeth could no longer keep silent. The old woman could destroy Jared’s life and Elizabeth’s own.

      Sooner or later, she would have to tell Reese.

      But dear God, not now. The room spun again and she made her way over to the sofa and sat down. Reese hated her already. She couldn’t bear the way he would look at her once he knew the true depth of her betrayal.

      Somehow she had to convince the old woman to give her time to formulate some sort of plan, time to find the courage to speak to Reese.

      Somehow she had to find a way.

      He shouldn’t have kissed her. He had damned well known better. But he couldn’t have guessed the way it would feel to hold her again, to have her respond to him in the exact same manner she had all those years ago.

      As if she belonged to him. As if she loved him still.

      Reese swore foully. He had never known the extent of her cunning until now. She cared nothing for him, likely never had. She was using him, nothing more. She needed his protection. And though he had already given her that, he couldn’t help wondering how far she would be willing to go in order to keep it.

      Crossing the room without his cane, more determined than ever to stretch and retrain the muscles that had been injured and inactive for so long, he yanked on the bellpull, summoning Timothy Daniels to help him dress for supper.

      At least the evening should prove interesting, if more than a little taxing. Elizabeth and his aunt had taken tea together that afternoon. He would have liked to have been a fly on the wall during that conversation.

      At least the ice had been broken. Perhaps supper would be a tolerable affair.

      Dressed in black for the evening, Reese grabbed his cane and made his way past Timothy, who held open the bedroom door. He was the first to arrive in the anteroom leading into the formal dining room, where a table seating twelve had been set for three and a fire blazed in the huge, open hearth along the wall.

      His aunt was the first to arrive, decked out in sapphire-blue silk, a strand of diamonds at her throat, looking every inch the dowager countess she was.

      The old woman paused in front of him. “My, you do look handsome, even without that scarlet uniform the women so favored.”

      He smiled. “Thank you, Aunt Aggie.” She frowned at the use of the name but he knew that secretly she was pleased. “You’re looking beautiful, as always.”

      She waved her hand at the flattery. “Just like your father and brothers, you are. Full of the devil when it comes to the ladies.”

      He laughed. He had forgotten how good she was at making him laugh.

      Elizabeth arrived a few minutes later, gowned in crisp black taffeta, a circle of black pearls at her throat. Only a glimpse of her pale breasts showed above the modest neckline.

      Reese thought how much he hated her in black.

      “I hope I’m not late,” she said, her gaze going to the grandfather clock in the corner, returning to him then quickly darting away. Faint color rose in her cheeks and he knew she was thinking of those moments in the music room.

      “You’re here just in time,” Reese said. “Shall we go in?”

      Elizabeth cast a glance at his aunt, who drilled her with a glare down the length of her short, powdered nose. He offered Aunt Aggie his arm and she rested her small gloved hand on the sleeve of his coat for the short walk into the dining room.

      He СКАЧАТЬ